부산대학교 도서관

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic imposed on us the requirement for fast and significant change to our anesthetic practice. Some anesthetic safety precautions (e.g. full personal protective equipment and restricting parent-attendance at anesthesia induction) had the potential to alter behavioral and physiological (anxiety-related) responses in children and adolescents undergoing surgery during this time, despite increased use of oral pre-sedation. We explored our unique dataset in order to provide preliminary and opportunistic data addressing this issue. Methods: 93 children and adolescents (1-16 years) underwent anesthesia for surgery at our large tertiary hospital during the first U.K. peak of the COVID-19 pandemic (approximately April 2020). All anesthetics were performed with COVID-19 safety precautions. A control group consisted of 91 children and adolescents undergoing anesthesia for surgery immediately before the peak-pandemic. Behavior was assessed by anesthetist-rating of cooperation and calmness of children and adolescents at anesthesia induction, and subsequently by recovery nurse subjective rating. Multiple heart rate values obtained for each child / adolescent pre- and post-procedure were age-normalised and explored for incidence of tachycardia, which can relate to anxiety. Results: Accounting for age group, behavior and heart rate values were comparable across groups. This was despite significant changes to anesthetic practice including reduced use of inhalational induction and therefore increased awake intravenous cannulation. Conclusion: Behavior and heart rate data indicate some stability in children's and adolescent's acute response to anesthesia in the context of otherwise significant change to our practice. However, efforts should still be directed at assessing possible late-emerging behavioral and emotional responses to this altered-anesthesia experience, as this may yet influence how this cohort of children and adolescents engages with any future healthcare procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]