Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialA double-blind comparison of morphine infusion and patient controlled analgesia in children.
The analgesia provided after major abdominal surgery in 30 children by continuous morphine infusion and patient controlled analgesia, also using morphine, was compared using a double-blind, double-dummy design. The groups of children were comparable in age, weight, duration of operation and sex ratio. ⋯ Children aged between nine and 15 years achieved better pain relief with patient controlled analgesia. No difference could be shown in children aged between five and eight years.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1996
Case ReportsCraniodiaphyseal dysplasia; another cause of difficult intubation.
A nine-year-old boy with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia (CDD) presented for mandibular reduction. Patients with CDD present problems to the anaesthetist, specifically difficulties with airway management and tracheal intubation. ⋯ Spontaneous respiration was maintained throughout intubation, following which ventilation was controlled and anaesthesia was provided using nitrous oxide, isoflurane and fentanyl. The perioperative management is described.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialClonidine-mepivacaine mixture vs plain mepivacaine in paediatric surgery.
In a double-blind study, 42 children, aged 1-10, undergoing general subumbilical surgery, were randomly allocated to two groups; they received, via caudal extradural, 1% mepivacaine 7 mg.kg-1 and normal saline 1 ml (Group 1) and a mixture of 1% mepivacaine 7 mg.kg-1 plus clonidine 2 micrograms.kg-1 and normal saline up to 1 ml (Group 2) respectively. No significant difference was noticed in age, weight, duration of surgery and onset time of anaesthesia, blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation. ⋯ This longer sedation is due both to the longer analgesia and partially to a side effect of clonidine. In conclusion the addition of 2 micrograms.kg-1 of clonidine to mepivacaine prolongs the duration of caudal analgesia in children.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1996
Case Reports Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialMidazolam following open heart surgery in children: haemodynamic effects of a loading dose.
Our objective was to establish the safety and effectiveness of a loading dose of midazolam for postoperative sedation of children recovering from open heart surgery; a prospective randomized placebo-controlled double-blind study was done with subjects randomized to three groups according to loading dose. I = 0.08 mg.kg-1; II = 0.04 mg.kg-1; and III = 0.00 mg.kg-1 (placebo). An open label continuous midazolam infusion protocol followed. ⋯ One subject in Group I (the 23rd) became hypotensive within five min of receiving the loading dose, had a difficult clinical course and died four weeks postoperatively. We cannot conclude that the loading dose of midazolam had any systematic haemodynamic effect in our study population. Although the clinical course of the 23rd subject suggests a subset of more susceptible children (those who receive opioid analgesia with midazolam, are volume-restricted, and/or undergo more complex forms of surgical correction), many critical care patients are inherently physiologically unstable, and concluding clinically that blood pressure fluctuation is drug related may be erroneous.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1996
ReviewAcute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in neonates and children.
ARDS remains a syndrome which despite all efforts poses problems in exact definition (cause, course and severity). Most of the existing information comes from clinical observations and uncontrolled studies and is therefore of limited value. ⋯ With the introduction of gentler respiratory support techniques (small tidal volumes and pressure limitation, permissive hypercapnia and HFO) and appropriate measures to reduce oxygen toxicity (titration of PEEP, possibly NO), iatrogenic lung injury, indistinguishable from ARDS, can be reduced, and this might improve survival rates. For the future, modulation of the host's inflammatory response may hold great promises for prevention and treatment of ARDS, but such strategies need to be explored with well controlled clinical trials, respecting the complexity of the issue.