A new high-flow oxygen technique is as safe as standard anesthetic methods during tubeless upper airway surgery in children, according to University of Queensland research. Associate Professor Susan Humphreys from UQ's Child Health Research Centre led a randomized controlled trial which compared the standard delivery of oxygen during anesthesia with a technique which delivers oxygen at much higher rates via small nasal prongs. Children under general anesthesia for surgery to correct a problem inside their airway are at risk of low oxygen levels, and surgery often needs to be interrupted to increase oxygenation.
Our trial showed high-flow oxygen delivery during anesthesia for tubeless airway surgery was uninterrupted and successful in 89 per cent of cases, compared to 88 per cent of cases using standard care. The nasal high-flow technique gives anesthetists a second option in deciding how best to deliver oxygen to children undergoing this type of surgery." Dr.
Susan Humphreys, Associate Professor, UQ's Child Health Research Centre The High-Flow Oxygen for Children's Airway Surgery trial, known as HAMSTER Trial, is the largest ever of its kind. It examined anesthetic outcomes in 497 children aged up to 16, and involved anesthetists and ear, nose and throat surgeons across 5 Australian tertiary hospitals. Co-author, Professor Andreas Schibler from Queensland's Wesley Research Institute said tubeless upper airway surgery was a common but complex procedure, in which the anesthetis.
