Pre-Anesthesia Consultation Clinic
A pre-anesthetic assessment is available for all patients, usually on the day of surgery. To better serve patients with complex needs, the Department of Anesthesia at Cincinnati Children’s established the Pre-Anesthesia Consultation Clinic (PACC). Our patients and their needs come first, and we want to provide patients and families with answers to questions and concerns. We also want the day of surgery to proceed smoothly, so we’ve put procedures in place to help you.
Which patients should make an appointment?
Children who are having the following operations should be seen at the Pre-Anesthesia Consultation Clinic:
- Spine surgery for patients with other medical problems
- Airway reconstruction
- Major chest surgery
- Major abdominal surgery
- Major neurosurgery
Also, an appointment should be made if your child has complex medical needs.
Patients with the following medical conditions should be screened by our team of Physicians and Nurse Practitioners to determine if they need to be seen at the clinic:
- Complex heart disease
- Serious respiratory disease, such as severe asthma and cystic fibrosis and patients requiring ventilator support or oxygen therapy
- Aerodigestive patients who are new to Cincinnati Children’s
- Complex airway patients
- Patients with Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Muscular dystrophy
- Cervical spine instability and patients in a neck brace
- Hunter’s disease
- Hurler’s syndrome
- Morbid obesity
- Living related organ donors
- Transplant recipients
- Patients presenting with special ethical issues, for example, religious objections to blood transfusion or end-of-life decisions
- Patients with extreme developmental or behavioral challenges
When should the appointment be made?
You can arrange to have your appointment with the Pre-Anesthesia Consultation Clinic when you are here for other physician or clinic visits. We want to make this convenient for our patients and families.
What can you expect during your appointment?
An anesthesiologist will review your child’s medical problems and discuss important issues, including our anesthesia plans. We’ll make sure to answer all of your questions.
Make an appointment
When scheduling your surgery, your surgeon’s office may recommend an anesthesia consultation. Alternately, please call 636-4408, Option 1, to speak with Concierge Scheduling to schedule a visit. We would like to see you at least one to two weeks before the operation.
