Lipid emulsion treatment for local anesthetic systemic toxicity in pediatric patients: A systematic review

Abstract

Background: Local anesthetic systemic toxicity (LAST) is rare, but fatal; the current widely used treatment is lipid emulsion (LE). The goal of this study was to analyze and review case reports on LE treatment for LAST in pediatric patients. Methods: We performed a systematic review using case reports on LE treatment for LAST in pediatric patients, searching PubMed and Scopus databases to March 2023 using the following keywords: (“local anesthetic toxicity” OR “local anesthetic systemic toxicity” OR LAST”) AND (“newborn” OR “infant” OR “child” OR “children” OR “adolescent” OR “pediatric”) AND (“lipid emulsion” OR “Intralipid”). Results: Our search yielded 21 cases, revealing that nearly 43% patients with LAST were less than 1 year old, and most cases were caused by bupivacaine (approximately 67% cases). “Inadvertent intravascular injection” by anesthesiologists and “overdose of local anesthetics” mainly by surgeons were responsible for 52% and 24% cases of LAST, respectively. LAST occurred in the awake state (52%) and under general anesthesia (48%), mainly causing seizures and arrhythmia, respectively. Approximately 55% of patients received LE treatment in <10 minutes after LAST, mainly improving cardiovascular symptoms. A 20% LE (1.5 mL/kg) dose followed by 0.25 mL/kg/minutes dose was frequently used. LE and anticonvulsants were mainly used in the awake state, whereas LE with or without vasopressors was mainly used under general anesthesia. LE treatment led to full recovery from LAST in 20 cases; however, 1 patient died due to underlying disease. Conclusion: Consequently, our findings reveal that LE is effective in treating pediatric LAST.