The Department of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital began anesthesia for children when the first university hospital-affiliated pediatric hospital opened in Korea in 1985. Currently, it is dedicated to anesthesia for about 10,000 surgeries and procedures per year. As of 2022, the Department of Pediatric Anesthesia and Pain Medicine consists of 7 professors specializing in pediatric anesthesia, 1 fellow, and 8 residents in charge of anesthesia in the operating room and sedation and anesthesia for procedures outside the operating room. The Department of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine plays a crucial role in treatment, education, and research at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital.
Children undergoing surgery at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital vary between premature babies weighing less than 1 kg and adolescents weighing 100 kg, and have diverse physiological and psychological characteristics. Understanding each of these characteristics and applying optimal anesthesia techniques according to the characteristics of each child’s disease is important for providing safe anesthesia.
The Department of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital is making efforts to provide most appropriate and safe anesthesia, based on evidence.
In addition, our pediatric anesthesiology team actively manage preoperative and postoperative pain in patients undergoing surgery, using patient controlled analgesia or peripheral nerve block. We also participate in critical care in the pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit, receive primary call for cardiopulmonary resuscitation and also act as consultant for airway management and sedation in various procedures outside of the operating room. In addition, we expand our sedation service so that children can undergo procedure or tests safely and comfortably.
The Department of Pediatric Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital is playing a leading role in not only patient care but also education and research.
The Department of Pediatric Anesthesia and Pain Medicine at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital will continue to do its best to provide high-quality medical care, putting the safety of precious children first.