Recent advances in pediatric anesthesia

Abstract

Writing about advances in a field of medicine normally includes some pride about progress which one was witness to or even a participant in. The younger one is, the more enthusiastically every advance is lauded and welcomed. This is human nature and nothing to be complained about. However, when anesthesiologists, having worked and struggled in the field of pediatric anesthesia for about 40 years, look back to past advances, a more realistic, even painful picture comes to mind. There was a price which a considerable number of patients had to pay for progress, ruined health or even death. This experience of decades of practice is rarely presented in the literature but should not be forgotten when we proudly remember advances in pediatric anesthesia.

Mild hypothermia fails to protect infant macaques from brain injury caused by prolonged exposure to Antiseizure drugs

“…Much experience has been gained with the use of hypothermia (HT) in human neonates in the context of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). HT has been shown to be safe and effective in reducing death and disability from HIE at 22 months and at 6–7 years of age ( Edwards et al, 2010 ; Guillet et al, 2012 ; Holzki, 2011 ; Rutherford et al, 2010 ; Shankaran et al, 2012 ). We studied the protective effects of HT against neonatal neurotoxicity of a 5 h long anesthesia with sevoflurane in infant macaques and found it to significantly reduce apoptosis of neurons and oligodendroglia ( Ikonomidou et al, 2019 ).…”