Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
Comparative StudyStridor in the neonate and infant. Implications for the paediatric anaesthetist. Prospective description of 155 patients with congenital and acquired stridor in early infancy.
One hundred-and-fifty-five neonates and infants up to the sixth month of postnatal age were investigated to reveal the cause of clinically relevant stridor. In 100 patients congenital stridor was found, in 55 children the stridor was considered to be acquired. A curled, soft epiglottis, almost synonymously used with the diagnosis of congenital stridor, was found in 7% only, indicating different methods of investigation and different selection of patients compared to previous years. In acquired stridor the majority of infants showed laryngeal and tracheal trauma, mostly due to the use of too large tracheal tubes.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
Comparative StudyComparison of morphine requirements for sedation in Down's syndrome and non-Down's patients following paediatric cardiac surgery.
Anaesthetists recognize that children with Down's syndrome require special management in a number of clinical situations. There is a widespread clinical impression that it is difficult to achieve adequate sedation and that, following cardiac surgery, these children require higher doses of morphine and additional sedative agents compared to patients without Down's syndrome. We conducted a retrospective chart review of 16 Down's syndrome and 16 matched non-Down's syndrome children who underwent cardiac surgery between 1984 and 1991. ⋯ The difference was not statistically or clinically significant until the third postoperative day. Down's syndrome patients were more likely to still be receiving morphine on Day 3 than non-Down's patients (P < 0.05). The Down's syndrome patients were also more likely to receive additional sedatives and skeletal muscle relaxants.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialPrevention of halothane-induced bradycardia: is intranasal premedication indicated?
Eighty ambulatory surgical patients with ASA physical status 1 and 2, aged 1-10 years, were studied. One group received intranasal (IN) midazolam 0.25 mg.kg-1; a second group received IN 0.25 mg.kg-1 of midazolam plus 0.02 mg.kg-1 of atropine; the third group received 0.25 mg.kg-1 of midazolam plus 0.02 mg.kg-1 of atropine administered intramuscularly, and the fourth group received IN saline drops. ⋯ Children receiving midazolam had better preoperative sedation and anaesthesia induction scores. The IN administration of neither midazolam alone nor midazolam-atropine altered the incidence or degree of halothane-induced bradycardia.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
Case ReportsDifficult intubation in an infant with Pierre Robin syndrome and concomitant tongue tie.
Intubation and airway difficulties may be assumed in infants with Pierre Robin syndrome. We report a case of a six month old cleft palate repair who also had a tongue tie which compounded the problem. He was eventually intubated using the two anaesthetist technique. The contribution of the tongue tie is assessed.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
Case ReportsSurvival following cardiac tamponade and arrest in a paediatric patient with penetrating trauma to pulmonary artery.
A seven-year-old child with an airgun pellet injury to the upper part of the anterior chest wall was transported in a state of shock from a nearby hospital to this trauma centre. The nature and site of injury associated with engorged neck veins, hypotension, pulsus paradoxus and an enlarged liver suggested the possibility of acute pericardial tamponade. On arrival in the emergency room the child had a brief period of cardiac arrest revived by basic resuscitation procedures. ⋯ Emergency median sternotomy with pericardiotomy was done to relieve the tamponade which was peroperatively diagnosed to be due to a tear in the pulmonary artery close to its origin. Early clinical diagnosis, rapid surgical intervention in the operating room and efficient anaesthetic management within the 'Golden Hour' saved life. It is believed that this is the first report of survival of a paediatric patient with a gunshot penetrating trauma to the pulmonary artery leading to cardiac tamponade and a brief period of cardiac arrest.