Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2024
ReviewThe use of honey in the perioperative care of tonsillectomy patients-A narrative review.
Tonsillectomy is one of the most common surgical procedures in childhood. While generally safe, it often is associated with a difficult early recovery phase with poor oral intake, dehydration, difficult or painful swallowing, postoperative bleeding, infection and/or otalgia. Better pain management and the availability of more child friendly medications are within the top consumer priorities in perioperative medicine, highlighting the importance of alternative pain treatments. ⋯ Effect sizes ranged from small to huge across the studies. While the application of honey post-tonsillectomy may offer analgesic and healing benefits, it may also reduce postoperative bleeding. However, while there are potential benefits based on the chemical composition of honey, the current literature is of variable quality and there is need for high quality clinical trials.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2024
ReviewThe endocrinologist gap: Managing diabetes patients in absence of a specialist.
The treatment of pediatric patients with diabetes is frequently orchestrated within a multidisciplinary framework at tertiary, specialized institutions. In situations where emergent surgery is indicated or when a procedure is scheduled in a facility devoid of an endocrinology service, the onus of managing perioperative glycemic levels may rest with the attending anesthesiologist. The objective of this review is to furnish a comprehensive examination of the anesthetic considerations and perioperative governance of pediatric patients with diabetes. Furthermore, this paper delineates a streamlined protocol for perioperative glycemic control, tailored to both major and minor surgical interventions.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2024
Observational StudyUnderstanding time to peak effect of propofol as sole agent on bispectral index in children aged 2-12 years.
The pharmacodynamics of propofol in children have previously been described with the proprietary bispectral index (BIS) as an effect-site marker, and it has been suggested that the rate of onset of propofol might be age dependent, that is, a shorter time to peak effect in younger children. However, these analyses were potentially confounded by co-administered drugs, in particular opioids and benzodiazepines. Thus, the goal of this prospective study was to characterize the influence of age and weight on the onset of hypnotic effects from propofol, reflected by the time to peak of propofol effect-site concentration in the absence of additional drugs. ⋯ In children, the age and weight have an influence on time to peak effect of propofol. In the absence of opioids and benzodiazepines, time to peak effect was approximately 20% longer in children aged 8-12 years as compared to younger children. Such clinically relevant age and weight effects are an important consideration in the individualized titration of propofol dosing.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2024
Observational StudyIncidence of complications after nonoperating room anesthesia in children in a low- and middle-income country: A prospective and observational study.
Nonoperating room anesthesia is a growing field of medicine that can have an increased risk of complications, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. ⋯ The incidence of complications during NORA among children in our radiology setting remains high. Investigating predictors for morbidity allowed high-risk patient selection, which allowed taking precautions. Several improvement measures were taken to address the organization's insufficiencies.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Oct 2024
Improving perioperative acetaminophen administration for safer and cost-effective multimodal analgesia in pediatric surgery: A QI initiative.
The use of acetaminophen in the perioperative period has emerged as an attractive option for providing safer and cost-effective analgesia in children. ⋯ We successfully achieved and sustained our goals of improving acetaminophen use for our surgical patients without worsening pain scores or worsening use of intravenous opioids. Future directions include further refining our strategies and exploring additional opportunities to optimize pain management in pediatric perioperative settings.