Care of children with brain and spine tumours – A review of practice

Abstract

Aims and method were to assess the current practice in paediatric tumour management by the departments of neurosurgery and oncology, compare these with nationally agreed recommendations and examine for areas of improvement. Patient records were identified from departmental databases – 30 patients treated from October 2004 to May 2006. Factors assessed included reatment timelines (e.g., referral to admission and imaging, admission to surgery, surgery to further treatment), imaging, MDT discussion, and paediatric neurosurgery & neuro-oncology treatments. Of acute referrals, all patients were admitted within 2 days. All surgery was undertaken by a dedicated paediatric neurosurgeon with paediatric anaesthesia. All cases were discussed in a neuro-oncology MDT prior to surgery and 97% after surgery. In the first 6-months 57% received adjuvant treatment within 40 days; in the remaining period this improved to 91%. When measured against recognised benchmark standards, the SCH paediatric neuro-oncology service appears satisfactory. This study has identified the need to improve certain aspects of care to offer further improvements to the specialist service delivered.

Key words:

• Paediatric neurosurgery
• paediatric oncology
• clinical standards
• histology turnaround
• practice guidelines
• benchmarking