Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1997
Case ReportsRepair of ventricular septal defect in a child with severe pulmonary hypertension--response to inhaled nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide (NO), was administered successfully, to a child with severe pulmonary hypertension, following surgical repair of a large ventricular septal defect. Inhalation of NO, 20-25 parts per million (ppm) was continued for 24 h, resulting in mean pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) of 25 mmHg and permitting a reduction in both ventilatory and inotropic support. ⋯ An immediate and dramatic increase in PAP occurred. A similar pattern resulted on further attempts, demonstrating the extreme sensitivity of the pulmonary vasculature to the effects of inhaled low dose NO and the selectivity of the response.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1997
Case ReportsConservative management of tracheal rupture after intubation.
A case is reported of a newborn with tracheal rupture resulting from a complicated delivery requiring vacuum extraction and two attempts at intubation. Despite the severity of the situation the infant was successfully managed conservatively with orotracheal intubation.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1997
A survey of pentobarbital sedation for children undergoing abdominal CT scans after oral contrast medium.
Radiologists have traditionally been responsible for the sedation of children undergoing radiological investigations. Anaesthetists are becoming increasingly involved in providing sedation and/or anaesthesia in this environment. ⋯ The average patient received pentobarbital 4.6 mg.kg-1. 141 patients (94.6%) received pentobarbital as the only sedative agent, whereas eight patients (5.4%) required supplementary sedation (midazolam +/- fentanyl). There were no failed sedations. 36 complications occurred during 22 sedations (14.7% of total), with the most common being desaturation, vomiting, airway secretions, airway obstruction, coughing and bronchospasm.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1997
Case ReportsPulmonary aspiration of gastric contents after a priming dose of vecuronium.
A case is presented of a 16-year-old girl with ectodermal dysplasia for whom dental surgery under general anaesthesia was planned. Following a priming dose of vecuronium, and immediately after injection of sodium thiopentone (5 mg.kg-1) pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents occurred. It is hypothesized that, because of the rapid speed of onset of neuromuscular blocking agents on the laryngeal muscles, that partial laryngeal paralysis was present at the time of induction of anaesthesia and that this was responsible in part for the episode of pulmonary aspiration.