The Telethon Kids Institute in collaboration with the Anaesthesia Research Team at Princess Margaret Hospital will work to improve the safety for young children with asthma undergoing general anaesthesia thanks to a $40,000 grant from Asthma Foundation Western Australia.
Associate Professor Graham Hall and Professor Britta von Ungern-Sternberg head an interdisciplinary research team combining Kid's Lung Health with Anaesthesia.
Britta von Ungern-Sternberg said more than 10,000 WA children have surgery under general anaesthesia each year and respiratory complications are the most frequent problem during surgery, particularly for children with asthma or related breathing difficulties.
"These complications have a direct impact on children's outcomes. They can lead to delays and cancelled surgeries, unplanned admissions to specialised wards and in very rare cases it can result in death." Professor von Ungern-Sternberg said.
But Professor von Ungern-Sternberg says these respiratory complications can be minimised if children at risk are correctly identified.
"Currently, anaesthetists rely on clinical history such as asthma, wheezing, hay fever and a family history of allergies and asthma to assess this risk," Professor von Ungern-Sternberg said. "But this form of screening does not identify all children who will be at risk of anaesthesia complications."
Professor Hall said the team will use the grant to develop an innovative new screening tool that will measure airway inflammation and lung function to assess the risk of respiratory complications.
"Our research has discovered that 7 out of 10 children with active respiratory symptoms who had airway inflammation experienced respiratory complications during surgery," Professor Hall said.
"We hope that this new screening approach will allow us to assess the individual risk for each child and in turn tailor a personalised airway management plan to limit their chance of complications."
"It will dramatically change the way we manage surgical and anaesthetic risk prior to surgery and lead to improved health outcomes for children, their families and the broader health-care system."
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About Telethon Kids Institute:
The Telethon Kids Institute is one of the largest, and most successful medical research institutes in Australia, comprising a dedicated and diverse team of more than 500 staff and students.
We've created a bold blueprint that brings together community, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and funders, who share our vision to improve the health and wellbeing of children through excellence in research.
The Institute is headed by leading paediatrician and infectious diseases expert Professor Jonathan Carapetis, with Founding Director Professor Fiona Stanley now Patron.
Telethon Kids is independent and not-for-profit. The majority of funding comes from our success in winning national and international competitive research grants. We also receive significant philanthropic support from corporate Australia and the community.