Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2017
Comparative StudyA retrospective comparison of thoracic epidural infusion and multimodal analgesia protocol for pain management following the minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum.
Pain management following minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum is variable. We recently adopted a comprehensive multimodal analgesic protocol that standardizes perioperative analgesic management. We hypothesized that patients managed with this protocol would use more opioids postoperatively, have similar pain control, and shorter length of stay compared to patients managed with thoracic epidural infusion. ⋯ Implementation of a standardized comprehensive multimodal analgesic protocol following minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum resulted in equivalent analgesia with a modest reduction in length of stay when compared to thoracic epidural. We did not observe an opioid sparing effect in our thoracic epidural which may reflect technique variability.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2017
Role of ultrasound measuring position and ventilation pressure in determining correct tube size in children.
Ultrasound measurements of the airway are useful for determining correctly sized, uncuffed endotracheal tubes in children. ⋯ The airway level selected for ultrasound and airway pressure during measurement determines the rate of agreement between the measurement result and correct ETT size.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2017
ReviewWhat is the best size predictor for dose in the obese child?
Lean body mass is commonly proposed for anesthesia maintenance drug dosing calculations. However, total body mass used with allometric scaling has been shown to be better for propofol in obese adults and children. Fat-free mass has also been used instead of lean body mass. ⋯ This fraction (Ffat) will differ for each drug and each parameter affected by body size (eg, clearance and volume of distribution). This fraction is based on the concept of theory-based allometric size. The normal fat mass based on allometric theory and partition of body mass into fat and fat-free components provides a principle-based approach explaining size and body composition effects on pharmacokinetics of all drugs in children and in adults.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2017
Observational StudyPoor performance of main-stream capnography in newborn infants during general anesthesia.
Endtidal (ET) measurement of carbon dioxide is well established for intraoperative respiratory monitoring of adults and children, but the method's accuracy for intraoperative use in small newborn infants has been less extensively investigated. ⋯ Main-stream capnography during anesthesia and surgery correlated poorly to blood gas values in small and/or respiratory compromised infants. We conclude that caution should be exercised when relying solely on ET measurements to guide mechanical ventilation in the OR.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2017
Nurse-driven analgesia and sedation in pediatric patients with univentricular hearts requiring extracorporeal life support after first-stage palliation surgery: A pilot study.
Few data are available regarding requirements of sedation and analgesia in children during extracorporeal life support. ⋯ A nurse-driven protocol for analgesia and sedation of children with extracorporeal life support is feasible. Patients with extracorporeal life support do not need deeper sedation levels and have not higher cumulative sedation requirements than children without extracorporeal life support.