Department of Anesthesia

The anesthesia team provides care for children of all ages throughout the hospital.

Johns Hopkins All Children’s Department of Anesthesia is nationally recognized for its quality outcomes and uniform practices, including its high rankings in regional nerve blocks. This is important because it helps limit the use of opiates and their side effects, such as nausea and vomiting. Our board-certified pediatric anesthesiologists are experienced in treating infants and children of all ages and support surgeons throughout Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital.

The team provides care and sedation to patients in Johns Hopkins All Children’s operating rooms, Special Procedures Unit and MRI/CT services, and also cares for MRI patients at our Outpatient Care location in Tampa.

Our anesthesiology team comes from esteemed institutions around the country, each handling more than 1,200 cases every year. Many of the program’s fellowship-trained and board-certified pediatric anesthesiologists have advanced training in areas such as pain management and congenital heart disease. The team also includes full-time pediatric nurse anesthetists with CRNA certification.

Meet the Anesthesia Team 

Participating in National Safety Initiatives

Johns Hopkins All Children’s pediatric anesthesia department is the only one in the state of Florida to participate in Wake Up Safe, the only national pediatric anesthesia safety initiative.

In 2015, the department collected data for the Safe Transitions and Euthermia in the Perioperative Period in Infants and Neonates (STEPP IN) program, conducted by the Collaborative Initiatives for Quality Improvement (CIQI) program of the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC). Only 20 programs nationwide participated in this initiative focused on improving transitions after surgery in AAP- designated level IV neonatal intensive care units.

This initiative to improve transitions after surgery led the team to develop a pediatric anesthesia hand-off tool, which ensures infant patients’ temperatures are kept within the normal range to limit risk of complications.

The program also participates in national registries related to airway, craniosynostosis and pain complications.

Broad Research Interests

The department participates in a number of research studies, including the following:

• Pectus excavatum research to decrease length of stay and make quicker transitions to oral pain medication
• Posterior spinal fusion research to investigate increased blood loss in African-American patients, possibly due to platelet dysfunction
• Research focusing on a blood conservation protocol
• Pediatric cardiac anesthesia research regarding increased blood loss for African-Americans who have undergone neonate cardiac repairs
• Opioid drug reconciliation, which is very relevant given the current national opioid crisis 

Programs and Services

Chronic Pain Management Clinic

Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital is home to the only outpatient clinic for chronic pain in pediatric patients in the Tampa Bay area. The goal of the clinic is to reduce overall hospital readmissions. Our pediatric anesthesiologists serve on the pain management team and work with other professionals throughout the hospital to prevent and manage pain.

Services offered include:

• Medication management and referrals to physical therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Cognitive behavioral therapy

Those likely to benefit from the clinic include patients with:

• Chronic abdominal pain
• Complex regional pain syndrome
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
• Fibromyalgia
• Lactogenic opioid dependence
• Cancer-related pain

Learn more about the Chronic Pain Management Clinic or call the clinic at 727-767-7246 (PAIN).

Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia

We have board-certified pediatric anesthesiologists with specialized training or experience in pediatric cardiac anesthesia who work closely with our heart surgeons, pediatric cardiologists and cardiac critical care physicians. They provide anesthesia for patients with heart conditions who are having heart surgery or other procedures. 

Learn more about Pediatric Cardiac Anesthesia