Perioperative pediatric cardiac arrest in non-operating room locations: Who is at risk?

Advances in technology have led to a rapid increase in the number of diagnostic and interventional studies performed in Non-Operating Room Locations. These are called NORA (Non-Operating Room Anesthesia), for short. Some of these studies are less invasive than the traditional approach. Along with the growth of the available studies, there is a rapid growth for anesthesia care in these locations. Although some of these studies may be performed with anxiolysis or local anesthetic only in adult patients, this is not an option in younger pediatric patients. Even though anesthetic safety for children has improved significantly in the past several decades, persistent risk factors for perioperative cardiac arrest in this population remain. In this article, we discuss the risk factors for perioperative cardiac arrest in pediatric patients in remote anesthetizing sites.