Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2023
ReviewA review of pediatric fasting guidelines and strategies to help children manage preoperative fasting.
Fasting for surgery is a routine step in the preoperative preparation for surgery. There have however been increasing concerns with regard to the high incidence of prolonged fasting in children, and the subsequent psycho-social distress and physiological consequences that this poses. Additionally, the past few years have yielded new research that has shown significant inter-individual variation in gastric emptying regardless of the length of the fast, with some patients still having residual gastric contents even after prolonged fasts. ⋯ This has led to a change in the recommended clear fluid fasting times in multiple international pediatric societies; similarly, many societies continue to recommend traditional fasting times. Multiple fasting strategies exist in the literature, though these have mostly been studied and implemented in the adult population. This review hopes to summarize the recent updates in fasting guidelines, discuss the issues surrounding prolonged fasting, and explore potential tolerance strategies for children.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2023
Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia Training and Staffing in the National Health Service.
Considerable importance is attached to the process of training, appointing and retaining highly specialized pediatric anesthetists, such as those with a congenital heart disease practice. ⋯ There has been both an expansion in the number of posts, as well as considerable turnover in consultant posts in the last 10 years. Training standards which support and guide individuals as they develop a practice in this highly specialized field should reflect different routes into the speciality and could be established with the support and advice of the Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Network.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2023
Opioid prescription rates associated with surgery among adolescents in the United States from 2015 to 2020.
The United States currently faces an epidemic of opioid misuse which extends to adolescent surgical populations. Opioid prescriptions after surgery are associated with persistent opioid use and serve as a reservoir for diversion. However, it is unclear what proportion of opioid prescriptions are surgical, and little is known about trends in opioid prescription rates associated with surgery in adolescents in the United States. This study aims to describe national trends in postsurgical opioid prescription rates over time among adolescents in the United States. ⋯ The large number of adolescents being prescribed opioids for surgery in the USA each year, suggests there is a need for national guidelines aimed at adolescent opioid use, similar to the recent CDC guidelines aimed at adult opioid use.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Dec 2023
The role of WhatsApp™ in pediatric difficult airway management: A study from the PeDI Collaborative.
Management of the pediatric difficult airway can present unique clinical challenges. The Pediatric Difficult Intubation Collaborative (PeDI-C) is an international collaborative group engaging in quality improvement and research in children with difficult airways. The PeDI-C established a WhatsApp™ group to facilitate real-time discussions around the management of the difficult airway in pediatric patients. The goals of this study were to evaluate the patterns of use of the WhatsApp™ group, themes on messages posted on pediatric difficult airway management and to assess the perceived usefulness of the WhatsApp™ group by the PeDI-C members. ⋯ The PeDI-C WhatsApp™ group has facilitated timely knowledge exchange on pediatric difficult airway management across the world. Participants are satisfied with the role the Whatsapp™ group is playing.