Quality Improvement Protocol to Reduce Excessive Postoperative Recovery Following Cleft Palate Repair.
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed January 2026 by Dr Tom Walker
This Australian single-centre quality improvement (QI) study focussed on the anaesthetic management of children undergoing cleft palate repair with the primary aim of reducing PACU length of stay. ...
Retrospective Cohort Study of Perioperative Complications in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Children Testing SARS-CoV-2-Positive Within 21 Days Before Surgery
CoV-2-Positive Within 21 Days Before Surgery
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed July 2025 by Dr Liam O'Doherty
This is a single centre, retrospective cohort study of 523 paediatric patients who tested positive to COVID 19 within 21 days prior to surgery. Data was acquired via chart review. The primary outcome...
Optimizing pediatric tonsillectomy outcomes with an opioid sparing anesthesia protocol
Learning and continuously improving with real-world data
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed March 2025 by Dr David Kinchington
This paper is a perspective piece primarily providing insight into how one ambulatory surgical centre utilised quality improvement processes supported by new generation artificial intelligence (AI)...
Analgesic efficacy and safety of erector spinae plane block in pediatric patients undergoing elective surgery
A systematic review and Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Journal of Clinical Anesthesia
Reviewed March 2025 by Dr Matt Hart
This systematic review and meta-analysis compared analgesic efficacy and safety between erector spinae plane block (ESPB) and controls in paediatric surgical patients. The primary outcome analysed...
Peri-operative cardiac arrest in children as reported to the 7th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists
Operative cardiac arrest in children as reported to the 7th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists
Anaesthesia
Reviewed August 2024 by Dr Heather Patterson
The focus for the 7th National Audit Project (NAP7) was perioperative cardiac arrest. This paper by Oglesby and colleagues synthesizes the paediatric data from NAP7, highlighting risk factors and...
A prospective comparison of invasive and non-invasive blood pressure in children undergoing cardiac catheterization
Invasive blood pressure in children undergoing cardiac catheterization
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed December 2023 by Dr Su May Koh
This was a multicentre prospective observational study of 254 children aged under 16 undergoing cardiac catheterisation where paired non-invasive and invasive blood pressure measurements were...
The effect of intranasal dexmedetomidine administration on emergence agitation or delirium in pediatric patients after general anesthesia
A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed September 2023 by Dr Matt Jenke
Summary: This article is a meta-analysis of randomised control trials analysing the effect of preoperative intranasal dexmedetomidine on emergence agitation (EA) and emergence delirium (ED) in...
Postanesthesia complications in pediatric patients with previous SARS-CoV-2 infection
A cohort study
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed July 2023 by Dr Ian Miles
Report of a single centre, retrospective, case–control study comparing complications after anaesthesia within 90 days of a known positive PCR, as compared to matched controls. The study period was...
Supplemental intraoperative crystalloids for pediatric postoperative nausea and vomiting
A systematic review and meta-analysis
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed January 2023 by Dr Justin Skowno
PONV is an unpleasant complication of anaesthesia and surgery that we should all be doing our best to minimise. This meta-analysis cobbles together the relatively meagre number of studies looking at...
Intravenous ondansetron reduced nausea but not pruritus following intrathecal morphine in children
Interim results of a randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐control trial
Pediatric Anesthesia
Reviewed September 2022 by Dr Falk Reinholz
Study Design - Prospective, double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Single centre in USA where intrathecal morphine (ITM) is commonly utilised. - Ondansetron 0.1mg/kg (max 16mg) or...
Prevalence and Outcomes of Opioid Use Disorder in Pediatric Surgical Patients
A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Anesthesia Analgesia
Reviewed January 2023 by Dr David Sainsbury
This was a retrospective matched cohort study examining the prevalence of opioid use disorder (OUD) in 10 to 18-year-olds and the association with post-operative outcomes over a 15-year period from...
