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Preparing the Critically Ill or Injured Child for Surgery

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Pediatric Critical Care Medicine

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Abstract

The identification and assessment of perioperative risk factors in the critically ill child requiring surgery is important, because targeting these risk factors allows the creation of care plans that can significantly improve outcomes. This chapter provides an overview of the preoperative assessment and preparation of these patients for surgery. It reviews fasting guidelines, provides a systems-approach to the preoperative assessment, administration of preoperative medications, and determination of which preoperative laboratory or radiological data to attain. Appropriate access and monitoring, risk involved in the transportation process, reducing surgical site infections in the pediatric patient, and the importance of effective multidisciplinary communication and communication with patients and their families is also addressed.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this chapter was extracted from:

Frei FJ. Anaesthetists and perioperative risk. Paediatr Aanesth. 2000;10:349–51. With permission from John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Maxwell LG, Yaster M. Perioperative management issues in pediatric patients. Anesthesiol Clin North America. 2000;18(3):601–32. With permission from Elsevier.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, MLC 2001, Cincinnati, OH, 45229-3039, USA

    Nancy S. Hagerman MD

  2. Department of Anesthesiology, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, MLC 2001, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH, 45229-3039, USA

    Anna M. Varughese MD, MPH

Authors
  1. Nancy S. Hagerman MD
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  2. Anna M. Varughese MD, MPH
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nancy S. Hagerman MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Derek S. Wheeler

  2. Div. of Critical Care Medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Hector R. Wong

  3. University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

    Thomas P. Shanley

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag London

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Hagerman, N.S., Varughese, A.M. (2014). Preparing the Critically Ill or Injured Child for Surgery. In: Wheeler, D., Wong, H., Shanley, T. (eds) Pediatric Critical Care Medicine. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6359-6_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-6359-6_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-6358-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-6359-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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