• Teofilo Augusto A Tiradentes, Sharon Einav, BrazJose R CJRCAnaesthesia Cardiac Arrest and Mortality Study Commission, Department of Surgical Specialties and Anaesthesiology, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University - UNESP, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil., Vania S Nunes-Nogueira, Marluci Betini, Jose E Corrente, Mariana G Braz, and Leandro G Braz.
• Anaesthesia Cardiac Arrest and Mortality Study Commission, Department of Surgical Specialties and Anaesthesiology, Botucatu Medical School, Sao Paulo State University - UNESP, Botucatu, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
• Br J Anaesth. 2023 Nov 1; 131 (5): 901913901-913.

BackgroundNeonates and infants have a higher perioperative risk of cardiac arrest and mortality than adults. The Human Development Index (HDI) ranges from 0 to 1, representing the lowest and highest levels of development, respectively. The relation between anaesthesia safety and country HDI has been described previously. We examined the relationship among the anaesthesia-related cardiac arrest rate (ARCAR), country HDI, and time in a mixed paediatric patient population.MethodsElectronic databases were searched up to July 2022 for studies reporting 24-h postoperative ARCARs in children. ARCARs (per 10,000 anaesthetic procedures) were analysed in low-HDI (HDI<0.8) vs high-HDI countries (HDI≥0.8) and over time (pre-2001 vs 2001-22). The magnitude of these associations was studied using systematic review methods with meta-regression analysis and meta-analysis.ResultsWe included 38 studies with 5,493,489 anaesthetic procedures and 1001 anaesthesia-related cardiac arrests. ARCARs were inversely correlated with country HDI (P<0.0001) but were not correlated with time (P=0.82). ARCARs did not change between the periods in either high-HDI or low-HDI countries (P=0.71 and P=0.62, respectively), but were higher in low-HDI countries than in high-HDI countries (9.6 vs 2.0; P<0.0001) in 2001-22. ARCARs were higher in children aged <1 yr than in those ≥1 yr in high-HDI (10.69 vs 1.48; odds ratio [OR] 8.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.96-10.81; P<0.0001) and low-HDI countries (36.02 vs 2.86; OR 7.32, 95% CI 3.48-15.39; P<0.0001) in 2001-22.ConclusionsThe high and alarming anaesthesia-related cardiac arrest rates among children younger than 1 yr of age in high-HDI and low-HDI countries, respectively, reflect an ongoing challenge for anaesthesiologists.Systematic Review ProtocolPROSPERO CRD42021229919.Copyright © 2023 British Journal of Anaesthesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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