Global pediatric anesthesia-Anglophone West Africa perspective.

BACKGROUND: This article gives the pediatric anesthesia perspective from Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, and Gambia, five out of six countries in Anglophone West Africa. Over 40% of the population of most of these countries are younger than 14 years and there is an increasing need for paediatric anesthesia services. FINDINGS: Workforce density ranges from 0.08 to 0.58 physician anesthesia providers per 100,000 population. There are only 13 trained pediatric anesthetists; ratios range from 0 to 0.4 per 100,000 children, thus pediatric anesthesia services are provided by various cadres of physician and non-physician anesthesia providers. Physician anesthesia training is mostly carried out by the West African College of Surgeons as well as national postgraduate colleges. Pediatric anesthesia services are provided in tertiary (teaching), secondary (general), district, faith-based, military, private hospitals and through surgical missions. Challenges include lack of trained personnel, high morbidity from late presentation to health facilities and financial constraints, lack of health insurance for pediatric anesthesia services, unavailability of appropriate equipment and consumables, a narrow range of medications, very few pediatric-specific operating theaters, and inadequate critical care services. SOLUTIONS: The lack of opportunities for sub-specialty training in pediatric anesthesia in West Africa is currently being addressed in Nigeria and Ghana. Non-governmental agencies fund programs and courses related to pediatric anesthesia and have also provided fully equipped operating theaters. Advocacy for pediatric anesthesia can be achieved through the National Surgical Obstetric Anesthesia and Nursing Plans Implementation Committee of the various countries. There is an urgent need for prioritization of health in the budgets of Anglophone West African countries and governments must deliberately provide support for anesthesia and surgical services. More international collaborations towards workforce training and creation of children's hospitals are needed.

Submental intubation in paediatric oral and maxillofacial surgery: Review of the literature and report of four cases.

Several oral and maxillofacial surgery procedures require the simultaneous use of the oropharyngeal space by both the surgeons and the anaesthetists. This poses a lot of challenges especially in optimally securing the airway. Nasotracheal intubation or tracheostomy with their significant morbidity might even be contraindicated in these scenarios owing to several factors elucidated in the literature. Submental endotracheal intubation might be the last resort in adequately protecting the airway without interfering with the surgery. It also permits concurrent access to the dental occlusion and nasal pyramid without the risk associated with nasal intubation and morbidity of tracheostomy. Contraindications include patients who require long periods of assisted ventilation and a severe traumatic wound on the floor of the mouth. Complications include localised infection and sepsis, poor wound healing or scarring, and post-operative salivary fistula. The rationale for this study is to describe the indications, contraindications and the technique of submental endotracheal intubation as performed in our hospital.