Paediatric anaesthesia
-
The aim of this clinical audit was to evaluate the home recovery and complications of 104 daycase anaesthetized children, as well as parent satisfaction. A questionnaire, explained at the time of preoperative visit, was given to parents at hospital discharge and returned by mail. Opioids were administered in 19% of the children whereas regional anaesthesia was performed in 28% of cases. ⋯ Nevertheless, 94% were satisfied with the anaesthetic. A clinical audit is useful in detecting management deficiencies. Quality of home recovery may be improved by: wider use of perioperative analgesia, systematic prescription of take-home analgesia, designation of a hospital practitioner for advice, and closer collaboration with general practitioners.
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
Case ReportsThe Univent tube for single-lung ventilation in paediatric patients.
A Univent bronchial blocker tube was used in a ten-year-old patient undergoing videothoracoscopy. Paediatric Univent tubes offer an alternative to balloon-tipped catheters for providing single-lung ventilation (SLV) in children too small for adult size double-lumen tubes.
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
Paediatric cardiac anaesthesia in a developing country. Guatemala Heart Team.
During the week of October 15-24, 1995 a team of 65 medical, anaesthesiology, surgical, nursing and paramedical personnel travelled to Guatemala City, Guatemala to perform cardiac surgery on children with complex congenital and acquired valvular heart disease. During this mission 42 patients had their lesions surgically repaired. Cardiopulmonary bypass was required in 36 cases. ⋯ There was no intraoperative anaesthetic morbidity nor postoperative respiratory complications. No patients was reintubated after planned extubation. Cardiac surgery in paediatric age patients can safely be performed in developing countries if close attention is paid to proper patient selection and one maintains the standards of care practised in developed countries.
-
Paediatric anaesthesia · Jan 1998
The usefulness of routine preoperative laboratory tests for one-day surgery in healthy children.
Since 1984, laboratory tests have not been routinely required for healthy paediatric patients scheduled for one-day surgery in our Paediatric Surgery Department. We reviewed the medical charts of all children ASA physical status 1 and 2 who underwent a minor surgical procedure in the last 15 years. We excluded all former preterm infants of less than 60 weeks postconceptual age. ⋯ The following data were collected: demographic data, ASA physical status classification, surgical procedure, anaesthetic technique, major and minor complications, length of hospital stay, the difference between the expected length of hospitalization and the actual length, number and reasons for cancellations of surgery. On the basis of our experience we believe that a thorough clinical assessment of the patient is more important than routine preoperative laboratory screening, which should be required only when justified by real clinical indications. Moreover, this practice eliminates unnecessary costs without compromising the safety and the quality of care.