Anesthesiology
-
For half a century, it has been known that some patients experience neurocognitive dysfunction after cardiac surgery; however, defining its incidence, course, and causes remains challenging and controversial. Various terms have been used to describe neurocognitive dysfunction at different times after cardiac surgery, ranging from "postoperative delirium" to "postoperative cognitive dysfunction or decline." Delirium is a clinical diagnosis included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). ⋯ Here, the authors discuss pathophysiologic mechanisms that may underlie these complications, review the literature on methods to prevent them, and discuss novel approaches to understand their etiology that may lead to novel treatment strategies. Future studies should measure both delirium and postoperative cognitive dysfunction to help clarify the relationship between these important postoperative complications.
-
Multicenter Study Observational Study
Complications in Pediatric Regional Anesthesia: An Analysis of More than 100,000 Blocks from the Pediatric Regional Anesthesia Network.
WHAT THIS ARTICLE TELLS US THAT IS NEW: BACKGROUND:: Complications in pediatric regional anesthesia are rare, so a large sample size is necessary to quantify risk. The Pediatric Regional Anesthesia Network contains data on more than 100,000 blocks administered at more than 20 children's hospitals. This study analyzed the risk of major complications associated with regional anesthesia in children. ⋯ The data from this study demonstrate a level of safety in pediatric regional anesthesia that is comparable to adult practice and confirms the safety of placing blocks under general anesthesia in children.
-
WHAT THIS ARTICLE TELLS US THAT IS NEW: BACKGROUND:: The authors tested the hypothesis that deep neural networks trained on intraoperative features can predict postoperative in-hospital mortality. ⋯ Deep neural networks can predict in-hospital mortality based on automatically extractable intraoperative data, but are not (yet) superior to existing methods.