Pediatric Anesthesiologists not within Most US Children's ReachMonday, February 20, 2017
U.S., Jan. 4 -- A recent study highlighted in the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia has highlighted that over 10 million American children don't reside near a pediatric anesthesiologist, a doctor who specializes in taking care of children, and gives children the medications needed to sedate them or put them completely to sleep during surgery and other procedures. A team of researchers at Stanford University Medical Center in California used four medical registries and databases. The investigators recognized just over 4,000 child surgery specialists practicing in the United States in 2015 and compared the information with 2010 census data on children aged below 18. The investigators developed a map of driving distances of families to the nearest child anesthesiologist. The study found that 90 percent of the pediatric anesthesiologists worked in urban areas, which the investigators considered as counties with over 50,000 young children. The researchers noted that 71 percent of the children lived within a 25-mile drive of a pediatric anesthesiologist. However, almost 15 percent lived more than 50 miles from the nearest pediatric anesthesiologist, specifically in the western region of the country.