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Perioperative Opioid Consumption is Not Reduced in Cyanotic Patients Presenting for the Fontan Procedure

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Abstract

Adequate pain control is a critical component of the perioperative approach to children undergoing repair of congenital heart disease (CHD). The impact of specific anatomic and physiologic disturbances on the management of analgesia has been largely unexplored at the present time. Studies in other pediatric populations have found an association between chronic hypoxemia and an increased sensitivity to the effects of opioid medications. The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine perioperative opioid administration and opioid-associated adverse effects in children undergoing surgical repair of CHD, with a comparison between patients with and without chronic preoperative cyanosis. Patients between the ages of 2 and 5 years whose tracheas were extubated in the operating room were included and were classified in the cyanotic group if they presented for the Fontan completion. The primary outcomes of interest were intraoperative and postoperative opioid administration. Secondary outcomes included pain scores and opioid-related side effects. The study cohort included 156 patients. Seventy-one underwent the Fontan procedure, twelve of which were fenestrated. Fontan patients received fewer opioids intraoperatively (11.33 µg/kg fentanyl equivalents versus 12.56 µg/kg, p = 0.03). However, there were no differences with regards to opioid consumption postoperatively and no correlation between preoperative oxygen saturation and total opioid administration. There were no differences between groups with regards to the respiratory rate nadir, postoperative pain scores, or the incidence of opioid-related side effects. In contrast to other populations with chronic hypoxemia exposure, children with cyanotic CHD did not appear to have increased sensitivity to the effects of opioid medications.

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Any inquiries regarding supporting data availability of this study should be directed to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge Diane Hersey for her contribution to data extraction for this study.

Funding

The authors declare that the present article has not benefited from any source of funding.

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Contributions

TM-T, JT, and PW contributed to conceptualization for the study. TM-T performed data extraction and analysis and were responsible for original draft preparation. TM-T, JT, and PW contributed to critical revisions and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Peter D. Winch.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This retrospective chart review study involving human participants was in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments. The Human Investigation Committee (IRB) of Nationwide Children’s Hospital approved this study.

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Murray-Torres, T.M., Tobias, J.D. & Winch, P.D. Perioperative Opioid Consumption is Not Reduced in Cyanotic Patients Presenting for the Fontan Procedure. Pediatr Cardiol 42, 1170–1179 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-021-02598-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00246-021-02598-x

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