Magnesium Sulfate as Adjuvant Analgesia and Its Effect on Opiate Use of Post-operative Transplant Patients in the Pediatric ICU

The post-operative ICU course for children receiving liver transplants and TPIAT (total pancreatectomy with islet cell autotransplantation) includes a number of different challenges, one of which includes pain. Pain is treated with both medications and approaches without medications (such as music and other distraction techniques). Opioids are one such effective pain medication which is universally used, however like all medications has risks of certain side effects (such as nausea, constipation, itching, and others). Modern research has searched for other medications and methods to treat pain in both children and adults. In this study, the investigators aim to apply one of these methods that has been shown to be effective in certain operative populations through a medicine called Magnesium-Sulfate, which may be a safe way to decrease the use of other pain medications (specifically opioids). Magnesium is already a physiologic electrolyte the body uses, which are consumed from certain foods. Used as an IV medication to reach higher levels of magnesium can work to decrease pain via its action on specific nerve receptors. Magnesium-Sulfate will be given at the beginning of transplant surgery for consented liver and TPIAT transplant patients, and continue an infusion for 48 hours into their ICU course. The investigators will monitor side effects and treat pain the same way otherwise the care team would without magnesium to determine whether there is any beneficial effect that can be applied to children in the future.