Pediatric spinal anesthesia at a tertiary care hospital: Eleven years after.

Background: Pediatric spinal anesthesia is an old technique whose use is not widespread, in spite of reducing the risk of cardiorespiratory events (hypoxemia, bradycardia, and hypotension) associated with general anesthesia, especially in neonates and infants. This retrospective cohort study aimed to assess the safety and effectiveness of the pediatric spinal anesthesia program at our tertiary care hospital over 11 years.

Methods: Two hundred children, between 8 days and 13 years of age, who underwent lower body surgery under spinal anesthesia from May 2010 to July 2021 were included.

Opioid-free anesthesia with interfascial dexmedetomidine in a high-risk infant.

Despite the advances in pediatric anesthesia, infants have higher mortality and critical incidents rates than children, especially ex-prematures and those with comorbidity. We present the case of a high-risk infant who underwent elective laparoscopic gastrostomy under opioid-free anesthesia (OFA) combined with transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block with Dexmedetomidine (DEX). Perioperative opioids were entirely avoided, and intraoperative anesthetics and postoperative analgesic were considerably reduced.

Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats Analysis for a Pediatric Anesthesia Program.

Unlabelled: Risk management in healthcare institutions begins by first identifying the potential risks within a certain organization or specific area and then goes on to develop further strategies to reduce harm. The most common tool for this type of analysis is Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT).

Methods: We conducted a SWOT analysis in our pediatric anesthesia program: key factors were identified in a matrix, prioritized in a score table, represented in a graph, and finally analyzed.

Spinal Anesthesia for Pediatric Laparoscopic Hernia Repair: A Case Report.

Spinal anesthesia is practical and safe in infants and toddlers and prevents perioperative complications including cardiorespiratory instability and apnea. Other perioperative advantages include reduced time from surgery completion to operating room exit and first feed. This article presents the case of an ex-premature infant who underwent laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair under spinal anesthesia.

Neurotoxicity versus Neuroprotection of Anesthetics: Young Children on the Ropes?

Normal brain development in young children depends on a balance between excitation and inhibition of neurons, and alterations to this balance may cause apoptosis. During the perioperative period, both surgical stimuli and anesthetics can induce neurotoxicity. This article attempts to expand the perspective of a topical issue-anesthetic-induced neurotoxicity-by also considering the protective effect of general anesthetics against surgery-induced neurotoxicity, all of which may generate some controversy in the current literature.

Magnesium sulfate in pediatric anesthesia: the Super Adjuvant.

Magnesium is an essential chemical element in all organisms, intervening in most cellular enzymatic reactions; thus, its importance in homeostasis and as a therapeutic tool in highly challenging patients such as pediatrics. The primary purpose of this paper was to review the role of magnesium sulfate as an adjuvant drug in pediatric anesthesia. This compound already has the scientific backing in certain aspects such as analgesia or muscle relaxation, but only theoretical or empirical backing in others such as organ protection or inflammation, where it seems to be promising.

Lipid rescue in children: The prompt decision.

We report the case of a 17-month-old child who underwent laparotomy under general anesthesia and caudal block. Electrocardiogram ST-T changes were observed after local anesthetic injection. The prompt use of Intralipid 30% was successful in normalizing ECG alterations.