Pediatric airway management

High-flow nasal oxygen for children's airway surgery to reduce hypoxaemic events: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Tubeless upper airway surgery in children is a complex procedure in which surgeons and anaesthetists share the same operating field. These procedures are often interrupted for rescue oxygen therapy. The efficacy of nasal high-flow oxygen to decrease the frequency of rescue interruptions in children undergoing upper airway surgery is unknown.

METHODS

In this multicentre randomised trial conducted in five tertiary hospitals in Australia, children aged 0-16 years who required tubeless upper airway surgery were randomised (1:1) by a web-based randomisation tool to either nasal high-flow oxygen delivery or standard oxygen therapy (oxygen flows of up to 6 L/min). Randomisation was stratified by site and age (<1 year, 1-4 years, and 5-16 years). Subsequent tubeless upper airway surgery procedures in the same child could be included if there were more than 2 weeks between the procedures, and repeat surgical procedures meeting this condition were considered to be independent events. The oxygen therapy could not be masked, but the investigators remained blinded until outcome data were locked. The primary outcome was successful anaesthesia without interruption of the surgical procedure for rescue oxygenation. A rescue oxygenation event was defined as an interruption of the surgical procedure to deliver positive pressure ventilation using either bag mask technique, insertion of an endotracheal tube, or laryngeal mask to improve oxygenation. There were ten secondary outcomes, including the proportion of procedures with a hypoxaemic event (SpO2 <90%). Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat (ITT) basis. Safety was assessed in all enrolled participants. This trial is registered in the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12618000949280, and is completed.

FINDINGS

From Sept 4, 2018, to April 12, 2021, 581 procedures in 487 children were randomly assigned to high-flow oxygen (297 procedures) or standard care (284 procedures); after exclusions, 528 procedures (267 assigned to high-flow oxygen and 261 assigned to standard care) in 483 children (293 male and 190 female) were included in the ITT analysis. The primary outcome of successful anaesthesia without interruption for tubeless airway surgery was achieved in 236 (88%) of 267 procedures on high-flow oxygen and in 229 (88%) of 261 procedures on standard care (adjusted risk ratio [RR] 1·02, 95% CI 0·96-1·08, p=0·82). There were 51 (19%) procedures with a hypoxaemic event in the high-flow oxygen group and 57 (22%) in the standard care group (RR 0·86, 95% CI 0·58-1·24). Of the other prespecified secondary outcomes, none showed a significant difference between groups. Adverse events of epistaxis, laryngospasm, bronchospasm, hypoxaemia, bradycardia, cardiac arrest, hypotension, or death were similar in both study groups.

INTERPRETATION

Nasal high-flow oxygen during tubeless upper airway surgery did not reduce the proportion of interruptions of the procedures for rescue oxygenation compared with standard care. There were no differences in adverse events between the intervention groups. These results suggest that both approaches, nasal high-flow or standard oxygen, are suitable alternatives to maintain oxygenation in children undergoing upper airway surgery.

FUNDING

Thrasher Research Fund, the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, the Society for Paediatric Anaesthesia in New Zealand and Australia.

Advances in pediatric perioperative care using artificial intelligence

PURPOSE OF THIS REVIEW

This article explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to evaluate risks in pediatric perioperative care. It will also describe potential future applications of AI, such as models for airway device selection, controlling anesthetic depth and nociception during surgery, and contributing to the training of pediatric anesthesia providers.

RECENT FINDINGS

The use of AI in healthcare has increased in recent years, largely due to the accessibility of large datasets, such as those gathered from electronic health records. Although there has been less focus on pediatric anesthesia compared to adult anesthesia, research is on- going, especially for applications focused on risk factor identification for adverse perioperative events. Despite these advances, the lack of formal external validation or feasibility testing results in uncertainty surrounding the clinical applicability of these tools.

SUMMARY

The goal of using AI in pediatric anesthesia is to assist clinicians in providing safe and efficient care. Given that children are a vulnerable population, it is crucial to ensure that both clinicians and families have confidence in the clinical tools used to inform medical decision- making. While not yet a reality, the eventual incorporation of AI-based tools holds great potential to contribute to the safe and efficient care of our patients.

Defining pediatric trauma center resource utilization: Multidisciplinary consensus-based criteria from the Pediatric Trauma Society

BACKGROUND

Pediatric trauma triage and transfer decisions should incorporate the likelihood that an injured child will require pediatric trauma center (PTC) resources. Resource utilization may be a better basis than mortality risk when evaluating pediatric injury severity. However, there is currently no consensus definition of PTC resource utilization that encompasses the full scope of PTC services.

METHODS

Consensus criteria were developed in collaboration with the Pediatric Trauma Society (PTS) Research Committee using a modified Delphi approach. An expert panel was recruited representing the following pediatric disciplines: prehospital care, emergency medicine, nursing, general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, anesthesia, radiology, critical care, child abuse, and rehabilitation medicine. Resource utilization criteria were drafted from a comprehensive literature review, seeking to complete the following sentence: "Pediatric patients with traumatic injuries have used PTC resources if they..." Criteria were then refined and underwent three rounds of voting to achieve consensus. Consensus was defined as agreement of 75% or more panelists. Between the second and third voting rounds, broad feedback from attendees of the PTS annual meeting was obtained.

RESULTS

The Delphi panel consisted of 18 members from 15 institutions. Twenty initial draft criteria were developed based on literature review. These criteria dealt with airway interventions, vascular access, initial stabilization procedures, fluid resuscitation, blood product transfusion, abdominal trauma/solid organ injury management, intensive care monitoring, anesthesia/sedation, advanced imaging, radiologic interpretation, child abuse evaluation, and rehabilitative services. After refinement and panel voting, 14 criteria achieved the >75% consensus threshold. The final consensus criteria were reviewed and endorsed by the PTS Guidelines Committee.

CONCLUSION

This study defines multidisciplinary consensus-based criteria for PTC resource utilization. These criteria are an important step toward developing a criterion standard, resource-based, pediatric injury severity metric. Such metrics can help optimize system-level pediatric trauma triage based on likelihood of requiring PTC resources.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Diagnostic Test/Criteria; Level II.

[Rare diseases in anesthesia : Knowledge mining and core points of perioperative anesthesiological care]

Due to refined and new diagnostic possibilities and improved medical care, in the future anesthesiologists will be more frequently confronted with patients suffering from rare diseases. As the physicians providing perioperative care often have little or no experience with the diseases of such patients, the access to high-quality specific literature is essential. In this respect they must be able to assess and classify the quality of the information which is predominantly available online, especially as when evidence-based knowledge is available, it is only available to a very limited extent. Patients with rare diseases mostly present with recurring problem constellations. A systematic assignment to the most important problem areas (airway, circulation, metabolism, etc.) as well as a structured and interdisciplinary approach are decisive for a successful perioperative treatment of these patients. Due to low prevalence, lack of personal experience and lack of evidence-based data, anesthesia in patients with SE is an absolute challenge, especially in time-critical situations.

Anesthesia and Perioperative Management for Surgical Correction of Neuromuscular Scoliosis in Children: A Narrative Review

Scoliosis is the most frequent spinal deformity in children. It is defined as a spine deviation of more than 10° in the frontal plane. Neuromuscular scoliosis is associated with a heterogeneous spectrum of muscular or neurological symptoms. Anesthesia and surgery for neuromuscular scoliosis have a higher risk of perioperative complications than for idiopathic scoliosis. However, patients and their relatives report improved quality of life after the surgery. The challenges for the anesthetic team result from the specifics of the anesthesia, the scoliosis surgery itself, or factors associated with neuromuscular disorders. This article includes details of preanesthetic evaluation, intraoperative management, and postoperative care in the intensive care unit from an anesthetic view. In summary, adequate care for patients who have neuromuscular scoliosis requires interdisciplinary cooperation. This comprehensive review covers information about the perioperative management of neuromuscular scoliosis for all healthcare providers who take care of these patients during the perioperative period, with an emphasis on anesthesia management.

Quality Improvement of Pediatric Airway Emergency Carts: Standardization, Streamlining, and Simulation

Objective Pediatric airway emergencies are amongst the most tenuous scenarios faced by on-call providers, requiring quick access to the appropriate equipment and a timely response. In the present study, we report on the testing and improvement of pediatric airway carts at our institution. The primary objective was to optimize our pediatric airway emergency carts to improve response times. Secondarily, we aimed to implement a training scenario to improve providers' familiarity and confidence in attaining and assembling equipment. Methods Surveys of airway cart configuration at our hospital and others were used to identify differences. Volunteer otolaryngology physicians were tasked with responding to a mock scenario using an existing cart or one modified based on the survey. Outcomes included (1) time to arrival of the provider with the appropriate equipment, (2) time from arrival to complete assembly of equipment, and (3) time for re-assembly of the equipment. Results The survey revealed differences in cart equipment and location. The inclusion of a flexible bronchoscope and a video tower, as well as the placement of the carts directly within the ICU, resulted in improved time to arrival by an average of 181 seconds, and improved equipment assembly time by an average of 85 seconds. Discussion Standardization of pediatric airway equipment on the cart and location near critically ill patients improved response efficiency. Simulation led to improved confidence and reduced reaction time among providers at all levels of experience. Conclusion The present study provides an example for the optimization of airway carts, which can be adapted by healthcare systems to their local milieu.

A Prospective Observational Crossover Study Comparing Intubation by Pediatric Residents Using Video Laryngoscopy and Direct Laryngoscopy on a Pierre Robin Simulation Manikin

INTRODUCTION

Video laryngoscopy (VL) has been proposed to increase the likelihood of successful intubation in patients with predicted difficult airways such as those with Pierre Robin sequence (PRS). Prior studies have focused on the performance of anesthesiologists, who are generally considered airway experts. Our primary aim was to investigate the success rate of intubation using VL compared with direct laryngoscopy (DL) when attempted by pediatric residents on a PRS model.

METHODS

Participants were administered a 5-minute refresher video on 2 VL techniques (CMAC, conventional geometry VL, and McGrath, unconventional geometry VL) and DL. The participants were asked to intubate the AirSim PRS infant manikin. The order of VL and DL use was randomly selected. All intubations were video recorded, and the recordings were analyzed by 3 anesthesiologists blinded to the participant's identity and previous experience.

RESULTS

Seventeen of 23 residents succeeded in intubating the PRS model using DL. Only 9 residents succeeded in intubating the PRS model using VL (conventional or unconventional geometry). Intubation success rate was higher when comparing DL with VL ( P = 0.04) and similar when comparing VL devices ( P = 0.69).

DISCUSSION

Contrary to expectation, the intubation success rate was lower using VL than with DL among pediatric residents. This should be considered when designing residency training and in real-life resuscitation.

Impact of Intubator's Training Level on First-Pass Success of Endotracheal Intubation in Acute Care Settings: A Four-Center Retrospective Study

(1) Background: First-pass success (FPS) of endotracheal intubation is more challenging in children than in adults. We aimed to identify factors associated with FPS of intubation in acute care settings. (2) Methods: We analyzed data of children aged <10 years who underwent intubation within ≤24 h of arrival at four Korean emergency departments (2016−2019). Variables were compared according to FPS. A logistic regression was performed to quantify the association of factors with FPS. An experienced intubator was defined as a senior resident or a specialist. (3) Results: Of 280 children, 169 (60.4%) had FPS. The children with FPS were older (median age, 23.0 vs. 11.0 months; p = 0.018), were less frequently in their infancy (36.1% vs. 50.5%; p = 0.017), and were less likely to have respiratory compromise (41.4% vs. 55.0%; p = 0.030). The children with FPS tended to be more often intubated by experienced intubators than those without FPS (87.0% vs. 78.4%; p = 0.057). Desaturation was rarer in those with FPS. Factors associated with FPS were experienced intubators (aOR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.01−3.67) and children’s age ≥12 months (1.84; 1.13−3.02). (4) Conclusion: FPS of intubation can be facilitated by deploying or developing clinically competent intubators, particularly for infants, in acute care settings.