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Research

Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) has been thought to increase the risk of respiratory depression from opioids. The primary aim of this study was to assess whether preoperative hypoxaemia by sleep study pulse oximetry imparts greater opioid sensitivity.

Research

Pain is a common experience associated with healthcare for children, who often recall it as the worst part of hospitalisation. Several factors make assessment of pain more challenging in children. Families have previously identified the development of improved tools to assess pain in children as a key priority. We therefore sough to investigate the nature of this experience from the perspective of children and their parents to inform the development of such tools.

Research

Children experience significant pain following extracapsular tonsillectomy surgery, and while opioids are often prescribed to treat this, clinicians may be wary of their adverse side effects, leading to variation in practice. There is a need for improved post-tonsillectomy pain management in children. 

Research

Processed electroencephalography (EEG) indices used to guide anesthetic dosing in adults are not validated in young infants. Raw EEG can be processed mathematically, yielding quantitative EEG parameters (qEEG). We hypothesized that machine learning combined with qEEG can accurately classify expired sevoflurane concentrations in young infants. Knowledge from this may contribute to development of future infant-specific EEG algorithms.

Research

The current research landscape has become increasingly competitive with approximately 35% of submitted manuscripts accepted for publication by peer-review journals. It is known that studies with certain 'favourable characteristics' have an increased likelihood of acceptance for publication, such as prospective study design, multiple sites, and notable authors.

Research

Postoperative nausea and vomiting is common after general anesthesia, with consequences for patient outcomes, satisfaction with care, and healthcare costs. The aim was to compare a new treatment, chewing gum, with a widely used intravenous agent, ondansetron, to treat postoperative nausea and vomiting in female patients in the postanesthesia care unit.

Research

Tracheostomy tubes act as foreign bodies, predisposing the surrounding airway to respiratory infections. Initial treatment for infections is topical - nebulized tobramycin - although guidelines for standardized treatment are lacking.

Research

The clinical consequences of an antibiotic allergy label are detrimental, impacting health care delivery and patient outcomes. We assessed hospital inpatients with intent to offer free antibiotic allergy labeling assessment within a randomized controlled trial. We sought to determine the feasibility of establishing an adult antibiotic allergy delabeling service in a Western Australian tertiary public hospital.  

Research

The Trial Remifentanil DEXmedetomidine trial aimed to determine if, in children < 2 years old, low-dose sevoflurane/dexmedetomidine/remifentanil anesthesia  is superior to standard dose sevoflurane anesthesia in terms of global cognitive function at 3 years of age. 

Research

Preoperative anxiety is common in children. It can contribute to negative experiences with anesthetic induction and may cause adverse physiological and psychological effects. Virtual reality (VR) and electronic tablet devices are 2 audiovisual distraction tools that may help to reduce anxiety and enhance the preoperative experience. This study aimed to compare the use of an immersive 3-dimensional (3D) VR to 2-dimensional (2D) video on anxiety in children during induction of general anesthesia.