Paediatric anaesthesia
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · May 2021
Observational StudyRapid and safe removal of foreign bodies in the upper esophagus in children using an optimized Miller size 3 video laryngoscope blade - a prospective observational trial.
Foreign bodies lodged in the upper esophagus in children may result in life-threatening complications, especially with button batteries. Rapid removal is essential to prevent complications. Experts report that extraction with a suitable laryngoscope and a forceps is feasible under general anesthesia, but no further data had been available so far. ⋯ The new Miller size 3 video laryngoscope enables rapid, easy, and reliable extraction of foreign bodies when they are located in the upper part of the esophagus. As early removal of esophageal foreign bodies, especially with button batteries, prevents life-threatening complications, we suggest this technique as the first choice of treatment.
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · May 2021
The Impact of Surgical Cancellations on Children, Families, and the Health System in an Australian Paediatric Tertiary Referral Hospital.
Reasons for elective surgery cancelations and their impact vary from one institution to another. Cancelations have emotional and financial implications for patients and their families. Our service has a particularly broad and geographically diverse patient population; hence, we sought to examine these impacts in our service. ⋯ During our study period, a total of 7870 procedures were booked. 6734 (86%) of these were completed and 1136 (14%) were canceled, with 6% canceled on the day of surgery. In 750 (66%) of these cancelations, families were successfully contacted by telephone and agreed to participate. Of these 305 (41%) cancelations were family-initiated and 444 (59%) were hospital-initiated, with these hospital-initiated cancelations occurring closer to scheduled surgery. The most common cause of cancelation was that the child could not undergo the procedure due to illness (22%) or being unable attend the hospital (14%). The greatest disruption to families and children occurred when procedures were canceled late, particularly when the cancelation occurred on the day of the planned procedure.
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · May 2021
Observance of preoperative clear fluid fasting in paediatric anaesthesia: oral and written information versus text message information. A before-and-after study.
Prolonged fasting before surgery is common in pediatrics. In the literature, it is responsible for hypotension, irritability and postoperative nausea and vomiting. Despite clear instructions given during the preanesthetic consultation, fasting rules are respected in only 30%-40% of cases. We aimed to evaluate the benefit of sending a text message the day before surgery to improve the parents' observance of fasting rules. ⋯ Sending of a reminder text message to the parents the day before the surgery resulted in a significant increase in observance of fasting rules in children undergoing scheduled surgery.