Frequency of non-cardiac surgical procedures in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery: potential use of setting family and care team expectations

INTRODUCTION: Most children with CHD who undergo cardiac surgery in infancy require anaesthesia for additional non-cardiac procedures early in childhood. The purpose of our study was to characterise the use of non-cardiac procedures during the first year of life among neonates requiring cardiac surgery in order to set family and care team expectations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a retrospective descriptive study comprising data collection from the medical record since programme inception from September 1, 2018, to November 3, 2025. The records of all patients undergoing neonatal cardiac surgery were reviewed if they reached their first birthday during the study period. Infants who died during hospitalisation were excluded. RESULTS: Three hundred fourteen unique neonates underwent 862 procedures (Figure ). The typical neonate underwent 2.75 procedures during the first year of life (not including cardiac surgery). The surgical complexity STAT scores of the neonatal operation categories 1-5 had 48, 57, 92, 78, and 39 participants, respectively. The STAT category associated with the most frequent use of anaesthetics was STAT 5. The most common procedures were peripherally inserted central catheter line, cardiac catheterisation, CT with angiography, and gastrostomy tube placement. COMMENT: We conducted a retrospective descriptive study comprising data collection from the medical record since programme inception from September 1, 2018, to November 3, 2025. A requirement for non-cardiac procedures in the first year of life is common but not universal. Neonates undergoing more complex cardiac procedures (STAT 3-5) underwent more frequent non-cardiac anaesthetics compared with STAT 1-2.