Paediatric anaesthesia & critical care
Age-related variation in oxygen transport but stable mixed venous oxygen saturation in anaesthetised children
Authors' conclusion
Absolute and indexed CO and DO2 variables demonstrated age-dependent variation in anaesthetised children, whereas SvO2 remained relatively stable across developmental stages. This stability suggests that SvO2 may represent a physiologically robust and age-independent indicator of adequate systemic DO2 during paediatric anaesthesia.
Study context
- Population
- Anaesthetised children with structurally normal cardiac physiology undergoing elective surgery or catheter-based interventions; retrospective data from 2016 to 2024
- Participants
- Fifty-eight anaesthetised children
- Exposure
- Age-related variation across paediatric age groups in cardiac output (CO), stroke volume (SV), CI, DO2 and SvO2 measured using capnodynamic assessment under stable baseline anaesthesia
- Outcome
- CO, SV, and absolute DO2 by age
Methodological detailssingle tertiary paediatric university hospital
- Single tertiary paediatric university hospital
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
- CO, SV, and absolute DO2 increased significantly with age (all P < 0.0001)
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
CI and DO2 index across age groups
- CI and DO2 index varied across age groups (P < 0.0001), with infants showing lower values compared with older children
SvO2 across age groups
- SvO2 did not differ between age groups (P = 0.19)
- No linear association of SvO2 with age (P = 0.10)
Original publication
Age-related variation in oxygen transport but stable mixed venous oxygen saturation in anaesthetised children. Eur J Anaesthesiol. Published 8 October 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →