Interactive cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Feb 2014
ReviewIs cryoanalgesia effective for post-thoracotomy pain?
A best evidence topic was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether cryoanalgesia improves post-thoracotomy pain and recovery. Twelve articles were identified that provided the best evidence to answer the question. ⋯ Thoracotomy closure and site of area of chest drain insertion may have a role in postoperative pain; but only one article explained method of closure, and two articles mentioned placement of chest drain through blocked dermatomes. No causal inferences can be made by the above results as they are not directly comparable due to confounding variables between studies. Currently, the evidence does not support the use of cryoanalgesia alone as an effective method for relieving post-thoracotomy pain.
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Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg · Feb 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyAssessment of concomitant paroxysmal atrial fibrillation ablation in mitral valve surgery patients based on continuous monitoring: does a different lesion set matter?
The efficacy of concomitant ablation techniques in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF) undergoing mitral valve surgery remains under debate. The aim of this prospective, randomized, single-centre study was to compare pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) only versus a left atrial maze (LAM) procedure in patients with paroxysmal AF during mitral valve surgery. ⋯ According to continuous ECG monitoring data, freedom from AF was significantly higher after the concomitant LAM procedure than after PVI in patients with paroxysmal AF who underwent mitral valve surgery.