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SPA Newsletter

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Jayant K. Deshpande, MD

In the summary of the Spring joint meeting of the AAP Section on Anesthesiology and Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, we briefly reported on the Pro/Con Debate presented by Drs. Jerry Lerman and Peter Laussen. Each speaker presented his position very well. As is any debate, speakers often use hyberbole and definite statements in order to stir up the audience and engender debate. Such comments may or may not accurately reflect those actually held by the speaker. For the sake of a lively debate on BIS monitoring in children, Dr. Lerman commented that Dr. Laussen's statements were "propaganda"; this was duly reported in the Newsletter. Readers may not have understood that this was in the spirit of reporting on the good natured debate. The work presented by Dr. Laussen is part of a controlled, IRB approved study ongoing at Boston Children's Hospital. The accuracy and benefits of BIS in children remain unknown and studies of this nature will better define its utility in the pediatric population. Although concerns were raised about what the BIS truly measures, only controlled studies in a large pediatric population will be able to define its relevance and applicability to children. Dr. Laussen's research is an important first step in understanding the applications of the BIS monitor in infants and children. We regret any misunderstanding that may have been caused by the article.

Jayant K. Deshpande, MD, Editor
Vanderbilt Children's Hospital, Nashville, TN
Jay.Deshpande@mcmail.vanderbilt.edu