Aggressive Prophylactic Treatments for Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Adenotonsillectomy Procedure

Comparative Analysis of Preoperative Sedation Modalities: Oral Midazolam and Ketamine Versus Chloral Hydrate and Meperidine in Pediatric Tonsillectomy - A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective

A pre-anesthetic medication that is ideal for pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy should alleviate pediatric anxiety, facilitate the smooth induction of anesthesia, and have an analgesic effect for postoperative care. This study compared the effectiveness of an oral combination of midazolam and ketamine (MK) with an oral combination of chloral hydrate and meperidine (CM) as premedication in pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy.

Methods

This double-blind clinical trial study was conducted with 68 pediatric patients scheduled to undergo tonsillectomy. The participants were randomly allocated into two groups: the CM group, which received oral premedication of 50 mg/kg chloral hydrate and 1.5 mg/kg meperidine, and the MK mixture group, which received oral premedication of 0.5 mg/kg midazolam and 5 mg/kg ketamine. Various parameters such as separation anxiety, agitation during emergence from anesthesia, postoperative pain, postoperative nausea, and vomiting, as well as respiratory depression within a 6-hour period following anesthesia, were carefully recorded and observed.

Results

There were no differences between the two groups in terms of separation anxiety (p>0.05) and post-surgery pain scores (p=0.12). Regarding postoperative agitation, there were significantly more patients in an awake but calm state in the CM group than in the MK (44% vs. 17.64%, p=0.01). The incidence of nausea and vomiting was lower in the CM than in the MK group (47% vs. 76.5%, p=0.02).

Conclusion

This study shows that an oral mixture of CM is more suitable as pre-anesthetic medication in pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy than a MK.

Optimizing pediatric tonsillectomy outcomes with an opioid sparing anesthesia protocol: Learning and continuously improving with real-world data

INTRODUCTION

This quality improvement initiative is a continued pursuit to optimize outcomes by iteratively improving our opioid sparing anesthesia protocol for tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy at our pediatric ambulatory surgical center through data driven Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles.

METHODS

From 1/2015 through 12/2023, our standardized tonsillectomy protocol underwent nine procedure-specific perioperative Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, three procedure-specific postoperative prescription Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles, and four general ambulatory surgical center enhanced recovery Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles. We analyzed data from the medical record using statistical process control charts. The primary outcome measure was the percent of patients requiring intravenous opioid in the post anesthesia care unit. Secondary outcomes included maximum post anesthesia care unit pain score, the percent of patients requiring treatment for nausea and/or vomiting in the post anesthesia care unit, and the number of postoperative opioid prescription dosages. Balancing measures were average post anesthesia care unit length of stay, percent of patients with prolonged Post Anesthesia Care Unit length of stay (>120 min), and 30-day reoperation rate.

RESULTS

A total of 5654 tonsillectomy with or without adenoidectomy cases were performed at our ambulatory surgical center from 2015 to 2023. The incidence of intravenous opioid administered in the post anesthesia care unit initially rose with opioid free anesthesia launch, but subsequently decreased below the target of 10%. Maximum post anesthesia care unit pain scores rose from mean 3.6 to 4.5, but subsequently returned to the baseline of 3.5, while the incidence of postoperative nausea and/or vomiting improved. The average post anesthesia care unit length of stay increased by 10 min with opioid free anesthesia; however, prolonged post anesthesia care unit stay and 30-day reoperation rates were unchanged.

CONCLUSIONS

The continued refinement of our opioid sparing anesthesia protocol has led to reduced perioperative and home opioid use, stable maximum post anesthesia care unit pain scores, and improved postoperative nausea and vomiting rates, with only a slight increase in mean post anesthesia care unit length of stay.

Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting in Pediatric Patients

Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), postoperative vomiting (POV), post-discharge nausea and vomiting (PDNV), and opioid-induced nausea and vomiting (OINV) continue to be causes of pediatric morbidity, delay in discharge, and unplanned hospital admission. Research on the pathophysiology, risk assessment, and therapy for PDNV, OINV and pain therapy options in children has received increased attention. Multimodal pain management with the use of perioperative regional and opioid-sparing analgesia has helped decrease nausea and vomiting. Two common emetogenic surgical procedures in children are adenotonsillectomy and strabismus repair. Although PONV risk factors differ between adults and children, the approach to decrease baseline risk is similar. As PONV and POV are frequent in children, antiemetic prophylaxis should be considered for those at risk. A multimodal approach for antiemetic and pain therapy involves preoperative risk evaluation and stratification, antiemetic prophylaxis, and pain management with opioid-sparing medications and regional anesthesia. Useful antiemetics include dexamethasone and serotonin 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonists such as ondansetron. Multimodal combination prophylactic therapy using two or three antiemetics from different drug classes and propofol total intravenous anesthesia should be considered for children at high PONV risk. "Enhanced recovery after surgery" protocols include a multimodal approach with preoperative preparation, adequate intravenous fluid hydration, opioid-sparing analgesia, and prophylactic antiemetics. PONV guidelines and management algorithms help provide effective postoperative care for pediatric patients.