Sedation, Anesthesia, Analgesic Use and Associated Adverse Events During Pediatric Cardiac Catheterization at Vietnam National Children’s Hospital

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the characteristics of sedative, anesthetic, and analgesic use, the incidence of adverse events (AEs), and associated factors in pediatric cardiac catheterization at Vietnam National Children’s Hospital (VNCH). Methods: Data of 208 patients age under 18 underwent diagnostic and/or interventional cardiac catheterization at VNCH from January to May 2024 was retrospectively collected from medical records. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the associations between patient characteristics, medication use, and AEs. Results: Endotracheal intubation (ETI) was used in 81.73% of cases, with multimodal anesthesia (sevoflurane, propofol, fentanyl, paracetamol) predominating. The rate of overall AE was 19.23%, mostly defined as “possible” in Naranjo scale, mainly cardiovascular (13.94%) and respiratory (7.21%) while neurological AE was of 1.92% only. Multivariable analysis identified ETI with adjusted odd ratio (aOR) of 9.81, combined procedures (aOR 4.17), male sex (aOR 5.64), and propofol dose (aOR 0.48) as independent factors associated with AEs. Conclusions: ETI with multimodal anesthesia is the main strategy in pediatric cardiac catheterization with acceptable rate of encountered AE. The ETI, diagnostic–interventional procedures, and male sex and propofol dose being independently associated with overall, cardiovascular, and respiratory AEs, respectively.