Monitoring of the microcirculation in children undergoing major abdominal and thoracic surgery: A pilot study.

Perioperative microcirculatory monitoring in children requires a high amount of personal and logistic resources still limiting its routine use. Major surgery is associated with microvascular alterations and glycocalyx perturbation. The possible consequences on patient outcome need further evaluation. Efforts should concentrate on the development of next generation devices designed to facilitate microcirculatory monitoring in children.