Difficult airway code activation for emergency endotracheal intubation outside the operating room in a tertiary care university hospital of Thailand: A single-center retrospective observational study.

Emergency airway management outside the operating room (OR) is a higher risk procedure as compared to the OR setting. Inappropriate airway management leading to complications, including pulmonary aspiration, dental trauma, esophageal intubation, prolonged recovery, unplanned intensive care unit admission and death. The emergency difficult airway management team of Siriraj hospital has been established since 2018 under the name of Code-D delta. The aim of this study is to determine the rate of Code D-delta activation, the performance of the code, the complications and outcome of the patients. This is a single-centered, observational, and retrospective study included all adult patient who was emergency intubated outside the OR between July and November 2020. The criteria for code D-delta activation included failed intubation for more than 2 attempts and suspected difficult intubation. The collected data were categorized into Code D-delta activation and non-activation group. The primary outcome was a frequency of Code D-delta activation. The demographic data, ward and indication of activation, intubation process, the complications of intubation were also collected and analyzed. During the study period, 247 patients with 307 intubations were included. The incidence of code D-delta activation was 8.14%. Regarding indication of activation, failed intubation more than 2 attempts was 40%, while suspected difficult intubation was 92%. Respiratory failure was the highest main diagnosis at 36%. The highest rate of activation was from medicine ward (60%), followed by surgery ward (16%) and emergency department (16%). Regarding the code responses and intubation performance, 7 and 10 minutes were the median time from call to scene in- and out- of official hours. The success rate of intubation at scene by code D-delta team was 85%. The airway and other complications were comparable between groups. This is the first study about emergency difficult airway management team in university hospital of Thailand. This study showed the rate of Code-D delta activation, the emergency airway management code, was 8.14% with the success rate of 85% at scene. Emergency airway management outside the operating room is particularly challenging. Airway assessment, planning, decision making of the team relevant to the patients outcomes.

First anesthesia exposure effects on short-term neurocognitive function among 1- to 36-month-old children: a case-control pilot study.

Background: Multiple human studies have shown no significant long-term results of anesthesia exposure during early childhood compared to the general population; however, reports on short-term neurodevelopmental assessment before and after anesthesia exposure are limited. This study aimed to evaluate the short-term characteristics of neurocognitive function post-anesthesia in noncardiac surgery compared with baseline. Methods: This prospective case-control pilot study recruited healthy participants in the control group and hospitalized children in the anesthesia group. Children aged 1-36 months without previous anesthesia were included. Neurocognitive function was assessed at baseline and seven days after anesthesia administration using a cognitive scale of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, third edition. The control group received only a baseline assessment. The cognitive composite score had a mean of 100 and a standard deviation (SD) of 15, with a difference of score >1/3 SD (5 points) defined as clinically significant. Results: Twenty and 39 participants in the control and anesthesia groups, respectively, were included in the final analysis. The baseline cognitive scale score of the anesthesia group was statistically and clinically lower than that of the control group. The mean (SD) cognitive composite scores in the control and anesthesia group were 111.50 (11.71) and 97.13 (9.88), P<0.001. The mean difference [95% confidence interval (CI)] was -14.37 (-8.28 to -20.47). In the anesthesia group, the post-anesthesia cognitive composite score was statistically higher than that at baseline, but without clinical significance. The mean (SD) of baseline and post-anesthesia cognitive composite scores were 97.05 (9.85) and 101.28 (10.87), P=0.039, respectively. The mean difference (95% CI) was 4.23 (0.23-8.23). However, 7 (17.9%) participants had decreased cognitive composite scores after anesthesia exposure. Conclusions: Children in the anesthesia group had lower baseline cognitive composite scores than those in the control group. The post-anesthesia cognitive score did not decrease compared with the baseline assessment. Anesthetic exposure resulted in a decline in the cognitive composite score in 17.9% of the participants.

Effects of Sucrose and Nonnutritive Sucking on Pain Behavior in Neonates and Infants undergoing Wound Dressing after Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

INTRODUCTION: Wound dressing, a procedure that pediatric patients are commonly exposed to postoperatively, can cause strong physiological and pain behavioral responses despite being brief. This study evaluated the effects of using 24% sucrose plus a pacifier versus a pacifier alone to reduce the pain response from dressing wounds in neonates and infants. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty-two neonates and infants who underwent surgery and required postoperative wound dressing were randomized to a pacifier group (n = 16) and a 24% sucrose plus pacifier group ("sucrose group"; n = 16). Demographic data, crying time, and pain behaviors were recorded using a video recorder. The pain behaviors were assessed independently using the neonatal infant pain scale (NIPS) by three assessors, who were expert in pediatric pain assessment and blinded to the subject allocations. RESULTS: Participants in the sucrose group were older than those in the pacifier group (6.19 ± 2.95 vs. 3.88 ± 3.2 months). While there were no differences in the NIPS scores of the two groups at 30, 120, and 240 seconds, the incidence of moderate-to-severe pain was lower in the sucrose group than the pacifier group at 120 seconds (37.5 vs. 50%). The crying time was lower in the sucrose group, but without statistical significance. CONCLUSION: The 24% sucrose plus pacifier was not superior to the pacifier alone in decreasing pain behavioral responses. Dressing wound pain produced a high-intensity pain behavioral response. A pain management strategy should be developed to lessen the postoperative procedural pain in pediatric patients.