Characteristics of children less than 2 years of age undergoing anaesthesia in Denmark 2005-2015: a national observational study.

There are few data available that describe the current anaesthetic management of children. We have analysed anaesthetic practice and peri-operative complications for children in Denmark aged less than two years. We conducted a population-based observational cohort study using the Danish Anaesthesia Database to identify children who received anaesthesia in hospital from 1 January 2005 until 31 December 2015. Data were combined with that from the Danish National Patient Registry and the Danish Civil Registration System. Age, sex, height, weight, ASA physical status, days in hospital before anaesthesia, number of anaesthetics per child, indications for anaesthesia, methods of anaesthesia, airway management and complications were all recorded. A total of 17,436 children (64% of whom were male) received 27,653 anaesthetics during the study period. In 58% of cases, the child had an ASA physical status score of 1. Thirty-seven percent had a previous anaesthetic episode. Seventy-nine percent were anaesthetised at a university hospital. The indications for anaesthesia were surgery (70%), diagnostic radiology (16%), non-surgical care (11%) and other indications (3%). General anaesthesia combining intravenous and inhalational agents was the most common approach for surgery (68%) and diagnostic radiology (47%). For non-surgical care, general anaesthesia using inhalational agents was the most common method (42%). Neuraxial blocks were used infrequently. The most common regional anaesthetic nerve block was an infraclavicular brachial plexus block (11%). Peri-operative complications occurred in 1.71% of cases. A large proportion of anaesthetics were conducted in children with comorbidities. Non-surgical indications for anaesthesia were frequent and peri-operative complications were rare.