Paediatric anesthesia and perioperative medicine

Our research field is outcome in pediatric anesthesia and airway management, ventilation and respiratory mechanics during anesthesia and intensive care. We have four main areas of investigation, all active.

The first area of investigation is the impact of preoperative fasting and the development of new guidelines for fasting. The aim is to provide a solid evidence base for optimized preoperative fasting regarding clear fluids, semi-solids and solids.

The second area of investigation is outcome in pediatric anesthesia, in a broad sense. We collaborate with Child and Baby Lab at the Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, the department of Psychology, Karolinska Institute as well as the international pediatric anesthesia community via the European Society for Pediatric Anaesthesia and the Safetots initiative. We aim to use the novel technique for evaluating cognitive function with eye movement detection developed at Baby Lab to investigate the effects of anesthesia on cognitive function in infants with the overarching goal to develop safer anesthesia methods. We also aim to investigate the effects of physiological changes and adverse events on behavioral changes after pediatric anesthesia.

The third area of investigation exploits the use of the non-invasive technologies Opto-electronic plethysmography (OEP), Forced Oscillation Technique, (FOT) and recently Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) to monitor ventilation. Our aim is to develop and improve strategies for optimization of mechanical ventilation and to study the use of alternative methods of oxygenation and ventilation such as high frequency jet ventilation and apneic oxygenation with the overall goal to improve airway management, preoxygenation and lung immobilization for radiotherapy. We have a long-standing bilateral collaboration with bioengineers at Politecnica di Milano, who have developed the above methods (OEP and FOT) and participated in a wide range of pre-clinical and clinical studies at the Hedenstierna lab and at Uppsala University Hospital.

The fourth area of investigation is airway management. The aim is to improve airway management in adult and pediatric anesthesia practice. We have been a leading force in the development of new difficult airway guidelines in Sweden.

Link to EUROFAST