Background: Neonates and infants requiring anaesthesia are at risk of physiological instability and complications, but triggers for peri-anaesthetic interventions and associations with subsequent outcome are unknown. Methods: This prospective, observational study recruited patients up to 60 weeks' postmenstrual age undergoing anaesthesia for surgical or diagnostic procedures from 165 centres in 31 European countries between March 2016 and January 2017. The primary aim was to identify thresholds of pre-determined physiological variables that triggered a medical intervention. The secondary aims were to evaluate morbidities, mortality at 30 and 90 days, or both, and associations with critical events. Results: Infants (n¼5609) born at mean (standard deviation [SD]) 36.2 (4.4) weeks postmenstrual age (35.7% preterm) underwent 6542 procedures within 63 (48) days of birth. Critical event(s) requiring intervention occurred in 35.2% of cases, mainly hypotension (>30% decrease in blood pressure) or reduced oxygenation (SpO 2 <85%). Postmenstrual age influenced the incidence and thresholds for intervention. Risk of critical events was increased by prior neonatal medical conditions, congenital anomalies, or both (relative risk [RR]¼1.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04e1.28

BackgroundIntubation and extubation of ventilated patients are not risk-free procedures in the intensive care unit (ICU) and can be associated with morbidity and mortality. Intubation in the ICU is frequently required in emergency situations for patients with an unstable cardiovascular or respiratory system. Under these circumstances, it is a high-risk procedure with life-threatening complications (20–50%). Moreover, technical problems can also give rise to complications and several new techniques, such as videolaryngoscopy, have been developed recently. Another risk period is extubation, which fails in approximately 10% of cases and is associated with a poor prognosis. A better understanding of the cause of failure is essential to improve success procedure.Results and conclusionIn constructing these guidelines, the SFAR/SRLF experts have made use of new data on intubation and extubation in the ICU from the last decade to update existing procedures, incorporate more recent advances and propose algorithms.

Background: Neonates and infants are susceptible to hypoxaemia in the perioperative period. The aim of this study was to analyse interventions related to anaesthesia tracheal intubations in this European cohort and identify their clinical consequences. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of tracheal intubations of the European multicentre observational trial (NEonate and Children audiT of Anaesthesia pRactice IN Europe [NECTARINE]) in neonates and small infants with difficult tracheal intubation. The primary endpoint was the incidence of difficult intubation and the related complications. The secondary endpoints were the risk factors for severe hypoxaemia attributed to difficult airway management, and 30 and 90 day outcomes. Results: Tracheal intubation was planned in 4683 procedures. Difficult tracheal intubation, defined as two failed attempts of direct laryngoscopy, occurred in 266 children (271 procedures) with an incidence (95% confidence interval [CI]) of 5.8% (95% CI, 5.1e6.5). Bradycardia occurred in 8% of the cases with difficult intubation, whereas a significant decrease in oxygen saturation (SpO 2 <90% for 60 s) was reported in 40%. No associated risk factors could be identified among comorbidities, surgical, or anaesthesia management. Using propensity scoring to adjust for confounders, difficult anaesthesia tracheal intubation did not lead to an increase in 30 and 90 day morbidity or mortality. Conclusions:The results of the present study demonstrate a high incidence of difficult tracheal intubation in children less than 60 weeks post-conceptual age commonly resulting in severe hypoxaemia. Reassuringly, the morbidity and mortality at 30 and 90 days was not increased by the occurrence of a difficult intubation event. Clinical trial registration: NCT02350348.

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† Transoesophageal Doppler (TED) is useful to guide intraoperative volume expansion (VE) in neonates and young infants. † TED derived stroke volume accurately predicts responsiveness to VE. † VE based on standard monitoring data is inappropriate in more than 50% of patients. † TED monitoring can avoid undue fluid loading. Background. Volume expansion (VE) in neonates or infants during volatile anaesthesia may lead to fluid overload if inappropriate. Transoesophageal Doppler (TED), a non-invasive cardiac output monitoring technique, can provide a comprehensive estimation of the volaemic status. We evaluated whether intraoperative TED-derived parameters can predict volume responsiveness. Methods. Neonates and infants under general anaesthesia without myocardial dysfunction were prospectively included when the attending anaesthetist, blinded to TED measurements, decided to provide VE based on clinical appreciation and standard monitoring data. Standard and TED-derived data were recorded before and after VE. After VE, patients were classified as responders and non-responders, if their indexed stroke volume (iSV) increased by more than 15% or not, respectively. The attending anaesthetist assessment of VE responsiveness was recorded at the end of VE. Results. Fifty patients aged 42 (4) post-conceptional weeks were included, among which 26 (52%) were responders. Baseline iSV was the only parameter associated with VE responsiveness. Baseline iSV was fairly correlated with VE-induced changes in iSV (r¼20.64) and was associated with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.90 (0.80, 0.99). Using a cutoff of 25 ml m 22 , baseline iSV predicted volume responsiveness with a sensitivity of 92% and a specificity of 83%. Attending anaesthetists' assessment of VE effectiveness agreed only moderately with TED measurements of iSV changes. Conclusions. TED-derived iSV measurement during volatile anaesthesia is useful to predict and follow VE responsiveness in neonates and infants without myocardial dysfunction.