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Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine
Texas Children's anesthesiologists are dedicated to treating children by providing expert care before, during and after surgery. Pediatric anesthesiologists strive to make patients feel safe using age-appropriate relaxation and distraction techniques such as using a soft voice, blowing bubbles, reading books and singing songs as needed during procedures and testing.
Our anesthesiologists are board-eligible or board-certified and have completed subspecialty training in pediatric anesthesiology, and many hold additional board certifications in pediatrics. Anesthesia for congenital heart surgery is provided by a team with subspecialty training in pediatric cardiac anesthesiology. Most Texas Children's anesthesiologists are members of the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine. They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine provides a full range of services for premature babies, newborns, children and adolescents including:
- Surgical anesthesia for all types of routine pediatric surgery including outpatient ear, nose and throat procedures, urological surgeries and general surgery cases.
- Anesthesia for complex operations in children, such as congenital heart surgery, organ transplantation, neurosurgery, craniofacial reconstruction, complex urogenital reconstruction, “exit” procedures, orthopedic spine surgery and bariatric surgery.
- Consultation with surgeons and pediatricians.
- Pre-admission anesthetic evaluation and testing, including preoperative instructions and tours for children and their families
- Anesthesia management for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, including MRI, CT scanning, invasive radiology, ABR testing, gastrointestinal procedures, cardiac catheterization and minor hematology/oncology procedures
- Acute post-operative pain management including patient-controlled analgesia or PCA, epidural and caudal analgesia.
- Consultations for chronic pain management.
It is a new era for Pediatric Anesthesiology at Texas Children's Hospital. Our Department is excited to be expanding its faculty as the hospital system continues to grow and expand its reach into the Greater Houston community. We now have more than 100 MD and CRNA faculty. As Texas Children's continues to grow, we will continue to need highly qualified pediatric-trained anesthesiology faculty to care for our patients. In addition to our growing clinical mission, we have a strong academic mission.
For Health Professionals Education
Part of our educational mission is to train medical students and anesthesiology residents from affiliated medical schools. The Department also participates in fellowship training programs in pediatric anesthesiology and pediatric cardiovascular anesthesiology.
New FDA Warning About Prolonged Anesthesia in Children Less Than 3 Years of Age
On Dec. 14, 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a safety announcement regarding the potential effect of anesthetics on children younger than 3 years of age. Recent studies suggest that a single, relatively short exposure to general anesthetic and sedation drugs in infants or toddlers is unlikely to have negative effects on behavior or learning. However, further research is needed to fully characterize how early life anesthetic exposure affects children’s brain development.
The anesthesia resources page has many useful documents to help you learn more about this topic.