Inguinal hernia repair is the most commonly performed operation in infants, a patient population is particularly vulnerable, with well recognised anaesthetic and perioperative risks.
This multicentre prospective observational study will use Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT), a non-invasive, radiation free technique to describe the effects of anaesthesia on the lung in infants undergoing inguinal hernia surgery. We aim to look at four different anaesthesia techniques: general anaesthesia with spontaneous or mechanical ventilation, spinal anaesthesia, or high flow nasal oxygen, caudal and sedation.
Previous work by some authors in this group have shown there are ventilation differences in infants undergoing general anaesthesia for a variety of surgeries. This study will go one step further to compare spontaneous ventilation to general anaesthesia and include smaller infants including those born preterm.
Exploring the differences in lung homogeneity with different anaesthetic techniques will provide greater detail to clinicians regarding the impact of anaesthetic techniques in this vulnerable patient group. This study may lead to further research to determine if differences in lung ventilation shown with EIT results in increased risk of perioperative respiratory complications during and after surgery, and then develop ventilation strategies and anaesthesia techniques to reduce lung injury and associated risks.
Dr Fiona Taverner, Flinders Medical Centre, South Australia; Professor Andrew Davidson, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, Dr Cormac Fahy, Women’s and Children's Hospital, South Australia.
The project was awarded A$69,345 funding through the ANZCA research grants program for 2025.