Laryngeal Mask Airway Versus Endotracheal Intubation during Lacrimal Duct Stenosis Surgery in Children-A Retrospective Analysis.

Background: The use of laryngeal masks in the surgical treatment of infantile lacrimal duct stenosis is controversial due to the potential risk of aspiration. Aims: This study investigates airway procedures in children aged <6 years for surgery of lacrimal duct stenosis in a tertiary care university hospital. Methods: After institutional approval, airway procedures, duration of anesthesiological measures, and airway-related complications were retrospectively analyzed. Patients were divided into two groups according to the airway procedures used (endotracheal tube [ET] vs. laryngeal mask [LMA] airway). Associations were calculated using the Chi-square test or Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: Clinical data of 84 patients (ET n = 36 [42.9%] vs. LMA n = 48 [57.1%]) were analyzed. There were no significant differences in surgical treatment, age distribution, and pre-existing conditions between the groups. None of the patients showed evidence of tracheal aspiration or changes in measured oxygen saturation. LMA airway shortened time for anesthesia induction (p = 0.006) and time for recovery/emergence period (p = 0.03). In contrast, the time to discharge from the recovery room was significantly prolonged using LMA (p = 0.001). A total of 7 adverse events were recorded. Five of these were directly or indirectly related to ET (laryngo-/bronchospasm; muscle relaxant residual). Conclusions: LMA airway for infantile lacrimal duct stenosis seems to be a safe procedure and should be used in appropriate pediatric patients due to its lower invasiveness, low complication rate, and time savings.

Evaluation of a modified paediatric early warning score for children with congenital heart disease.

BACKGROUND: Paediatric early warning score systems are used for early detection of clinical deterioration of patients in paediatric wards. Several paediatric early warning scores have been developed, but most of them are not suitable for children with cyanotic CHD who are adapted to lower arterial oxygen saturation. AIM: The present study compared the original paediatric early warning system of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland with a modification for children with cyanotic CHD. DESIGN: Retrospective single-centre study in a paediatric cardiology intermediate care unit at a German university hospital. RESULTS: The distribution of recorded values showed a significant shift towards higher score values in patients with cyanotic CHD (p < 0.001) using the original score, but not with the modification. An analysis of sensitivity and specificity for the factor "requirement of action" showed an area under the receiver operating characteristic for non-cyanotic patients of 0.908 (95% CI 0.862-0.954). For patients with cyanotic CHD, using the original score, the area under the receiver operating characteristic was reduced to 0.731 (95% CI 0.637-0.824, p = 0.001) compared to 0.862 (95% CI 0.809-0.915, p = 0.207), when the modified score was used. Using the critical threshold of scores ≥ 4 in patients with cyanotic CHD, sensitivity and specificity for the modified score was higher than for the original (sensitivity 78.8 versus 72.7%, specificity 78.2 versus 58.4%). CONCLUSION: The modified score is a uniform scoring system for identifying clinical deterioration, which can be used in children with and without cyanotic CHD.

Nalbuphine as analgesic in preschool children undergoing ophthalmic surgery and the occurrence of emergence delirium.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Perioperative pain in children is often inadequately treated, and emergence agitation is common. The purpose of this analysis was to determine whether nalbuphine is suitable for perioperative eye pain and to analyse if it influences the occurrence of emergence delirium/agitation (EDA) in children undergoing ophthalmic surgery in general anaesthesia. METHODS: Retrospective cohort analysis of 50 children in preschool age undergoing general anaesthesia for ophthalmic surgery receiving nalbuphine as a postoperative analgesic in a German university hospital from June 2020 to February 2021.Scores and values for pain and EDA were routinely recorded after awakening and during the stay in the recovery room. Data were evaluated retrospectively from the medical records. RESULTS: A total of 50 children (17 girls and 33 boys) underwent general anaesthesia for ophthalmic surgery. The median age of the children included was 20.5 months (range, 1-68 months), the median body weight was 12.25 kg (range, 2.9-29 kg). All patients received ibuprofen (10 mg/kg1) during induction of anaesthesia and nalbuphine (0.1 mg/kg) at the end of surgery. All patients had an Paediatric-Anaesthesia-Emergence-Delirium-I-score (PAED-ED-I Score) of less than 6 and acceptable Face-Legs-Activity-Cry-Consolability-scores (FLACC less than 3) on waking and on leaving the recovery room. CONCLUSION: Nalbuphine shows a sufficient analgesic effect for pain therapy following ophthalmic surgery in preschool children. Nalbuphine seems to reduce the incidence of EDA in children undergoing ophthalmic surgery.

Human metapneumovirus infection in the cardiac paediatric ICU before and during COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort analysis.

INTRODUCTION: This study investigates the hygiene standards in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and their impact on the perioperative incidence of human metapneumovirus as well as the typical symptom burden of human metapneumovirus-infected children with CHDs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2018 and July 2021, all patients of a cardiac paediatric ICU of a German university hospital were included in this retrospective cohort analysis. RESULTS: A total of 589 patients with CHD were included in the analysis. Three hundred and fifty-two patients (148 females and 204 males) were admitted before the introduction of social distancing and face masks between March 2018 and 15 April 2020 (cohort A). Two hundred and thirty-seven patients (118 females and 119 males) were admitted after the introduction between April 16 and July 2021 (cohort B). In cohort A, human metapneumovirus was detected in 11 out of 352 patients (3.1%) during their stay at cardiac paediatric ICU. In cohort B, one patient out of 237 (0.4%) tested positive for human metapneumovirus. Patients who tested positive for human metapneumovirus stayed in cardiac paediatric ICU for a median of 17.5 days (range, 2-45 days). Patients without a detected human metapneumovirus infection stayed in the cardiac paediatric ICU for a median of 4 days (range, 0.5-114 days). Nine out of 12 (75%) human metapneumovirus-positive patients showed atelectasis. CONCLUSION: Perioperative human metapneumovirus infections prolong cardiac paediatric ICU stay in children with CHD. In affected patients, pulmonary impairment with typical symptoms appears. Under certain circumstances, a complication-rich perioperative infection with human metapneumovirus could be prevented in paediatric cardiac high-risk patients by prophylactic hygiene intervention.

Dexmedetomidine as a sole sedative for procedural sedation in preterm and neonate infants: A retrospective analysis.

BACKGROUND: Many different sedation concepts for magnetic resonance imaging have been described for prematurely and term-born infants, ranging from "no sedation" to general anesthesia. Dexmedetomidine is an alpha-2 receptor agonist that is frequently used to sedate older children, because the anesthesiologist can easily adjust sedation depth, the patient maintains spontaneous breathing, and awakens rapidly afterwards. AIMS: The present study evaluates whether dexmedetomidine could safely be used as the sole sedative for prematurely and term-born infants less than 60 weeks postconceptional age undergoing diagnostic procedures. METHODS: We performed a retrospective monocentric analysis of n = 39 prematurely and term-born infants (<60 weeks postconceptional age or a body weight <5 kg) who were sedated with dexmedetomidine for an MRI at a German university hospital from August 2016 to November 2018. RESULTS: Successful imaging was achieved in all cases. The median initial bolus of dexmedetomidine administered over 10 min was 1.39 µg kg-1 body weight (range 0.34-3.64 µg kg-1 ), followed with a continuous infusion at a median rate of 1.00 µg kg-1  h-1 (range 0.5-3.5 µg kg-1  h-1 ); however, 3 patients (7%) needed some additional sedation (ketamine or propofol). All patients, including 10 infants who had previously required respiratory support, underwent the procedure without any relevant desaturation or apnea. Bradycardia was observed in up to 15 out of 39 cases (38.5%), but only four (10.3% in total and 26.7% of bradycardia) required atropine. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that dexmedetomidine can be safely used for procedural sedation in the high-risk cohort of prematurely and term-born infants less than 60 weeks postconceptional age. Apnea during procedural sedation and subsequent stay in the recovery room is avoided, but bradycardia remains a relevant risk that may require treatment.

[SARS-CoV-2 positive child-What to do if inhalation induction of anesthesia is unavoidable?] / SARS-CoV-2-positives Kind ­ Was tun bei unvermeidbarer inhalativer Narkoseeinleitung?

Induction of anesthesia by inhalation is very common in children due to difficult venous conditions and especially in uncooperative children. During the study on complications in the pediatric anesthesia in Europe (APRICOT study) including almost 30,000 patients, 48% of the children were induced by inhalation.Under the conditions of the corona pandemic, however, induction of anesthesia by inhalation represents an increased risk of infection due to the potential release of aerosols. Rapid sequence induction is recommended for anesthesia induction and definitive airway management for adults and children in the current pandemic situation.The present case demonstrates that there can be situations in children in which induction of anesthesia by inhalation is unavoidable and shows a potential procedure for reducing the risk of infection for the anesthesia personnel.

Basic fibroblast growth factor controls migration in human mesenchymal stem cells.

Little is known about the migration of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Some therapeutic approaches had demonstrated that MSCs were able to regenerate injured tissues when applied from different sites of application. This implies that MSCs are not only able to migrate but also that the direction of migration is controlled. Factors that are involved in the control of the migration of MSCs are widely unknown. The migratory ability of isolated MSCs was tested in different conditions. The migratory capability was examined using Boyden chamber assay in the presence or absence of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), erythropoietin, interleukin-6, stromal cell-derived factor-beta, and vascular endothelial growth factor. bFGF in particular was able to increase the migratory activity of MSCs through activation of the Akt/protein kinase B (PKB) pathway. The results were supported by analyzing the orientation of the cytoskeleton. In the presence of a bFGF gradient, the actin filaments developed a parallelized pattern that was strongly related to the gradient. Surprisingly, the influence of bFGF was not only an attraction but also routing of MSCs. The bFGF gradient experiment showed that low concentrations of bFGF lead to an attraction of the cells, whereas higher concentrations resulted in repulsion. This ambivalent effect of bFGF provides the possibility to a purposeful routing of MSCs.