Pediatric Spinal Anesthesia Programs Across Three Hospitals Show Promise

A pediatric spinal anesthesia program implemented by pediatric anesthesiologists at University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is showing marked improvement in outcomes for children under age one who need to receive a general anesthetic. Michigan Medicine has the story.

The program, which has subsequently also been introduced at the University of Michigan-Sparrow Health Center, “offers a needle-based technique that provides sensory and motor block without the need for intubation or general anesthesia for pediatric surgical procedures below the belly button,” meaning that the patient “will not feel anything below chest level.”

Traditional general anesthesia usually requires intubation, “a process in which a tube is inserted through a person's mouth or nose, then down into their airway, so oxygen can be delivered to the lungs.” But for children under age one, there is risk involved in managing their airways. This new program “takes the risk of airway management completely out of the picture.”

Children’s vital signs have stayed “remarkably stable” when spinal anesthesia is used, and “they aren’t exposed to general anesthesia medications or opioids.” Common surgeries performed under spinal anesthesia include “hernia repairs, circumcisions and surgery on the lower belly, hips, legs, or feet.” Three hospitals in the country have now performed “more than 1,000 surgeries under spinal anesthesia on pediatric patients.”