Introduction - Anesthesia for Children at OPA

Parents are often anxious when their child needs to have anesthesia. We hope the following information will answer many of your questions and alleviate some of your concern.

Many advances have been made in pediatric anesthesia over the last couple of decades; it is now possible to give anesthesia safely to even the sickest of children and the tiniest of premature infants. For healthy babies and children, anesthesia is extremely safe. The risk of a serious problem occurring during anesthesia is quite rare.

As Anesthesiologists our number one concern is to provide the safest possible care for a child before, during and after a surgical procedure. It is also very important to us to ensure the comfort and psychological well-being of the child. We realize how stressful an operation and possible hospital stay are for both parent and child, and we do everything we can to minimize the unpleasant aspects while ensuring the utmost safety of the child.

OPA has anesthesiologists who are quite experienced in the care of children; we provide anesthesia for over 3,000 children every year.