Reviewing the Safety of Providing Out-of-Operating-Room Anesthesia for Acute Burns in Pediatric Patients
Abstract
Pain management is a cornerstone of acute pediatric burn care, and burn wound care frequently requires sedation or anesthesia to optimize patient comfort and procedural success. Anesthesia delivered outside of the operating room (OR) has been shown to be a safe and effective alternative to OR-based care; however, eligibility has traditionally been restricted to older and larger children. Following a quality care audit in 2022, eligibility for anesthesiologist-administered out-of-OR anesthesia at our tertiary pediatric burn center was expanded to include children aged 8-12 months and/or weighing 8-10 kg. The objective of this study was to compare key quality and safety indicators between patients meeting expanded eligibility criteria and those meeting historical criteria (>10 kg and/or 12-24 months) undergoing burn dressing changes in a general anesthesia-ready satellite anesthesia room. This single-center retrospective study included patients treated between January 2022 and January 2024. Outcomes included procedure duration, anesthetic technique, airway management, anesthesia-related complications, and postprocedure disposition. A total of 211 patients undergoing 296 procedures were included. Burn characteristics were similar between groups, with scald injuries and partial-thickness burns predominating. No episodes of oxygen desaturation, hemodynamic instability, airway obstruction, or difficult mask ventilation were observed. One episode of laryngospasm occurred in the expanded group and resolved with conservative airway management. Procedure duration was shorter, while time to discharge was slightly longer, in the expanded group. These findings suggest that expanding eligibility criteria for out-of-OR anesthesia in pediatric patients with burn injuries is safe and feasible, without compromising procedural efficiency or outcomes.
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BibTeX
@article{yang2026reviewing,
title = {{Reviewing the Safety of Providing Out-of-Operating-Room Anesthesia for Acute Burns in Pediatric Patients}},
author = {Sabrina Yang and Sara Faour and Farrukh Munshey and Tobias Everett and Charis Kelly and Eduardo Gus and Joel Fish},
journal = {Journal of Burn Care \& Research: Official Publication of the American Burn Association},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1093/jbcr/irag118},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/jbcr/irag118},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Reviewing the Safety of Providing Out-of-Operating-Room Anesthesia for Acute Burns in Pediatric Patients
AU - Sabrina Yang
AU - Sara Faour
AU - Farrukh Munshey
AU - Tobias Everett
AU - Charis Kelly
AU - Eduardo Gus
AU - Joel Fish
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/08
JO - Journal of Burn Care & Research: Official Publication of the American Burn Association
DO - 10.1093/jbcr/irag118
UR - https://doi.org/10.1093/jbcr/irag118
AB - Pain management is a cornerstone of acute pediatric burn care, and burn wound care frequently requires sedation or anesthesia to optimize patient comfort and procedural success. Anesthesia delivered outside of the operating room (OR) has been shown to be a safe and effective alternative to OR-based care; however, eligibility has traditionally been restricted to older and larger children. Following a quality care audit in 2022, eligibility for anesthesiologist-administered out-of-OR anesthesia at our tertiary pediatric burn center was expanded to include children aged 8-12 months and/or weighing 8-10 kg. The objective of this study was to compare key quality and safety indicators between patients meeting expanded eligibility criteria and those meeting historical criteria (>10 kg and/or 12-24 months) undergoing burn dressing changes in a general anesthesia-ready satellite anesthesia room. This single-center retrospective study included patients treated between January 2022 and January 2024. Outcomes included procedure duration, anesthetic technique, airway management, anesthesia-related complications, and postprocedure disposition. A total of 211 patients undergoing 296 procedures were included. Burn characteristics were similar between groups, with scald injuries and partial-thickness burns predominating. No episodes of oxygen desaturation, hemodynamic instability, airway obstruction, or difficult mask ventilation were observed. One episode of laryngospasm occurred in the expanded group and resolved with conservative airway management. Procedure duration was shorter, while time to discharge was slightly longer, in the expanded group. These findings suggest that expanding eligibility criteria for out-of-OR anesthesia in pediatric patients with burn injuries is safe and feasible, without compromising procedural efficiency or outcomes.
SN - 1559-047X
SN - 1559-0488
ER -