title: Pediatric regional anesthesia: what is the current safety record?
abstract: The use of regional anesthetics, whether as adjuncts, primary anesthetics or postoperative analgesia, is increasingly common in pediatric practice. Data on safety remain limited because of the paucity of very large-scale prospective studies that are necessary to detect low incidence events, although several studies either have been published or have reported preliminary results. This paper will review the data on complications and risk in pediatric regional anesthesia. Information currently available suggests that regional blockade, when performed properly, carries a very low risk of morbidity and mortality in appropriately selected infants and children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Anesthesiology, The Children's Hospital Denver, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. polaner.david@tchden.org
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Polaner
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Drescher
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia / Q000009:adverse effects; D000765:Anesthesia, Conduction / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000767:Anesthesia, Epidural / Q000009:adverse effects; D000775:Anesthesia, Spinal / Q000009:adverse effects; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections; D006801:Humans; D009407:Nerve Block / Q000009:adverse effects; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000639:trends*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000473:pathology; D012449:Safety; D014851:Wakefulness
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local