Pediatric anesthesia & critical care
Postanesthesia Apnea in Former Preterm and Term Infants: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors' conclusion
Postmenstrual age appears to be the strongest and most consistent risk factor for postanesthesia apnea; neuraxial anesthesia may reduce this risk.
Study context
- Population
- Former preterm and term infants undergoing anesthesia115 articles
- Outcome
- Major risk factors for postanesthesia apnea
Methodological detailsmeta-regression, PRISMA
- Meta-regression
- PRISMA
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Postanesthesia apnea
Median incidence of apnea across studies (range, 0 to 85%)
7.6%
Publication year, multivariable best fitting model (64 articles), OR, CI 0.91 to 0.964, P < 0.001
0.936
Postmenstrual age, multivariable best fitting model (64 articles), OR, CI 0.828 to 0.954, P = 0.001
0.889
Further pooled results
| Outcome | OR (CI) | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apnea, neuraxial vs GAMeta-regression | 0.236 (0.094–0.592) | P = 0.003 | |
| 0.050.21520Odds ratio (log scale) |
Recommended postanesthesia monitoring duration
- Ranged by postmenstrual age
- 6 to 24 h
Original publication
Postanesthesia Apnea in Former Preterm and Term Infants: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Anesthesiology. Published 17 February 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →