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Children are sometimes transported via fixed or rotary wing aircraft for medical care. If they are intubated with a cuffed endotracheal tube (ETT), changes in environmental pressure during transport can alter cuff pressure. Cuff management in this setting varies widely by region and by organization. In this historical review, we sought to delineate the evolution of ETT cuff management in children undergoing aeromedical retrieval in order to progress the field toward an optimum strategy in the future.
Tonsillectomy, a common childhood surgery, is associated with difficult postoperative recovery. Previous reviews provided low-grade evidence that honey may improve recovery. The BEE PAIN FREE study investigated whether honey alongside multimodal analgesia improved the recovery trajectory in children following tonsillectomy.
When parents are expected to play a significant role in the management of their children's health perioperatively, information overload for parents could have particularly detrimental consequences. Our study investigated information communication and overload in 380 parents of children undergoing any elective surgical procedure at our institution.
Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg AM FAHMS MD, PhD, DEAA, FANZA Chair of Paediatric anaesthesia, University of Western Australia; Consultant
The Paediatric Difficult Intubation Collaborative identified multiple attempts and persistence with direct laryngoscopy as risk factors for complications in children with difficult tracheal intubations and subsequently engaged in initiatives to reduce repeated attempts and persistence with direct laryngoscopy in children. We hypothesised these efforts would lead to fewer attempts, fewer direct laryngoscopy attempts and decrease complications.
Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg AM FAHMS MD, PhD, DEAA, FANZA Chair of Paediatric anaesthesia, University of Western Australia; Consultant
This review summarises the current evidence for the perioperative preparation in children with upper respiratory tract infections (URTI), including COVID-19 infection. URTI, including COVID-19 infection, are common and frequent in children who present for elective surgery. Children with URTI are at increased risk of perioperative respiratory adverse events.
There is a scarcity of prospective studies investigating the relative roles of skin prick and intradermal testing, serum specific IgE, and extended oral challenges in diagnosing children with reported β-lactam allergies.
Fasting for surgery is a routine step in the preoperative preparation for surgery. There have however been increasing concerns with regard to the high incidence of prolonged fasting in children, and the subsequent psycho-social distress and physiological consequences that this poses.
Tracheal intubation in neonates and infants is a potentially life-saving procedure. Video laryngoscopy has been found to improve first-attempt tracheal intubation success and reduce complications compared with direct laryngoscopy in children younger than 12 months.