Anesthesiology
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This comprehensive review summarizes the evidence regarding use of cerebral autoregulation-directed therapy at the bedside and provides an evaluation of its impact on optimizing cerebral perfusion and associated functional outcomes. Multiple studies in adults and several in children have shown the feasibility of individualizing mean arterial blood pressure and cerebral perfusion pressure goals by using cerebral autoregulation monitoring to calculate optimal levels. ⋯ Six of these nine studies (66%) showed that patients for whom median cerebral perfusion pressure or mean arterial blood pressure differed significantly from the optimum, defined by cerebral autoregulation monitoring, were more likely to have an unfavorable outcome. The evidence indicates that monitoring of continuous cerebral autoregulation at the bedside is feasible and has the potential to be used to direct blood pressure management in acutely ill patients.
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Observational Study
Clinical Judgment Is Not Reliable for Reducing Whole-body Computed Tomography Scanning after Isolated High-energy Blunt Trauma.
The purpose of this study was to test the diagnostic performance of clinical judgment for the prediction of a significant injury with whole-body computed tomography scanning after high-energy trauma. ⋯ Clinical judgment alone is not sufficient to reduce whole-body computed tomography scan use. In patients with a strictly normal physical examination, whole-body computed tomography scanning might be avoided, but this result deserves additional study in larger and more diverse populations of trauma patients.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Risk of Epidural Hematoma after Neuraxial Techniques in Thrombocytopenic Parturients: A Report from the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group.
Thrombocytopenia has been considered a relative or even absolute contraindication to neuraxial techniques due to the risk of epidural hematoma. There is limited literature to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma in thrombocytopenic parturients. The authors reviewed a large perioperative database and performed a systematic review to further define the risk of epidural hematoma requiring surgical decompression in this population. ⋯ The number of thrombocytopenic parturients in the literature who received neuraxial techniques without complication has been significantly increased. The risk of epidural hematoma associated with neuraxial techniques in parturients at a platelet count less than 70,000 mm remains poorly defined due to limited observations.