Anesthesiology
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Airway Closure during Surgical Pneumoperitoneum in Obese Patients.
Airway closure causes lack of communication between proximal airways and alveoli, making tidal inflation start only after a critical airway opening pressure is overcome. The authors conducted a matched cohort study to report the existence of this phenomenon among obese patients undergoing general anesthesia. ⋯ In obese patients, complete airway closure is frequent during anesthesia and is worsened by Trendelenburg pneumoperitoneum, which increases airway opening pressure and alveolar pressure: besides preventing alveolar derecruitment, this yields misinterpretation of respiratory mechanics and generates a pressure threshold to inflate the lung that can reach high values, spreading concerns on the safety of pressure-controlled modes in this setting.
-
There has been a dramatic growth of scholarly articles in medical education in recent years. Evaluating medical education research requires specific orientation to issues related to format and content. Our goal is to review the quantitative aspects of research in medical education so that clinicians may understand these articles with respect to framing the study, recognizing methodologic issues, and utilizing instruments for evaluating the quality of medical education research. This review can be used both as a tool when appraising medical education research articles and as a primer for clinicians interested in pursuing scholarship in medical education.
-
The physiological concept, pathophysiological implications and clinical relevance and application of driving pressure and transpulmonary pressure to prevent ventilator-induced lung injury are discussed.
-
During anesthesia oxygenation is impaired, especially in the elderly or obese, but the mechanisms are uncertain. ⋯ PaO2/FIO2 ratio was impaired during anesthesia, and the impairment increased with age and body mass index. Shunt was related to atelectasis and was a more important cause of oxygenation impairment in middle-aged patients, whereas low(Equation is included in full-text article.), likely caused by airway closure, was more important in elderly patients. Shunt but not low(Equation is included in full-text article.)increased with increasing body mass index. Thus, increasing age and body mass index impaired gas exchange by different mechanisms during anesthesia.
-
Days Alive and Out of Hospital: Validation of a Patient-centered Outcome for Perioperative Medicine.
Days alive and out of hospital is a potentially useful patient-centered quality measure for perioperative care in adult surgical patients. However, there has been very limited prior validation of this endpoint with respect to its ability to capture differences in patient-level risk factor profiles and longer-term postoperative outcomes. The main objective of this study was assessment of the feasibility and validity of days alive and out of hospital as a patient-centered outcome for perioperative medicine. ⋯ Days alive and out of hospital is a feasibly measured patient-centered outcome that is associated with clinically sensible patient characteristics, surgical complexity, in-hospital complications, and longer-term outcomes. Days alive and out of hospital forms a novel patient-centered outcome for future clinical trials and observational studies for adult surgical patients.