Anesthesiology
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Biography Historical Article
49 Mathoura Road: Geoffrey Kaye's Center of Excellence for the Australian Society of Anaesthetists.
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The use of lung-protective ventilation (LPV) strategies may minimize iatrogenic lung injury in surgical patients. However, the identification of an ideal LPV strategy, particularly during one-lung ventilation (OLV), remains elusive. This study examines the role of ventilator management during OLV and its impact on clinical outcomes. ⋯ Low VT per se (i.e., in the absence of sufficient PEEP) has not been unambiguously demonstrated to be beneficial. The authors found that a large proportion of patients continue to receive high VT during OLV and that VT was inversely related to the incidence of respiratory complications and major postoperative morbidity. While low (physiologically appropriate) VT is an important component of an LPV strategy for surgical patients during OLV, current evidence suggests that, without adequate PEEP, low VT does not prevent postoperative respiratory complications. Thus, use of physiologic VT may represent a necessary, but not independently sufficient, component of LPV.
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Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) requires a close "partnership" between a conscious patient and the patient's caregivers. Specific perceptions of NIV stakeholders and their impact have been poorly described to date. The objectives of this study were to compare the perceptions of NIV by intensive care unit (ICU) physicians, nurses, patients, and their relatives and to explore factors associated with caregivers' willingness to administer NIV and patients' and relatives' anxiety in relation to NIV. ⋯ Lack of willingness of caregivers to administer NIV and a high level of anxiety of patients and relatives in relation to NIV are frequent in the ICU. Most factors associated with low willingness to administer NIV by nurses or anxiety in patients and relatives may be amenable to change. Interventional studies are now warranted to evaluate how to reduce these risk factors and therefore contribute to better management of a potentially traumatic experience. (Anesthesiology 2016; 124:1347-59).
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Sugammadex prolongs activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and prothrombin time (PT) suggestive of anticoagulant effects. To pinpoint its presumed anticoagulant site of action, the authors assessed Sugammadex's impact on a panel of coagulation assays. ⋯ Sugammadex significantly affects various coagulation assays, but this is explainable by an apparent phospholipid-binding effect, suggesting that Sugammadex`s anticoagulant effects are likely an in vitro artifact.