Health Information
Anesthesiology
Research
The pediatric anesthesiologists of Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital are pioneers in their field.
Our current laboratory research examines a variety of issues:
- Emergent agitation: When children wake up from anesthesia, they are often agitated or delirious. We are working to develop a scale to accurately assess children's post-operative behavior and establish a universally accepted language description of that behavior. This effort hopes to be a major contribution to the entire field of pediatric anesthesia.
- Neurological monitoring: Our faculty members are collaborating with experts in neonatology who have developed a sophisticated EEG system, using a 120 EEG Cap that monitors children's brain waves while under anesthesia, and particularly during operations such as open heart surgery and cardiac bypass.
- Effects of anesthetics: Researchers in anesthesiology are also looking at the effects of anesthetics on somatosensory evoked potentials (spinal cord nerve conduction), cardiac electrical activity (EKG) and amnesia.
- Heart defects: In collaboration with pediatric cardiac surgery, researchers have been looking at a tetralogy of fallot, a congenital heart disease with a combination of four heart defects that are present together at birth, accounting for about 10 percent of all congenital heart disease. Specifically, they are investigating beta adrenergic receptors, proteins found in heart muscle cells to determine whether an abnormality of these particular receptors can be the reason some infants with tetralogy of fallot turn very blue. The researchers are also looking at myocardial injury markers that proteins release into circulation when the heart is injured to determine whether or not these markers can be used to predict how babies respond to surgery and if there is any correlation on how well they will do long-term post-operatively.
- Liver transplant and anesthesia: Adults who have liver transplants are shown to use less pain medication than patients having similar procedures such as major abdominal procedures that are not transplants. We want to determine if this is also the case with children. A retrospective study of charts has indicated no difference in transplant versus other abdominal procedures that would lead to a lesser need for pain medication. A prospective study is now underway looking at morphine requirements in liver transplant patients versus patients having another type of abdominal procedure to further investigate why pain medication needs are less. Researchers in the Division of Anesthesiology are also engaged in a variety of studies in the field of pain management:
- Opioids for pain control in children: We are participants in a national study sponsored by the Children's Hospital Corporation of America (CHCA), which is a collaboration of the leading children's hospitals in the United States. This study is designed to establish best practices for opioid administration in children.
- Clinical pathways for pain management: No parent wants his or her child in the hospital longer than absolutely necessary. The Pain Medicine Program is developing clinical pathways to ensure the best pain and symptom management during a child's hospitalization. Excellent pain and symptom control affects patient and family satisfaction and promotes readiness for discharge. The Pain Medicine Program has established clinical guidelines for the surgical subspecialty services and cardiothoracic surgery program.
The Division of Anesthesiology at Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital is also part of a rigorous quality assurance program and one of the founding members of a new quality assurance initiative sponsored by the Society of Pediatric Anesthesia. We are very pleased to be a part of this national movement to improve patient care.
Major medical centers in the country are working to set universal benchmarks for children who undergo treatment with anesthesia. This consortium of 10 hospitals across the country will agree upon indicators and collect data in order to generate a database generated to track performance.
The goal is to provide members of the Society of Pediatric Anesthesiology with a validated system that will help them meet quality assurance and regulatory requirements in their own practices. A common system also will offer the possibility to establish a national registry with its obvious potential to improve safety and quality in pediatric anesthesiology care.
Contact
- Pediatric Anesthesiology
- (212) 305-2413
