Regional Anesthesia for Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: a Review

Overview

Journal BMC Anesthesiol

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Anesthesiology

Date 2025 Feb 15

PMID 39955502

Authors

Burhan Dost

Alessandro De Cassai

Sara Amaral

Eleonora Balzani

Yunus Emre Karapinar

Muzeyyen Beldagli

Mirac Selcen Ozkal Yalin

Esra Turunc

Ali Ahiskalioglu

Serkan Tulgar

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Effective pain management in pediatric cardiac surgery is essential for optimizing postoperative outcomes and promoting faster recovery. While intravenous analgesia remains a standard approach, regional anesthesia (RA) techniques have gained attention in this population due to their analgesic efficacy, reduced dependence on systemic opioids, and enhanced hemodynamic stability.

Main Body: This article provides an overview of current evidence of RA techniques for pediatric cardiac surgery. We discuss the role of RA in pediatric pain management, outlining various techniques, such as epidural, paravertebral block, fascial plane blocks and their specific applications, clinical outcomes, and the challenges posed by pediatric anatomy and pharmacokinetics. Pain assessment in pediatric populations and the complications associated with RA are also explored.

Conclusion: Despite the demonstrated efficacy of RA in this patient group, there is a need for large-scale randomized multicenter studies to establish standardized protocols and strengthen the evidence base for its use in pediatric cardiac surgery.

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