Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2011
ReviewPro con debate: the use of regional vs systemic analgesia for neonatal surgery.
In recent years the inclusion of regional techniques to pediatric anesthesia has transformed practice. Simple procedures such as caudal anesthesia with local anaesthetics can reduce the amounts of general anesthesia required and provide complete analgesia in the postoperative period while avoiding large amounts of opioid analgesia with potential side effects that can impair recovery. ⋯ Currently, opinions are divided and strongly held with some major units adopting this approach widely and others maintaining a more conservative stance to anesthesia for major neonatal surgery. In this pro-con debate the evidence base is examined, supplemented with expert opinion to try to provide a balanced overall view.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2011
Performance of the On-Q pain infusion device during changes in environmental temperature.
The On-Q infusion device is an elastomeric device with a flow regulator that controls the flow of a local anesthetic agent through a peripheral catheter. As variations in external temperature may affect the diameter of the tubing or viscosity of the fluid, it is feasible that alterations in flow may be caused by such temperature variations. This study evaluates the performance of this device during variations in environmental temperature. ⋯ This preliminary investigation demonstrates what may be clinically significant changes in output from the On-Q pain device based on the external temperature. These alterations in flow could result in inadequate analgesia or even potentially toxicity if these devices are used in smaller patients especially the pediatric population.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2011
Erythropoietin attenuates isoflurane-induced neurodegeneration and learning deficits in the developing mouse brain.
To examine whether recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) attenuates neurodegeneration and the learning disability induced by isoflurane with the postnatal day 7 (P7) mice. ⋯ These results suggested that rEPO attenuated isoflurane-induced neurodegeneration.