British journal of anaesthesia
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Cao and colleagues present a follow-up analysis of a previous RCT among >1200 older adults (mean age 72 yr) undergoing cancer surgery, originally designed to evaluate the effect of propofol or sevoflurane general anaesthesia on delirium, here to evaluate the effect of anaesthetic technique on overall survival and recurrence-free survival. Neither anaesthetic technique conferred an advantage on oncological outcomes. We suggest that although it is entirely plausible that the observed results are truly robust neutral findings, the present study could be limited, like most published studies in the field, by its heterogeneity and understandable absence of underlying individual patient-specific tumour genomic data. We argue for a precision oncology approach to onco-anaesthesiology research that recognises that cancer is not one but rather many diseases and that tumour genomics (and multi-omics) is a fundamental determinant relating drugs to longer-term outcomes.
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Patients requiring neuromuscular block for anaesthesia have a higher risk of adverse postoperative outcomes. The choice of reversal drug and its corresponding dose is critical for improving clinical outcomes. ⋯ New data from a recent study in the British Journal of Anaesthesia indicate cost advantages for sugammadex in low-risk and ambulatory patients, but for neostigmine in high-risk patients. These findings highlight the need to take local and temporal factors into consideration in addition to clinical effectiveness when performing cost analyses for administrative decision-making.
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The COVID-19 pandemic has rejuvenated interest in the possibility of using telemedicine as an approach to providing critical care services to patients in remote areas. Conceptual and governance considerations remain unaddressed. We summarise the first steps in a recent collaborative effort between key organisations in Australia, India, New Zealand, and the UK, and call for an international consensus on standards with due considerations to governance and regulation of this emerging clinical practice.
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The timely correction of anaemia before major surgery is important for optimising perioperative patient outcomes. However, multiple barriers have precluded the global expansion of preoperative anaemia treatment programmes, including misconceptions about the true cost/benefit ratio for patient care and health system economics. ⋯ In some health systems, billing for iron infusions could generate revenue and promote growth of treatment programmes. The aim of this work is to galvanise integrated health systems worldwide to diagnose and treat anaemia before major surgery.
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The analysis of arterial pressure waveforms with machine learning algorithms has been proposed to predict intraoperative hypotension. The ability to forecast arterial hypotension 5-15 min ahead of the fall in blood pressure allows clinicians to be pro-active instead of reactive, and could potentially decrease postoperative morbidity. ⋯ Continuous blood pressure monitoring enables immediate detection of hypotension, and giving fluid, vasopressors or inotropes to patients who are not yet (and might never become) hypotensive based on an algorithm is questionable. Finally, recent prospective interventional studies suggest that reducing intraoperative hypotension does not improve postoperative outcomes.