Program Objectives

Session I: Mechanisms of Consciousness

Monitoring the Pediatric Brain Under General Anesthesia
Emery N. Brown, MD, PhD
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:

1. Describe how the neural circuit mechanisms of anesthetic action relate to measured EEG patterns.
2. Summarize the differences in the neural circuitry of the pediatric and the adult brains.
3. Describe the differences in EEG responses of the pediatric and adult brains to anesthetics.
4. Describe how 1-3 can be used to develop a rationale approach to monitoring the pediatric brain under general anesthesia.

Consciousness and Anesthesia
George A. Mashour, MD, PhD
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Distinguish between wakefulness and consciousness.
2. Describe three current theories of consciousness.
3. Describe how general anesthetics act through neural processes supporting consciousness.

Session II: Toxic Agents

Anesthetic Neurotoxicity: Vulnerability of the Immature Brain or of Immature Neurons?
Andreas W. Loepke, MD, PhD, FAAP
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Describe the relationship between susceptibility to anesthesia-induced neurodegeneration and age of the organism vs. age of the neuron.
2. Recognize the potential clinical implications of this distinction.

How Off-Target is Your Anesthesia? Effects on the Mitochondria, Autism and Cancer Metastasis
Jason Maynes, MD, PhD
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Review how mitochondrial dynamics are altered by anesthetics.
2. Describe how epigenetic alterations by anesthetics can lead to cancer growth.
3. Tell why autistic patients can be adversely affected by anesthetics.

Carbon Monoxide: Toxicity and Potential Therapeutic Agent
Richard J. Levy, MD
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Review mechanisms of overt and sub clinical CO toxicity.
2. Describe effects of CO exposure on neurodevelopment.
3. Review potential therapeutic applications for CO.

Session IV: Sleep Deprivation

Human Performance: Resiliency and Vulnerability to Sleep Loss
David F. Dinges, PhD
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Recognize that performance is neurobehavioral and genetically modulated by sleep need and circadian rhythms.
2. Recognize performance deficits resulting from acute and cumulative provocations of sleep and circadian neurobiology.
3. Recognize that effective “fatigue management” means appreciating how to use countermeasures correctly and identifying individual phenotypic vulnerability to sleep loss.

Session V: Challenging Patients, Parents and Situations

When Bad Things Happen to Good Kids
Martin J. Drell, MD
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Develop a greater appreciation of the biopsychosocial model of disease and illness.
2. Review the approach of a child and adolescent psychiatrist to stressful events in children with a focus on hospitalization.
3. Recognize interventions to minimize the risks of illness and hospitalization.

Anesthesia Care Provision Following Conflict with a Colleague or Worse... a Parent
Susan R. Staudt, MD
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Recite the five common modes of conflict resolution.
2. Recognize some advantages and disadvantages of each style.
3. Consider your personal comfort with each style; commit to expanding your skills in using one mode you currently underutilize within the next year.

The Role of the Anesthesiologist in the Care of the Dying Child
Nancy L. Glass, MD, MBA, FAAP
Upon completion of this session, the participant will be able to:
1. Name key developmental issues for dying children, from birth to young adulthood.
2. Develop a plan for managing the most common end of life symptoms.
3. Mobilize resources for assisting with psychosocial and family issues.