Retrospective investigation about anesthetic management of biliary atresia in children: laparoscopic versus conventional Kasai portoenterostomy

PURPOSE: Biliary atresia can be fatal if surgery is not performed early. Laparoscopic Kasai portoenterostomy was recently introduced in our hospital. Despite laparoscopic surgery generally provides advantages, there are few studies of laparoscopic surgery performed in infants. We retrospectively compared anesthesia management of patients undergoing laparoscopic Kasai portoenterostomy and conventional Kasai portoenterostomy and investigated anesthetic complications of laparoscopic Kasai portoenterostomy. METHODS: Fifty-three biliary atresia patients who underwent surgery from April 2010 to September 2017 were assessed: 28 who underwent laparoscopy (L group) and 25 who underwent laparotomy (O group) were included. We compared body temperature, cases of hypothermia, the lowest mean blood pressure, bleeding volume, infusion volume and urine volume (ml/kg and ml/kg/h), age, weight, operation time, and the number of patients postoperatively admitted to the intensive care unit. RESULTS: In the L group, volume of bleeding was significantly smaller, and the lowest body temperature was significantly lower in the L group than in the O group (22 ± 35.1 mL vs 70 ± 34.5 mL, respectively, P < 0.01; 35.6 ± 0.8 °C vs 36.5 ± 0.4 °C, respectively, P < 0.01). And severe hypothermia was significantly more in the L group (7 cases vs 0 cases P = 0.01). There was an inverse correlation between the lowest body temperature and anesthesia time (r = − 0.464, P < 0.01). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that anesthesia time was a significant predictor of hypothermia. CONCLUSION: Our study revealed that laparoscopic surgery in infants reduced bleeding, but induced hypothermia and upper airway edema may be caused by relatively excessive infusion. At laparoscopic Kasai surgery, anesthesiologist is recommended to prevent hypothermia and need to pay attention to amount of infusion. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Nagoya University (2017-0290) and registered with the UMIN Clinical Trial Registry (UMIN000033158).