Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Virtual Reality in Paediatrics: Effects on Pain and Anxiety.

This is a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of virtual reality (VR) in reducing pain and/or anxiety in paediatric patients.  Distraction is commonly used in paediatric patients for medical procedures and VR is a relatively new technique.  This review defined VR as a fully immersive three-dimensional environment displayed in surround stereoscopic vision on […]

Erector Spinae Plane Block vs Quadratus Lumborum Block for paediatric lower abdominal surgery.

This study is a double blinded, prospective, randomized trial. The study compared the  Erector Spinae Plane Block (ESPB) against the Quadratus Lumborum Block (QLB) in paediatric patients presenting for lower abdominal surgery. Children aged 1 – 7 years, classified as ASA I-II and undergoing lower abdominal surgery were randomized to either an ESPB or QLB. […]

Perioperative Management of the Pediatric Patient of Medicinal Marijuana: What Anesthesiologists Should Know.

This article is a review of the history, known pharmacology, current evidence and anaesthetic considerations relating to medicinal marijuana in children. The context of the review is centred on the perspective of the American Academy of Pediatrics. There are 2 synthetic cannabinoids and 2 purified extracts in production but the only product approved by the […]

Patient Blood Management for Neonates and Children Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: 2019 NATA Guidelines.

The objective of the NATA[1] task force is to provide evidence-based recommendations regarding anaemia management and blood transfusion practices in the perioperative care of neonates and children undergoing cardiac surgery, and to highlight potential areas where additional research is urgently required. The authors noted major distinctions in the paediatric population compared to adults, particularly: haemostatic […]

Coagulative function assessed preoperatively via the clot formation and lysis assay as a prognostic factor for blood loss in adolescents undergoing posterior spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis.

This is a single-institutional prospective observational cohort study with preoperative biospecimen banking. The aim of the study was to determine predictors of intra-operative blood loss using clinical factors, routine coagulation tests and the Clot Formation and Lysis (CloFAL) assay. The authors hypothesized that standard laboratory tests would not be predictive of blood loss but the […]

Epidemiology of regional anesthesia in children: Lessons learned from the European Multi-Institutional Study APRICOT

APRICOT (Anaesthesia Practice in Children Observational Trial) is a prospective observational multicentre cohort study examining more than 31,000 paediatric procedures in 33 European countries. This paper is the secondary analysis of this data to examine current practice in regional anaesthesia (RA). Methods: Data was extracted from the APRICOT database which included all children (up to […]

Impact of preoperative hyponatraemia on paediatric perioperative mortality

Summary Prior to this no study had examined the relationship between preoperative hyponatraemia and paediatric perioperative complications. Their primary objective was to determine if preoperative hyponatraemia is predictive of patient morbidity and mortality. This is a retrospective analysis of children undergoing surgery in 2014 and 2015. The data of patients who underwent surgery were reviewed […]