“There’s a child with a heart problem on my orthopaedic list”: An approach to anaesthesia for children with congenital heart disease presenting for non-cardiac surgery

Abstract

Congenital heart disease is the most commonly occurring congenital anomaly. 95% of patients with mild to moderate lesions will now survive to adulthood, as will 69% of patients with critical disease. These patients are likely to present for non-cardiac surgery. Assessing risk of anaesthesia in these patients is important as they are at increased risk for perioperative morbidity and mortality. New physiological classifications of congenital heart disease are discussed, as are factors associated with increased risk in these patients. Patients with high and moderate risk should ideally be referred to a unit familiar with congenital heart disease.