Paediatric anaesthesia
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Feb 2003
Comparative Study Clinical TrialA comparison of remifentanil and fentanyl for fast track paediatric cardiac anaesthesia.
Fast track anaesthetic protocols for cardiac surgical patients have been developed to facilitate early tracheal extubation. We compared anaesthetics based on either remifentanil or fentanyl for fast track paediatric cardiac anaesthesia. ⋯ The remifentanil based anaesthetic was associated with a significantly slower HR than the fentanyl based anaesthetic. The clinical implications of the slower HR during remifentanil anaesthesia could be important and should be investigated.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Feb 2003
Parents' perceptions and use of analgesics at home after children's day surgery.
Children are found to suffer from unnecessarily severe postoperative pain following day surgery. Reasons for parents' insufficient use of analgesics may be based on misleading perceptions of children's analgesics. The purpose of this study was to describe parents' perceptions and use of analgesics for children after discharge at home. ⋯ Parents tended to give analgesics to children who actually needed pain alleviation. Parents' perceptions of children's analgesics were mostly accurate. However, misleading perceptions of children's analgesics also exist among the parents. These misleading perceptions appear to decrease parents' use of children's postoperative pain medication.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Feb 2003
Clinical TrialEfficacy and safety of caudal injection of levobupivacaine, 0.25%, in children under 2 years of age undergoing inguinal hernia repair, circumcision or orchidopexy.
Levobupivacaine is the S(-)-enantiomer of racemic bupivacaine. Evidence suggests that it is less cardiotoxic than racemic bupivacaine and the R(+)-enantiomer, dexbupivacaine, while retaining similar local anaesthetic properties and potency to racemic bupivacaine. ⋯ Levobupivacaine is a promising new local anaesthetic agent for pain management in paediatric patients and appears to offer similar anaesthetic efficacy to racemic bupivacaine with a potentially improved tolerability profile.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Feb 2003
Case ReportsSingle-dose caudal anaesthesia for two infants undergoing diagnostic brain magnetic resonance imaging: high risk and nonhigh risk.
We present a case report of two infants given a bupivacaine caudal anaesthetic as a means of achieving sedation for a diagnostic brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Patient 1 was born at 27 weeks of gestation and presented to our hospital at 39 weeks postconception with a history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia and apnoea/bradycardia spells. ⋯ Both infants fell asleep shortly after placement of the caudal blocks and the studies were completed successfully without complications. Utilizing this technique, we avoided dealing with a potentially difficult airway (patient 1), exacerbating postoperative apnoea and the negative implications of intravenous sedation during a study where there is limited access to the patient's airway.
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Paediatric anaesthesia · Feb 2003
Validating the Derbyshire Children's Hospital Pain Tool: a pilot study.
The Derbyshire Children's Hospital Paediatric Pain Chart (DPC) is the current pain assessment tool used at the Derbyshire Children's Hospital. It was originally devised as a simple pain tool for use in the clinical area, and it is applicable for use in children of all ages within the postoperative setting. The pain assessment chart encompasses pain assessment by utilizing facial expression, body movement and verbal expression. An exploratory study was performed to define its reliability and validity. ⋯ This exploratory study suggests the DPC holds construct, convergent and known groups validity and is a reliable pain assessment tool for children aged 1-5 years undergoing minor and intermediate surgery.