Anaesthetic complications in paediatric patients of cochlear implant surgery: A retrospective study

Abstract

Background: Cochlear implants play very important role in hearing impairment in adults and children by acting as electromechanical transducer permitting them to integrate with the hearing world. Paediatric Cochlear implant surgery is highly specialized and unique. In this study, we investigated the incidence of anaesthetic complications in paediatric patients for CI. Methods: A retrospective study was done in 27 paediatric patients who underwent cochlear implant between 2018-2019. Association between two variables were obtained by Fischer exact Chi square test. Observations: Out of 27 paediatric patients, 5 patients had anaesthesia related complications, yielding a complication rate of 18.51%. 3 patients had URTI and 2 patients had nausea /or vomiting. There was more risk of respiratory complications in peri-operative period in patients who had history of URTI or LRTI (p=0.049). Conclusions: General anaesthesia was well tolerated by paediatric patients. Most common complications were respiratory without long term sequelae and managed effectively.