How Integrated Anesthesia Communication Leads to Dependable IONM Data.

Many algorithms, checklists, and escalation pathways have been created to encourage perioperative teams to share a mental model and approach patient care as a team. Respecting and empowering the many voices involved in patient care is crucial to avoid errors and improve patient safety. None of the concepts described herein are novel; however, sustained improvements in operating room culture remain elusive in many organizations. The implementation of practices directed toward driving change in operating room culture has led to improvements in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recordables, perioperative communication, and patient care practices. In this paper, we will review the importance of culture, mutual accountability, and communication in improving patient care, and share several of the processes that have been created at our pediatric tertiary care center.

Tertiary Pediatric Academic Institution's Experience With Intraoperative Neuromonitoring for Nonspinal Surgery in Children With Mucopolysaccharidosis, Based on a Novel Evidence-Based Care Algorithm.

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal deformities in mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) patients pose unique challenges when patients present for surgery, especially nonspinal surgery. MPS patients have developed postsurgical neurological deficits after nonspinal surgery. While the incidence of neurological deficits after nonspinal surgery under anesthesia is unknown, accumulating evidence provides impetus to change current practice and increased neurological monitoring in these patients. Intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring (IONM) with somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and transcranial motor evoked potentials (TcMEPs) has been implemented at select institutions with varying degree of success. This report describes our experience with IONM in the context of a multidisciplinary evidence-based care algorithm we developed at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of the electronic medical record (EPIC), for data from all MPS patients at our institution undergoing nonspinal surgery between September 2016 and March 2018. Patients were identified from IONM logs, which include procedure and patient comorbidities. Data concerning demographics, morbidities, degree of kyphoscoliosis, intraoperative administered medications and vital signs, surgical procedure, the IONM data, duration of surgery, and blood loss were extracted. Descriptive analyses were generated for all variables in the data collected. In addition, any IONM changes noted during the surgeries were identified and factors contributing to the changes described. RESULTS: Thirty-eight patients with a diagnosis of MPS underwent nonspinal surgery, and of those 38, 21 received IONM based on preoperative decision-making according to our care algorithm. Of the 21 patients who received IONM, we were able to get reliable baseline potentials on all patients. Of the 21 patients, 3 had significant neurophysiologic changes necessitating surgical/anesthetic intervention. All of these changes lasted several minutes, and the real-time IONM monitoring was able to capture them as they arose. None of the patients sustained residual neurological deficits. Thus, children who did not fit the criteria for IONM (n = 13) based on our algorithm had 0% incidence of any untoward neurological deficits after surgery (97.5% confidence interval [CI], 00%-25.5%), while 14% (95% CI, 11.5%-30.1%) of children who did fit criteria for IONM and had IONM had significant IONM changes. CONCLUSIONS: Through this case series, we describe our experience with the use of IONM and a novel care algorithm for guiding the anesthetic management of MPS patients undergoing nonspinal surgery. We conclude that they can be useful tools for provision of safe anesthetic care in this high-risk cohort.

Endoscopic Versus Open Repair for Craniosynostosis in Infants Using Propensity Score Matching to Compare Outcomes: A Multicenter Study from the Pediatric Craniofacial Collaborative Group.

BACKGROUND: The North American Pediatric Craniofacial Collaborative Group (PCCG) established the Pediatric Craniofacial Surgery Perioperative Registry to evaluate outcomes in infants and children undergoing craniosynostosis repair. The goal of this multicenter study was to utilize this registry to assess differences in blood utilization, intensive care unit (ICU) utilization, duration of hospitalization, and perioperative complications between endoscopic-assisted (ESC) and open repair in infants with craniosynostosis. We hypothesized that advantages of ESC from single-center studies would be validated based on combined data from a large multicenter registry. METHODS: Thirty-one institutions contributed data from June 2012 to September 2015. We analyzed 1382 infants younger than 12 months undergoing open (anterior and/or posterior cranial vault reconstruction, modified-Pi procedure, or strip craniectomy) or endoscopic craniectomy. The primary outcomes included transfusion data, ICU utilization, hospital length of stay, and perioperative complications; secondary outcomes included anesthesia and surgical duration. Comparison of unmatched groups (ESC: N = 311, open repair: N = 1071) and propensity score 2:1 matched groups (ESC: N = 311, open repair: N = 622) were performed by conditional logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Imbalances in baseline age and weight are inherent due to surgical selection criteria for ESC. Quality of propensity score matching in balancing age and weight between ESC and open groups was assessed by quintiles of the propensity scores. Analysis of matched groups confirmed significantly reduced utilization of blood (26% vs 81%, P < .001) and coagulation (3% vs 16%, P < .001) products in the ESC group compared to the open group. Median blood donor exposure (0 vs 1), anesthesia (168 vs 248 minutes) and surgical duration (70 vs 130 minutes), days in ICU (0 vs 2), and hospital length of stay (2 vs 4) were all significantly lower in the ESC group (all P < .001). Median volume of red blood cell administered was significantly lower in ESC (19.6 vs 26.9 mL/kg, P = .035), with a difference of approximately 7 mL/kg less for the ESC (95% confidence interval for the difference, 3-12 mL/kg), whereas the median volume of coagulation products was not significantly different between the 2 groups (21.2 vs 24.6 mL/kg, P = .73). Incidence of complications including hypotension requiring treatment with vasoactive agents (3% vs 4%), venous air embolism (1%), and hypothermia, defined as <35°C (22% vs 26%), was similar between the 2 groups, whereas postoperative intubation was significantly higher in the open group (2% vs 10%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: This multicenter study of ESC versus open craniosynostosis repair represents the largest comparison to date. It demonstrates striking advantages of ESC for young infants that may result in improved clinical outcomes, as well as increased safety.

Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring in pediatric neurosurgery.

The use of intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) in pediatric neurosurgery is not new; however, its application to a wider range of procedures is a relatively new development. The purpose of this article is to review the physiology underlying the commonly employed IONM modalities and to describe their application to a subset of pediatric neurosurgical procedures.

Suppression of calcium-induced repolarization heterogeneity as a mechanism of nitroglycerin's antiarrhythmic action.

This study examined whether the antifibrillatory action of nitroglycerin (NTG) is attributable to reduction in calcium-induced heterogeneity of repolarization independent of autonomic and coronary vasodilatory influences. The effects of intrapericardial (IPC) NTG on coronary blood flow, contractility, repolarization, and arrhythmia susceptibility were measured in anesthetized pigs (N = 43). Autonomic influences were minimized by vagotomy and beta-adrenergic blockade (metoprolol, 1.25 mg/kg, intravenous). Electrophysiological parameters were tested at 30 min, a time when coronary hemodynamics had returned to baseline. Intracoronary calcium chloride (CaCl2, 50-mg bolus) injection augmented contractility (dP/dt(max), 1760 +/- 144 to 2769 +/- 274 mmHg/s, and following NTG, 1531 +/- 384 to 2138 +/- 242 mmHg/s, P < 0.0002), reflecting increased myocardial intracellular calcium. Calcium increased repolarization heterogeneity (interlead precordial T-wave heterogeneity, 95 +/- 15 to 264 +/- 33 microV, P < 0.006; T(peak)-T(end), an index of transmural dispersion of repolarization, 37 +/- 3 to 76 +/- 6 ms, P < 0.05) and lowered repetitive extrasystole threshold (RET; 24 +/- 2 to 13 +/- 1 mA, and following NTG, 32 +/- 4 to 18 +/- 1 mA, P < 0.0001). IPC NTG raised the RET from baseline by 33% and blunted calcium-induced contractility (dP/dt(max) by 23%, P < 0.05), repolarization changes (T-wave heterogeneity by 24%, P < 0.006; T(peak)-T(end) by 18%, P = 0.04), and arrhythmia vulnerability (RET by 39%, P < 0.003). Thus, the capacity of NTG to suppress calcium-induced repolarization heterogeneity is an important mechanism of its antiarrhythmic action, which is independent of autonomic and vasodilatory actions.