Commentary: Thoracic epidural anesthesia for pediatric cardiac surgery and enhanced recovery: Still lessons yet to be learned

Neuraxial anesthesia may be used as an effective perioperative opioid-sparing modality for enhanced recovery in pediatric cardiac surgery.1 Correct anatomical placement of an epidural catheter is obligatory and advanced techniques, including fluoroscopy and ultrasonography, have been developed to facilitate or confirm accurate catheter placement.2,3 In this issue of the Journal, Schmehil and colleagues4 report their experience with fluoroscopy-guided thoracic epidural catheter placement in a cohort of 120 patients (median age 24 months [range, 3 days-27 years] and weight 11 kg [range, 2.1-113 kg]) undergoing congenital heart surgery.