Dosing of Opioid Medications During and After Pediatric Cardiac Surgery for Children With Down Syndrome

Objective: To determine whether children with Down syndrome (DS) receive higher doses of opioid medications compared with children without DS for repair of complete atrioventricular canal (CAVC). Design: A retrospective chart review of children with and without DS who underwent primary repair of CAVC. The exclusion criteria included unbalanced CAVC and patients undergoing biventricular staging procedures. The primary outcome was oral morphine equivalents (OME) received in the first 24 hours after surgery. The secondary outcomes included intraoperative OME, OME at 48 and 72 hours, nonopioid analgesic and sedative medications received, pain scores, time to extubation, and length of stay. Setting: A pediatric academic medical center in the United States. Participants: One hundred thirty-one patients with DS and 24 without, all

Automated summary

The study aimed to compare the use of opioid medications in children with Down syndrome (DS) versus children without DS after repair of complete atrioventricular canal (CAVC), and the results showed that children with DS received higher doses of oral morphine equivalents (OME) within 24 hours post-surgery.