Preoperative coagulation tests in former preterm infants undergoing spinal anaesthesia

[Evaluation of the haemostasis before a central block in children: what is the French anaesthesiologist's attitude?]

OBJECTIVE

Because of the lack of controlled studies, there is no consensus regarding the practice of routine haemostasis tests before neuraxial blockade in children. The purpose of this study was to describe the French surgical practice about the preoperative evaluation of coagulation in children who were scheduled for paediatric neuraxial anaesthesia.

STUDY DESIGN

Descriptive analysis of the practice.

METHODS

A telephone survey for coagulation screening was conducted in French surgical paediatric units, known to perform paediatric neuraxial anaesthesia on a routine basis. The aim of the standardized questionnaire was to evaluate the expertise in performance of neuraxial block, the modalities of the preoperative haemostasis screening, and the indications of biological tests and to assess whether a standardized team procedure was used.

RESULTS

Forty-two hospitals (27 universities, 10 general hospitals and five private institutions) were contacted; 61 anaesthesiologists with an expertise with central block answered the survey. Thirty-five institutions used a standardized procedure and 57,1% of them undertook routines tests only in children who are not walking. In the remaining 42,9%, the strategy was to screen systematically all patients whatever their age, familial and personal history as well as physical examination. However, only 54% of the anaesthesiologists performed an extensive physical examination in order to detect symptoms in favour of signs of haemostatic disorders.

CONCLUSION

While numerous data suggest that routine testing does not to provide much extra information in the absence of a positive history, a systematic strategy is still widely applied in children. Guidelines need to be developed to insure the safety of oriented tests.

Spinal anesthesia in an extremely low birth weight infant

A case of spinal anesthesia in an extremely low birth weight male infant (body weight of 930 g at time of surgery) is presented. He was born prematurely at a gestational age of 27 weeks because of a placenta tumor and had to undergo inguinal herniotomy at 34 weeks postconceptional age. He had bronchopulmonary dysplasia and oxygen supply was still required because of frequent deterioration of oxygen saturation. Spinal anesthesia was performed successfully without any complications. Relevant aspects concerning the technique and management of spinal anesthesia in preterm infants are discussed.