Optimizing Outcomes After Cleft Palate Repair: Design and Implementation of a Perioperative Clinical Care Pathway.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the development process and clinical impact of implementing a standardized perioperative clinical care pathway for cleft palate repair. DESIGN: Medical records of patients undergoing primary cleft palate repair prior to pathway implementation were retrospectively reviewed as a historical control group (N = 40). The historical cohort was compared to a prospectively collected group of patients who were treated according to the pathway (N = 40). PATIENTS: Healthy, nonsyndromic infants undergoing primary cleft palate repair at a tertiary care pediatric hospital. INTERVENTIONS: A novel, standardized pathway was created through an iterative process, combining literature review with expert opinion and discussions with institutional stakeholders. The pathway integrated multimodal analgesia throughout the perioperative course and included intraoperative bilateral maxillary nerve blocks. Perioperative protocols for preoperative fasting, case timing, antiemetics, intravenous fluid management, and postoperative diet advancement were standardized. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcomes include: (1) length of hospital stay, (2) cumulative opioid consumption, (3) oral intake postoperatively. RESULTS: Patients treated according to the pathway had shorter mean length of stay (31 vs 57 hours, P < .001), decreased cumulative morphine consumption (77 vs 727 µg/kg, P < .001), shorter time to initiate oral intake (9.3 vs 22 hours, P = .01), and greater volume of oral intake in first 24 hours postoperatively (379 vs 171 mL, P < .001). There were no differences in total anesthesia time, total surgical time, or complication rates between the control and treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a standardized perioperative clinical care pathway for primary cleft palate repair is safe, feasible, and associated with reduced length of stay, reduced opioid consumption, and improved oral intake postoperatively.

Suprazygomatic maxillary nerve block: an ultrasound and cadaveric study to identify correct sonoanatomical landmarks.

​PURPOSE: Suprazygomatic maxillary nerve blocks (SMB) are used in adult and pediatric patients to provide analgesia for midface surgery and chronic maxillofacial pain syndromes. The ultrasound-guided SMB technique ensures visualisation of the needle tip, avoidance of the maxillary artery and confirmation of local anesthetic spread. The goal of this study was to correctly identify SMB sonoanatomical landmarks to ensure the nerve block is performed safely and effectively. METHODS: Following an ultrasound-guided SMB with dye injection on 2 embalmed cadavers, pre-tragal face-lift style incision with a full thickness flap dissection was performed allowing accurate visualization of the bony landmarks being used for sonography and identification of the location of the injected dye. RESULTS: This study identifies the correct sonoanatomic landmarks as the maxilla and the coronoid process of the mandible which suggests that the block needle tip and local anesthetic injection are within the infratemporal fossa as opposed to the previously reported pterygopalatine fossa. CONCLUSION: An improved understanding of the sonoanatomy will aid clinicians who are learning, performing and teaching the ultrasound-guided suprazygomatic approach to the maxillary nerve block.

Quality improvement assessment of a bianchi-technique pediatric orchiopexy perioperative pain management pathway.

BACKGROUND: Surgical correction of undescended testes is a common surgical procedure which can be performed via a two-incision technique or a single high scrotal incision (Bianchi technique). The Bianchi technique requires less surgical time and may be associated with less pain in the initial postoperative period, however it has been adopted slowly due to a lack of familiarity and perceived technical challenges of the technique. Traditionally postoperative orchiopexy pain is managed with a caudal or ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve block. As urologists at our site adopted the Bianchi technique, the anesthesiologists stopped performing caudals or ilioinguinal/iliohypogastric nerve blocks as local infiltration appeared sufficient. Therefore, this quality improvement (QI) project endeavoured to assess Alberta Children's Hospital's care pathway in its effectiveness to control pain in the first 24 h following pediatric orchiopexy using the Bianchi technique. METHODS: We completed a prospective QI project examining a care pathway for patients undergoing orchiopexy using the Bianchi technique. Eligible patients were healthy and aged 6 months to 12 years. A multimodal analgesic approach including local anesthetic surgical infiltration was used. Pain scores (FLACC) were recorded for up to 2 h postoperatively and a PPPM was completed at 24 h postoperatively. RESULTS: Sixty-four patients were included in the final analysis. The median discharge FLACC score was 0 (range 0-2) (Table 2). Median intraoperative morphine administered was 0.09 mg/kg with no significant correlations between the amount of morphine administered and postoperative pain measures. Median PPPM scores were 4 and 3.5 for unilateral and bilateral procedures, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that orchiopexies repaired using the Bianchi technique following the care pathway established at Alberta Children's Hospital are associated with minimal pain scores. Our QI project suggests that combining a Bianchi technique with a simple multimodal analgesic approach including local infiltration, negates the need for regional anesthesia techniques, yet still provides adequate analgesia.

Failed caudal block due to physiologic changes associated with a cerebrospinal fluid leak: a case report.

PURPOSE: The sum of the volumes of brain tissue, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and intracranial blood remain constant. This tenet of the Monroe-Kellie hypothesis is most often considered in the setting of intracranial hypertension, but it can also be applied in the setting of CSF volume depletion. We used this hypothesis to explain a case of failed caudal block in a patient with an iatrogenic CSF leak. CLINICAL FEATURES: A one-month-old baby (3 kg) born at 35 weeks' gestation presented for right inguinal hernia repair. His past medical history was significant for arthrogryposis (congenital joint contractures in two or more areas of the body) as well as ongoing apneic episodes that required continuous positive airway pressure therapy and neonatal intensive care. An ultrasound confirmed caudal block was completed and within five minutes of the procedure, the patient's heart rate increased, with an accompanying slight increase in T-wave amplitude. Pinch tests revealed anesthesia to the feet bilaterally but insufficient anesthesia to the abdomen. The surgery was delayed but successfully completed under general anesthesia the following week. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and spine following the surgery showed a significant CSF leak with engorgement of the epidural venous plexus along the entire spine. These findings were consistent with a CSF leak likely secondary to a prior lumbar puncture (at age 13 days) that was part of the investigation of his respiratory issues. CONCLUSIONS: The possible mechanism of this failed caudal block was high systemic absorption of anesthetic given the epidural venous plexus engorgement thus leaving less anesthetic acting within the CSF and on the exiting spinal nerves. Decreased CSF flow in the thecal sac might also have contributed, as might dilution of the remaining local anesthetic caused by large amounts of leaking CSF within the epidural space.

Ultrasound assessment of gastric volume in the fasted pediatric patient undergoing upper gastrointestinal endoscopy: development of a predictive model using endoscopically suctioned volumes.

BACKGROUND: Aspiration of gastric contents can be a serious anesthetic-related complication. Gastric antral sonography prior to anesthesia may have a role in identifying pediatric patients at risk of aspiration. We examined the relationship between sonographic antral area and endoscopically suctioned gastric volumes, and whether a 3-point qualitative grading system is applicable in pediatric patients. METHODS: Fasted patients presenting to a pediatric hospital for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were included in the study. Sonographic measurement of the antral cross-sectional area (CSA) in supine (supine CSA) and right lateral decubitus (RLD CSA) position was completed, and the antrum was designated as empty or nonempty. Gastric contents were endoscopically suctioned and measured. Multiple regression analysis was used to fit a mathematical model to estimate gastric volume. RESULTS: One hundred patients (aged 11-216 months) were included. The gastric antrum was measured in 94% and 99% of patients in the supine and RLD positions, respectively. Gastric antral CSA correlated with total gastric volume in both supine (ρ = 0.63) and RLD (ρ = 0.67) positions. A mathematical model incorporating RLD CSA and age (R(2)  = 0.60) was determined as the best-fit model to predict gastric volumes. Increasing gastric antral grade (0-2) was associated with increasing gastric fluid volume. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that sonographic assessment of the gastric antrum provides useful information regarding gastric content (empty versus nonempty) and volume (ml·kg(-1) ) in pediatric patients. Results suggest that the three-point grading system may be a valuable tool to assess gastric 'fullness' based on a qualitative exam of the antrum.