Neonates and Anesthesia

An FDA alert in December 2016 on the safety of general anesthesia and sedations in patients less than 3 years of age and pregnant women has raised doubts in relation to the attitude that professionals implicated in these procedures should adopt in relation to these specific group of patients. Confronted with this situation, the following medical scientific societies: Sociedad Española de Anestesia y Reanimación (SEDAR), Sociedad Española de Cirugía Pediátrica (SECP), Sociedad Española de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos (SECIP) y Sociedad Española de Neonatología (SENeo), have established a working group to analyze and clarify the safety of these techniques...

Hypotension commonly occurs in parturients undergoing cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia. This leads to maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes, including maternal nausea and vomiting and fetal acidosis, and might even lead to cardiovascular collapse if not treated. Arterial dilatation and reduction in systemic vascular resistance are the major contributors to spinal-induced hypotension. Therefore, strategies aimed at expanding the intravascular volume with fluid loading or increasing venous return with lower extremities mechanical compression and lateral tilt have had limited effectiveness in the management of spinal-induced hypotension...

INTRODUCTION: Meatal stenosis (MS) is a known complication of newborn circumcision. Symptoms are usually masked in young kids with a diaper. Deflation of urinary stream, dysuria, urinary frequency, and incontinence are the most common reported symptoms. Diagnosis of MS is still controversial. A narrow pinpoint urethral meatus is the current accepted diagnostic criteria. OBJECTIVE: In our practice, we observed that our cases do not overlap to the classic definition and presentation of MS...

BACKGROUND: Growing animal evidence demonstrates that prolonged exposure to propofol during brain development induces widespread neuronal cell death, but there is little information on the role of astrocytes. Astrocytes can release neurotrophic growth factors such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which can exert the protective effect on neurons in paracrine fashion. We hypothesize that during propofol anesthesia, BDNF released from developing astrocytes may not be sufficient to prevent propofol-induced neurotoxicity...

INTRODUCTION: The aim, of this study is to describe our approach and outcomes in an outpatient anesthesia/analgesia antepartum clinic among ambulatory high-risk obstetric patients. METHODS: This was a retrospective evaluation of the activity of the anesthesiology antenatal clinic from its inception in 2010 until 2016 (a 5-year period). The clinic works in collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. The catchment area of the study University Affiliated Hospital attends a multiethnic population characterized by high parity...

BACKGROUND: Syringomyelia is a rare, slowly progressive neurological condition characterized by the presence of a syrinx within the spinal cord. Consensus regarding the safest mode of delivery and anesthetic management in patients with syringomyelia remains controversial and presents management dilemmas. This study reviews the cases of syringomyelia at our institution and provides a systematic review of the literature to guide decisions regarding labor and delivery management. METHODS: A retrospective review of cases at our hospital from 2002 to 2014 and a systematic review of the literature from 1946 to 2014 were undertaken...

BACKGROUND: Current recommendations for women undergoing cesarean delivery include 15° left tilt for uterine displacement to prevent aortocaval compression, although this degree of tilt is practically never achieved. We hypothesized that under contemporary clinical practice, including a crystalloid coload and phenylephrine infusion targeted at maintaining baseline systolic blood pressure, there would be no effect of maternal position on neonatal acid base status in women undergoing elective cesarean delivery with spinal anesthesia...

Nylon cable tie has been shown to be an effective and economical method for fixing fractured ribs in the neonatal foal. This article describes a modification of the previously described technique. Under general anesthesia, the fractured ribs were exposed and a hole was drilled in the dorsal and ventral fragments. The fracture was not reduced, leaving the fragments overriding each other. The nylon cable tie was passed through the hole in the dorsal fragment from the external surface of the rib. The free end of the cable tie was then passed through the hole in the ventral fragment from the external surface of the rib and the tie was tightened...

The potential for commonly used anesthetics and sedatives to cause neuroapoptosis and other neurodegenerative changes in the developing mammalian brain has become evident in animal studies over the past 15 years. This concern has led to a number of retrospective studies in human infants and young children, and some of these studies observed an association between exposure to general anesthesia as an infant, and later neurobehavioral problems in childhood. This association is particularly evident for prolonged or repeated exposures...

The Food and Drug Administration (USA) warning (December 2016) on the safety of general anesthesia and sedation in patients younger that 3 years and pregnant women has raised many questions about the attitude that should be taken by professionals involved in the treatment of these patients. In view of this situation, the following Medical Scientific Societies: SEDAR, SECP, SECIP and SENeo have constituted a working group to analyze and clarify the safety of these techniques. In the present article, we conclude that at present both general anesthesia and deep sedation should continue to be considered safe techniques because there is no sufficient opposing evidence in clinical studies with humans...

OBJECTIVES: To present results of a one-stage minimally invasive surgical procedure for congenital choanal atresia (CCA). Seven outcome measures were applied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective study conducted between 1999 and 2015. The same endonasal endoscopic approach with multiflaps and no stenting was used on 36 children. The flaps were attached with fibrine glue. There were 50% unilateral and 50% bilateral cases, 70% primary and 30% secondary surgery. The mean age at primary surgery for bilateral atresia was 10 days and for unilateral atresia 4 years...

BACKGROUND: The congenital granular cell tumour of the newborn, also known as congenital epulis or Neumann's tumor, is rare. It occurs on the gingiva of the anterior alveolar ridge of the jaws. This lesion behaves in a benign manner and no recurrent or metastatic lesions have been reported. CASE REPORT: We are reporting a 2-day-old female neonate, who came to our unit with a well defined, solitary, firm mass arising from the maxillary anterior region measuring about 3...

An increasing number of infants and children undergo surgery and are exposed to anesthesia as a part of medical care each year. Isoflurane is a commonly used anesthetic in the pediatric population. However, previous studies have reported widespread isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis and cognitive impairments in neonatal animal models, raising concerns over the administration of isoflurane in the pediatric population. The current study investigated the effects of rutin, a flavonoid, on isoflurane-induced neuroapoptosis in a neonatal rodent model...

BACKGROUND: Topical anesthesia is used to control pain associated with many procedures in medicine. Today, the product most commonly applied for topical anesthesia in Germany is EMLA(®) (lidocaine/prilocaine). However, since prilocaine is a methemoglobin-inducing agent, there are limitations to its use, especially in neonates and infants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prilocaine and lidocaine as well as propylene glycol, a penetration enhancer, and trometamol, a buffer substance, in anesthetic creams...

BACKGROUND: Rates of hypothermia for women undergoing spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery are high and prevention is desirable. This trial compared the effectiveness of preoperative warming versus usual care among women receiving intrathecal morphine, which is thought to exacerbate perioperative heat loss. METHODS: A prospective, single-blinded, randomized controlled trial compared 20 minutes of forced air warming (plus intravenous fluid warming) versus no active preoperative warming (plus intravenous fluid warming) in 50 healthy American Society of Anesthesiologists graded II women receiving intrathecal morphine as part of spinal anesthesia for elective cesarean delivery...

BACKGROUND: Previous research has suggested correlations between the end-tidal partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PETCO2) and the partial pressure of arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2) in mechanically ventilated patients, but both the relationship between PETCO2 and PaCO2 and whether PETCO2 accurately reflects PaCO2 in neonates and infants are still controversial. This study evaluated remote sampling of PETCO2 via an epidural catheter within an endotracheal tube to determine the procedure's clinical safety and efficacy in the perioperative management of neonates...

We report a case of May-Hegglin anomaly (MHA) in a woman who had a successful labor and delivery under epidural anesthesia. MHA is an inherited thrombocytopenia easily misdiagnosed as idiopathic (immune) thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Early and appropriate diagnosis of MHA during pregnancy is essential for optimal maternal and neonatal delivery outcome. Additionally, it can avoid unnecessary diagnostic studies, such as bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, and even harmful therapies with corticosteroids, immunosuppressive agents, and splenectomy...

OBJECTIVE: General anesthesia impairs spatial learning and memory in neonatal rats. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the Wnt pathway was involved in neonatal isoflurane and sevoflurane exposure-induced neurocognitive impairment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to administration isoflurane or sevoflurane for 6 hours at postnatal 7 days. Wnt inhibitor XAV 939 was administrated 30 min before anesthesia. Morris water maze was used to test the learning and memory at 5-week and 10-week...

Several studies have reported that neonatal exposure to propofol may cause neurotoxicity in the hippocampus, involving long-term neurodevelopmental impairments. We aimed to detect real-time changes of miR-132 of neonatal rats exposed to propofol anesthesia and to characterize subsequent changes in learning and memory. Seven-day-old Sprague-Dawley rats were injected intraperitoneally with 40 mg/kg propofol at 0, 120, and 240 minutes or with isotonic fat emulsion as controls. Expression levels of miR-132 were assessed, and the mRNA and protein expression levels of p250GAP, a prominent target for miR-132, were evaluated at different time points during development...

The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of ephedrine intrathecal injection on maternal thermodynamics and spinal nerve block in cesarean section. A total of 107 patients undergoing elective cesarean section under combined spinal epidural anesthesia were randomly divided into two groups: group E: Bupivacaine (6 mg) combined with ephedrine (15 mg) and group C: Bupivacaine (6 mg). Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate (HR), the incidence of hypotension, hypertension, tachycardia, nausea and vomiting were all recorded...