Brachytherapy for Pediatric Patients at Gustave Roussy Cancer Campus: A Model of International Cooperation for Highly Specialized Treatments.

Purpose: Childhood cancer is rare, and treatment is frequently associated with long-term morbidity. Disparities in survival and long-term side effects encourage the establishment of networks to increase access to complex organ-conservative strategies, such as brachytherapy. We report our experience of an international cooperation model in childhood cancers.

[Improving pain assessment of infants in paediatric emergency departments].

Not having access to language, the infant is deprived of an essential means of communicating its painful experience. The assessment of their pain in the emergency room is therefore quite complex. A study carried out in the paediatric emergency department of the Centre hospitalier intercommunal de Créteil shows that it is possible to improve this aspect thanks, among other things, to continuous training and the presence of experts in children's pain within the team.

Sedation and analgesia for procedures outside the operating room in children.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of procedures that are conducted in children in which sedation is now considered beneficial. In many institutions, however, resources and personnel have not been recruited to address this increase in demand. In most institutions, anaesthesiology departments are not able to provide anaesthesia for all procedures that are performed outside the operating theatre, and alternative solutions are needed.

Remifentanil infusion for cleft palate surgery in young infants.

Background: The residual depressant effect of opioid is a major concern in infants scheduled for cleft palate repair. Remifentanil is associated with a fast and predictable recovery, independent of age.

Methods: About 40 infants in the 2-12 month age range were prospectively enrolled in this open study, to receive either remifentanil (infusion starting at 0.

Analgesic effect of low-dose intrathecal morphine after spinal fusion in children.

Background: This study was designed to assess the postoperative analgesic effect of low-dose intrathecal morphine after scoliosis surgery in children.

Methods: Thirty children, 9-19 yr of age, scheduled for spinal fusion, were randomly allocated into three groups to receive a single dose of 0 (saline injection), 2, or 5 microg/kg intrathecal morphine. After surgery, a patient-controlled analgesia device (PCA) provided free access to additional intravenous morphine.

Effect of systemic morphine on the responses of convergent neurons to noxious heat stimuli applied over graded surface areas.

Background: Stimulus intensity is a major determinant of the antinociceptive activity of opiates. This study focused on the influence of the spatial characteristics of nociceptive stimuli, on opiate-induced depressions of nociceptive transmission at the level of the spinal cord.

Methods: Anesthetized rats were prepared to allow extracellular recordings to be made from convergent neurons in the lumbar dorsal horn.