Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effect of Intraoperative Goal-directed Balanced Crystalloid versus Colloid Administration on Major Postoperative Morbidity: A Randomized Trial.
Crystalloid solutions leave the circulation quickly, whereas colloids remain for hours, thus promoting hemodynamic stability. However, colloids are expensive and promote renal toxicity in critical care patients. This study tested the hypothesis that goal-directed colloid administration during elective abdominal surgery decreases 30-day major complications more than goal-directed crystalloid administration. ⋯ Doppler-guided intraoperative hydroxyethyl starch administration did not significantly reduce a composite of serious complications. However, there was also no indication of renal or other toxicity.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Nociception-guided versus Standard Care during Remifentanil-Propofol Anesthesia: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
The multidimensional index of nociception, the nociception level, outperforms blood pressure and heart rate in detection of nociceptive events during anesthesia. We hypothesized that nociception level-guided analgesia reduces opioid consumption and suboptimal anesthesia events such as low blood pressure and use of vasoactive medication. ⋯ Nociception level-guided analgesia during major abdominal surgery resulted in 30% less remifentanil consumption.
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Obese patients are characterized by normal chest-wall elastance and high pleural pressure and have been excluded from trials assessing best strategies to set positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The authors hypothesized that severely obese patients with ARDS present with a high degree of lung collapse, reversible by titrated PEEP preceded by a lung recruitment maneuver. ⋯ Among the PEEP titration strategies tested, setting PEEP according to a PEEPDECREMENTAL trial preceded by a recruitment maneuver obtained the best lung function by decreasing lung overdistension and collapse, restoring lung elastance, and oxygenation suggesting lung tissue recruitment.
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Historical Article
An Anesthesiologist's Perspective on the History of Basic Airway Management: The "Modern" Era, 1960 to Present.
This fourth and last installment of my history of basic airway management discusses the current (i.e., "modern") era of anesthesia and resuscitation, from 1960 to the present. These years were notable for the implementation of intermittent positive pressure ventilation inside and outside the operating room. Basic airway management in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (i.e., expired air ventilation) was de-emphasized, as the "A-B-C" (airway-breathing-circulation) protocol was replaced with the "C-A-B" (circulation-airway-breathing) intervention sequence. ⋯ In the new context of providing intermittent positive pressure ventilation, the generic technique generated an underpowered grip with a less effective seal and an unspecified airway maneuver. The significant advancement that had been made in understanding the pathophysiology of upper airway obstruction was thus poorly translated into practice. In contrast to consistent progress in advanced airway management, progress in basic airway techniques and devices stagnated.