Suprazygomatic Maxillary Nerve Blocks and Opioid Requirements in Pediatric Adenotonsillectomy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Pain management following pediatric adenotonsillectomies is opioid-inclusive, leading to potential complications. Objective: To investigate the use of suprazygomatic maxillary nerve (SZMN) blocks to reduce pain and opioid use after pediatric intracapsular adenotonsillectomy and to measure recovery duration and incidence of complications. Design, Setting, and Participants: This was a randomized, blinded, prospective single-center tertiary pediatric hospital that included 60 pediatric patients (2-14 years old) scheduled for intracapsular adenotonsillectomy from November 2021 to March 2023. Patients were excluded for having combined surgical procedures, developmental delay, coagulopathy, chronic pain history, known or predicted difficult airway, or unrepaired congenital heart disease. Participants were randomized to receive bilateral SZMN blocks (block group) or not (control group). Intervention: SZMN block administered bilaterally under general anesthesia for intracapsular adenotonsillectomy. Primary Outcomes and Measures: Opioid consumption, FLACC (Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, Consolability) scores, and rates of opioid-free postanesthesia care unit (PACU) stay. Secondary outcomes were recovery duration and incidence of adverse effects, ie, nausea, vomiting, block site bleeding, and emergency delirium. Results: The study population included 53 pediatric patients (mean [SD] age, 6.5 [3.6] years; 29 [55%] females; 24 [45%] males); 26 were randomly assigned to the SZMN block group and 27 to the control group. The mean (SD) opioid morphine equivalent consumption during PACU stay was 0.15 (0.14) mg/kg for the 27 patients in the control group compared with 0.07 (0.11) mg/kg for the 26 patients in the block group (mean difference, 0.08; 95% CI, 0.01-0.15; Cohen d, 0.64). The block group had a higher incidence of opioid-free PACU stays (n = 7 patients; 58%) compared with the control group (n = 15 patients; 26%) (mean difference, 32%; 95% CI, 5%-53%). Patients in the block group experienced lower FLACC scores (0.7 vs 1.6; mean difference, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.2-1.6; Cohen d, 0.7). The overall occurrence of adverse events was similar in the 2 groups, with no reported nerve block-related complications. Conclusions and Relevance: The results of the randomized clinical trial indicate that SZMN blocks are a useful adjunct tool for managing postoperative pain in pediatric intracapsular adenotonsillectomy. Use of these blocks during adenotonsillectomy provided clinically meaningful reductions of postoperative opioid consumption with a low risk of complications. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04797559.

Neonatal and paediatric point-of-care ultrasound review.

Purpose: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) examinations for children and newborns are different from POCUS exams for adults due to dissimilarities in size and body composition, as well as distinct surgical procedures and pathologies in the paediatric patient. This review describes the major paediatric POCUS exams and how to perform them and summarizes the current evidence-based perioperative applications of POCUS in paediatric and neonatal patients. Method: Literature searches using PubMed and Google Scholar databases for the period from January 2000 to November 2021 that included MeSH headings of [ultrasonography] and [point of care systems] and keywords including "ultrasound" for studies involving children aged 0 to 18 years. Results: Paediatric and neonatal POCUS exams can evaluate airway, gastric, pulmonary, cardiac, abdominal, vascular, and cerebral systems. Discussion: POCUS is rapidly expanding in its utility and presence in the perioperative care of paediatric and neonatal patients as their anatomy and pathophysiology are uniquely suited for ultrasound imaging applications that extend beyond the standard adult POCUS exams. Conclusions: Paediatric POCUS is a powerful adjunct that complements and augments clinical diagnostic evaluation and treatment.

Opioid-Free Postoperative Pain Management After Adenotonsillectomy With Nasal Turbinate Reduction Using Bilateral Suprazygomatic Infratemporal-Pterygopalatine Fossa Injections: A Case Report.

Adenotonsillectomies are one of the most common otolaryngologic surgeries performed to alleviate obstructive sleep-disordered breathing and apnea in children. The pain management following adenotonsillectomy continues to be a challenge for both pediatric anesthesiologists and otolaryngologists due to the mortality that stems from the use of opioid pain medications in children who have an increased baseline risk airway obstruction and apnea that is exacerbated by any exposure to opioids. We present a case utilizing bilateral suprazygomatic maxillary nerve (SZMN) blocks or, more accurately, suprazygomatic infratemporal-pterygopalatine fossa injections to achieve opioid-free perioperative analgesia for pediatric adenotonsillectomy with nasal turbinate reduction.

Systemic Absorption of Lidocaine from Continuous Erector Spinae Plane Catheters After Congenital Cardiac Surgery: A Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine postoperative serum lidocaine levels in patients with intermittent lidocaine bolus erector spinae plane block (ESPB) catheters after cardiac surgery with or without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). DESIGN: A retrospective study. SETTING: Single-center pediatric quaternary teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients who received ESPB catheters after congenital cardiac surgery from April 2018 to March 2019. INTERVENTIONS: Postoperative serum lidocaine levels were extracted from the record. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Twenty-seven of 40 patients were included in the final analyses (19 with CPB and 8 with no CPB, age 1-47 years, undergoing congenital heart repair). Patients who received ropivacaine or were missing data were excluded. The initial intraoperative bolus of lidocaine ranged from 0- to- 3.72 mg/kg, and the range of postoperative intermittent lidocaine boluses ranged from 0.35- to- 0.83 mg/kg, which were administered every hour. Serum lidocaine levels were measured by the hospital laboratory and ranged from <0.05- to- 3.0 µg/mL in the CPB group and from <0.05- to- 3.2 µg/mL in the no- CPB group. CPB was not associated with differences in lidocaine levels when controlling for time (P = 0.529). Lidocaine concentrations ranged from 0.50- to- 1.68 µg/mL in the CPB group and 0.86- to- 2.07 µg/mL in the no- CPB group. There was a normally distributed overall mean peak level of 1.818 ± standard deviation of 0.624 µg/mL, with 95% confidence interval of 0.57- to- 3.06 µg/mL. No patients had clinical signs of toxicity. CONCLUSION: Postoperative serum lidocaine concentrations did not appreciably differ due to CPB. Serum lidocaine concentrations did not reach near- toxic doses despite the presence of additional lidocaine in the cardioplegia. The results suggested that lidocaine for ESPBs after cardiac surgery is below systemic toxic range at the doses described.

Practical Regional Anesthesia Guide for Elderly Patients.

Ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia is an important part of the practice of anesthesia for the elderly population, the growth of which will continue to outpace that of the younger population due to improvements in lifespan worldwide. The elderly patient is uniquely vulnerable to the effects of systemic anesthetic drugs, and our understanding of the potential toxicities that general anesthetics can have on the elderly brain and body continues to evolve. Aging impacts both the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of sedative medications and local anesthetics. Alongside the physiologic aging process often comes a myriad of pathologic co-morbidities that can accumulate with age, and result in a great variability of physiologic reserve. This variability in overall functional status is described by a newer concept termed 'frailty,' which is used to evaluate and risk-stratify elderly patients perioperatively. The choice for regional anesthesia is based on a combination of factors such as duration of surgery, pre-existing patient risk factors, and the skill and technique of the anesthesiologist. The utilization of preoperative and intraoperative sedation is now recognized as a key component in maximizing the safety and success rate of regional anesthesia. Excellent pain management with minimal to no sedation during the operation may have benefits that extend far beyond the immediate perioperative setting. Regional anesthesia is increasingly integrated as an important part of multimodal enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols, which aim to decrease the cost, enhance safety, and improve the patient's subjective experience during and after hospitalization. Ultrasound-guided techniques, recently developed regional blocks, medications for sedation, and local anesthetics are reviewed in this article.