Nitrous oxide use in Canadian pediatric emergency departments: a survey of physician's knowledge, attitudes, and...

Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is an inhaled analgesic/ anxiolytic gas with evidence supporting its safety and efficacy for distressing procedures in children. Despite this, its use is not consistent across Canadian pediatric emergency departments (EDs). We aimed to characterize a) physicians' knowledge and practices with N₂O and b) site-specific N₂O protocols in Canadian pediatric EDs to help optimize its use nationally.

This cross-sectional survey was distributed to physician members of Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) in early 2021. Survey items addressed practice patterns, clinician comfort, and perceived barriers/ facilitators to use. Further, a representative from each ED completed a site-specific inventory of N₂O policies and procedures.

N₂O was available in 40.0% of 15 pediatric EDs, with 83.3% of these sites having written policies in place. Of 230 distributed surveys, 67.8% were completed with mean (SD) attending experience of 14.7 (8.6) years and 70.1% having pediatric emergency subspecialty training. Of the 156 respondents, 48.7% used N₂O in their clinical practice. The most common indications for use were digit fracture/ dislocation reduction (69.7%), wound closure (60.5%), and incision & drainage (59.2%). Commonly perceived facilitators were N₂O equipment availability (73.0% of 156) and previous clinical experience (71.7% of 156). Of the 51.3% of physicians who reported not using N₂O, 93.7% did not have availability at their site; importantly, the majority indicated a desire to acquire access. They identified concerns about ventilation/ scavenging systems (71.2% of 80) and unfamiliarity with equipment (52.5% of 80) as the most common barriers to use.

Despite evidence to support its use, only half of Canadian pediatric ED physicians surveyed use N₂O in their clinical practice for treating procedure-related pain and distress. Increased availability of N₂O equipment, protocols, and training may improve clinicians' abilities to better manage pediatric acute pain and distress in the ED.