Pediatric anesthesia & critical care
Postanesthesia Apnea in Former Preterm Infants for Inguinal Herniorrhaphy: An Update of Risk Factors from an Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis
Authors' conclusion
Anesthetic technique has important implications; neuraxial anesthesia appears to reduce the at-risk PMA for postanesthesia apnea compared with general anesthesia.
Study context
- Population
- Former preterm infants undergoing open inguinal herniorrhaphy
- Participants
- 751 infants · 12 prospective studies
- Comparison
- GA vs neuraxial anaesthesia
- Outcome
- PMA above which postanesthesia apnea risk is less than 1%
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
PMA cutoff for postanesthesia apnea risk ≈10%, ≈5% and <1%
- After GA: risk ≈10%, ≈5%, <1% at postmenstrual age (PMA) 53, 57, 65 weeks respectively
- After neuraxial anesthesia: risk ≈10%, ≈5%, <1% at PMA ≈38, 40, 45 weeks respectively
Further pooled results
| Outcome | OR | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Odds of postanesthesia apnea by anesthetic techniqueGeneral anesthesia vs Neuraxial anesthesia | 6 | P = 0.008 |
| Odds of postanesthesia apnea by anesthetic techniqueGeneral anesthesia with caudal block vs Neuraxial anesthesia | 2.94 | P = 0.012 |
Incidence of postanesthesia apnea (overall)
- Infants with postanesthesia apnea
- 132 of 751 (17.6%)
Odds of postanesthesia apnea by anesthetic technique
- Apnea onset earlier with GA without and with caudal block vs neuraxial anesthesia
Anemia as risk factor
- Anemia a risk factor only for infants more than 48 weeks PMA
Original publication
Postanesthesia Apnea in Former Preterm Infants for Inguinal Herniorrhaphy: An Update of Risk Factors from an Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis. Anesthesiology. Published 27 March 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →