Anaesthesia, The Children's Hospital at Westmead

• Anaesthesia for elective and emergency surgery in the operating suite and day surgery unit
• Anaesthesia for medical imaging (MRI, CT and interventional radiology) and in the Oncology Treatment Centre
• 24-hour acute pain management service, including daily acute pain rounds and consultation for difficult acute and chronic pain problems
• Support to the Burns Unit for provision of sedation and general anaesthesia for burns dressing changes, wound debridement and skin grafting
• Pre-admission clinics for more complex paediatric patients
• Emergency resuscitation services throughout the Hospital
• Consultation service for difficult peripheral and central venous access
• Liver transplant service
• Malignant hyperthermia (MH) testing unit for NSW and QLD

The department of Anaesthesia and the department of Pain Medicine work closely together running a 24-hour acute pain service.

The service includes daily ward rounds by a multidisciplinary team. The pain team guides the ongoing pain management of children after surgery to ensure they are as comfortable as possible.

We also help care for children with other acute complex pain issues. The acute pain service can be involved in a patient’s care at any time, day or night.

See the Pain Medicine service for more information. 

Malignant hyperthermia is a rare inherited condition of muscles that only becomes apparent on exposure to many of the commonly used general anaesthetic agents.

Children with a family history of malignant hypothermia or who have had an adverse reaction to general anaesthesia (that is thought to be related to this condition) will be assessed at the clinic.

See the Malignant Hyperthermia clinic for more information.

The department of Anaesthesia has a long history of providing assistance to less well-developed countries including Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, East Timor, Rwanda, Cambodia, Burma and India.

This includes being part of volunteer surgical teams treating congenital heart disease and other childhood conditions, as well as educating anaesthetists from around the world.