Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2016
Comparative StudyThe Myth of Rescue Reversal in "Can't Intubate, Can't Ventilate" Scenarios.
An unanticipated difficult airway during induction of anesthesia can be a vexing problem. In the setting of can't intubate, can't ventilate (CICV), rapid recovery of spontaneous ventilation is a reasonable goal. The urgency of restoring ventilation is a function of how quickly a patient's hemoglobin oxygen saturation decreases versus how much time is required for the effects of induction drugs to dissipate, namely the duration of unresponsiveness, ventilatory depression, and neuromuscular blockade. It has been suggested that prompt reversal of rocuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade with sugammadex will allow respiratory activity to recover before significant arterial desaturation. Using pharmacologic simulation, we compared the duration of unresponsiveness, ventilatory depression, and neuromuscular blockade in normal, obese, and morbidly obese body sizes in this life-threatening CICV scenario. We hypothesized that although neuromuscular function could be rapidly restored with sugammadex, significant arterial desaturation will occur before the recovery from unresponsiveness and/or central ventilatory depression in obese and morbidly obese body sizes. ⋯ The clinical management of CICV should focus primarily on restoration of airway patency, oxygenation, and ventilation consistent with the American Society of Anesthesiologist's practice guidelines for management of the difficult airway. Pharmacologic intervention cannot be relied upon to rescue patients in a CICV crisis.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2016
Timing of Preoperative Troponin Elevations and Postoperative Mortality After Noncardiac Surgery.
Even small elevations in preoperative troponin levels have been shown to be associated with adverse outcomes. However, there are currently limited data on the relationship between troponin increase and timing of surgery. ⋯ Higher levels of preoperative cardiac troponin I were associated with higher postoperative mortality, and longer time to surgery appeared to reduce this risk for individuals with mild preoperative troponin elevations. Prospective studies are needed to determine whether delaying surgery in patients with elevated preoperative troponin levels improves postoperative outcomes.