Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Apr 2005
Case ReportsUltrasound-guided central venous cannulation in a very small preterm neonate.
Percutaneous central venous cannulation of small infants is a challenging procedure. The use of ultrasound guidance has been shown to increase the success rate generally in children and to decrease the incidence of associated complications. To demonstrate that this technique is also suitable in very small infants we describe the case of a preterm neonate of 850 g body weight (BW), in which percutaneous central venous cannulation was performed successfully using ultrasound imaging for guidance.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Apr 2005
Case ReportsArgatroban for anticoagulation during cardiopulmonary bypass in an infant.
Heparin induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a rare, but potentially life-threatening complication of heparin therapy. In patients with HIT, alternative means of anticoagulation are necessary. ⋯ The direct thrombin inhibitor, argatroban, was successfully used. Previous reports regarding the use of argatroban and other nonheparin anticoagulants for anticoagulation are reviewed and suggestions regarding argatroban dosing in infants are presented.
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The aim of this study was to assess the time needed to trigger an occlusion alarm, and the influence of the type of infusion pump, type and size of the syringe, and the set infusion rate. ⋯ Our results showed that activation of occlusion alarms on both pumps takes a considerable time, and that the mean time to alarm activation was longer with low infusion rates and larger syringes. To reduce occlusion alarm delays smaller sized syringes with low compliance should be used and staff be alerted when using low flow rates with highly concentrated potent drugs.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Mar 2005
Rescue sedation with dexmedetomidine for diagnostic imaging: a preliminary report.
Sedation is frequently required during noninvasive radiological imaging in children. Although commonly used agents such as chloral hydrate and midazolam are generally effective, failures may occur. The authors report their experience with dexmedetomidine for rescue sedation during magnetic resonance imaging. ⋯ Our preliminary experience suggests that dexmedetomidine may be an effective agent for procedural sedation during radiological imaging. Its potential application in this setting is discussed and other reports regarding its use in pediatric patients are reviewed.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Mar 2005
Case ReportsAnesthesia for children with Wolf-Hirshhorn syndrome: a report and literature review.
Wolf-Hirshhorn is a rare chromosomal defect syndrome. We present two cases of children diagnosed with Wolf-Hirshhorn syndrome, and discuss the ramifications of anesthesia for these patients.