Venous Thromboembolism Risk and Thromboprophylaxis in Pediatric Neurosurgery and Spinal Injury: Current Trends and Literature Review.

Although the entities of venous thromboembolism (VTE), deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, and thromboprophylaxis in adult patients undergoing brain tumor and spine surgery, traumatic brain injury and elective neurosurgical procedures are widely elucidated, the same is not valid when pediatric patients are under consideration. An attempt to review the peculiarities of these patients through a comprehensive bibliographic review is undertaken. We performed a narrative summary of the relevant literature dedicated to pediatric patients, centered on traumatic brain injury, the general incidence of thromboembolic disease in this patient population, the role of low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) in the treatment and prophylaxis of VTE, and its role in elective neurosurgical procedures, including spinal operations. Additionally, the risk of deep venous thrombosis in elective neurosurgical procedures is reviewed. Due to inherent limitations of the current studies, particularly a restricted number of patients, our data are underpowered to give a definitive protocol and guidelines for all the affected patients. Our current conclusions, based only on pediatric patients, argue that there is limited risk of VTE in pediatric patients suffering from brain tumors and that the possibility of VTE is very low in children undergoing elective neurosurgical procedures. There is no consensus regarding the exact incidence of VTE in traumatic brain injury patients. LMWH seems to be a safe and effective choice for the "at risk" pediatric patient population defined as being older than 15 years, venous catheterization, nonaccidental trauma, increased length of hospital stays, orthopaedic (including spinal) surgery, and cranial surgery.

Azygos vein cannulation after catheterisation of the left internal jugular vein in a toddler.

Central venous catheterisation is routinely performed in paediatric patients to facilitate therapeutic management when long-term vascular access is needed. Misplacement of the catheter tip in thoracic vessels other than the superior vena cava has been described, along with related complications. Hereby, a case of a 15-month-old child is presented with a fully functional Hickman catheter introduced via the left internal jugular vein. The tip of the catheter was misplaced into the azygos vein. Intraoperative spot fluoroscopic images and anatomical explanations for the course of the catheter are presented. An understanding of the aetiology of the radiological appearance may help to increase recognition of such cases and avoid complications.