Complications in pediatric scoliosis surgery.

Background: Scoliosis surgery in childhood is associated with a range of postoperative complications that may require admission to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) or high-dependency unit (HDU).

Aim: The aim of this study was to identify preoperative factors associated with PICU and HDU admissions after corrective surgery and devise a scoring system that could be used by clinicians to predict the level of dependency required postoperatively.

Methods: A retrospective case note review was carried out in 90 patients who underwent corrective scoliosis surgery at Sheffield Children's Hospital (SCH) between January 2008 and October 2010.

Spinal anesthesia with an indwelling catheter reduces the stress response in pediatric open heart surgery.

Background: Extreme stress and inflammatory responses to open heart surgery are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Based on both animal and adult human data, it was hypothesized that spinal anesthesia would be more effective at attenuating these responses than conventional high dose intravenous opioid techniques in infants and young children undergoing open heart surgery.

Methods: A prospective randomized controlled clinical trial was performed in 60 children aged up to 24 months undergoing open heart surgery.

Aortic root replacement after recent intracerebral hemorrhage.

A 12-year-old boy presented with an intracerebral haemorrhage secondary to Staphylococcus aureus endocarditis. He developed worsening aortic regurgitation and required aortic root replacement. In view of his recent haemorrhage, a heparin-bonded cardiopulmonary bypass circuit with low dose systemic heparinisation was used.