Propofol is an intravenous agent used commonly for induction and maintenance of anesthesia, procedural and critical care sedation in children. The mechanisms of action on the central nervous system involve interactions at various neurotransmitter receptors, especially gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor. Approved for use in the United States by the Federal Drugs and Administration (FDA) in 1989, its use for induction of anesthesia in children less than 3 years of age still remains off-label. Despite its wide use in pediatric anesthesia, there is conflicting literature about its safety and serious adverse effects in particular subsets of children. Particularly as children are not “little adults”, in this review, we emphasize the maturational aspects of propofol pharmacokinetics. Despite the myriad of propofol pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic studies and the ability to use allometrical scaling to smooth out differences due to size and age, there is no optimal model that can be used in target controlled infusion pumps for providing closed loop total intravenous anesthesia in children. As the commercial formulation of propofol is a nutrient-rich emulsion, the risk for bacterial contamination exist despite the FDA mandating addition of antimicrobial preservative, calling for manufacturers’ directions to discard open vials after six hours. While propofol has advantages over inhalation anesthesia like less postoperative nausea and emergence delirium in children, pain on injection remains a problem even with newer formulations. Propofol is known to depress mitochondrial function by its action as an uncoupling agent in oxidative phosphorylation. This has implications for children with mitochondrial diseases and the occurrence of propofol-related infusion syndrome, a rare but seriously life-threatening complication of propofol. At the time of this review, there is no direct evidence in humans for propofol induced neurotoxicity to the infant brain; however, current concerns of neuroapoptosis in developing brains induced by propofol persist and continue to be a focus of research.

Background: Pediatric anesthesiology has been greatly impacted by COVID-19 in the delivery of care to patients and to the individual providers. With this study, we sought to survey pediatric centers and highlight the variations in care related to perioperative medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the availability of protective equipment, the practice of pediatric anesthesia, and economic impact. Aim:The aim of the survey was to determine how COVID-19 directly impacted pediatric anesthesia practices during the study period. Methods: A survey concerning four major domains (testing, safety, clinical management/policy, economics) was developed. It was pilot tested for clarity and content by members of the Pediatric Anesthesia COVID-19 Collaborative. The survey was administered by email to all Pediatric Anesthesia COVID-19 Collaborative members on September 1, 2020. Respondents had six weeks to complete the survey and were instructed to answer the questions based on their institution's practice during September 1 -October 13, 2020.Results: Sixty-three institutions (100% response rate) participated in the COVID-19 Pediatric Anesthesia Survey. Forty-one hospitals (65%) were from the United States, and 35% included other countries. N95 masks were available to anesthesia teams at 91% of institutions (n = 57) (95% CI: 80%-96%). COVID-19 testing criteria of anesthesia staff and guidelines to return to work varied by institution. Structured simulation training aimed at improving COVID-19 safety and patient care occurred at 62% of institutions (n = 39). Pediatric anesthesiologists were economically affected by a reduction in their employer benefits and restriction of travel due to employer imposed quarantine regulations. Conclusion:Our data indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the testing, safety, clinical management, and economics of pediatric anesthesia practice. Further investigation into the long-term consequences for the specialty is indicated. | 721 SONERU Et al.

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We present a case of massive spinal epidural hematoma with an atypical presentation characterized by unilateral, isolated motor deficit in the right lower extremity on postoperative day 2 after Collis-Nissen fundoplication and a T7-8 epidural for postoperative pain. The epidural had been placed in the preoperative theater before surgery. Subcutaneous unfractionated heparin was initiated 18 hours later on postoperative day 1 with 3 times daily dosing. The patient also received 3 doses of ketorolac starting 10 hours after epidural placement. Symptoms were first reported on postoperative day 2, 37 hours after epidural placement. Thoracic magnetic resonance imaging showed an epidural hematoma extending from T2 through T12, requiring emergent decompression and evacuation. The patient made a complete recovery without any resultant neurologic deficit.

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