Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2017
Recombinant Factor VIIa Is Associated With Increased Thrombotic Complications in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients.
Recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) is routinely used as an off-label hemostatic agent in children undergoing cardiac surgery. Despite evidence that rFVIIa use is associated with an increased incidence of thrombotic complications in adult cardiac surgery, the safety of rFVIIa as a rescue hemostatic agent in the pediatric cardiac surgical population is less definitively delineated. In this retrospective study, we used propensity score matching to compare the incidence of thrombotic complications between children treated with rFVIIa and their matched controls. ⋯ This retrospective analysis confirmed that perioperative administration of rFVIIa is associated with an increased incidence of postoperative thrombotic complications in neonates and children undergoing cardiac surgery, without increase in 30-day mortality. In conclusion, rFVIIa should be used with extreme caution in pediatric patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2017
A Predictive Model for Extended Postanesthesia Care Unit Length of Stay in Outpatient Surgeries.
A predictive model that can identify patients who are at an increased risk for prolonged postanesthesia care unit (PACU) stay could help optimize resource utilization and case sequencing. Although previous studies identified some predictors, there is not a model that only utilizes various patients demographic and comorbidities, that are already known preoperatively, and that may affect PACU length of stay for outpatient procedures requiring the care of an anesthesiologist. ⋯ We developed a predictive model with excellent discrimination and goodness-of-fit that can help identify those at higher odds for extended PACU length of stay. This information may help optimize case-sequencing methodologies.
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As the number of operative cases increases, there is a greater emphasis on reducing inefficiency while maintaining patient safety. Recently, the issue of prespiking intravenous (IV) bags was raised. No study has assessed whether the risk of infection is related to the length of time a sterile (IV) fluid bag has been spiked. After completion of a pilot study revealed no microbial growth within 24 hours of an IV spike, a larger formal study was undertaken to determine whether there was an increased infection risk within 4 hours of spiking an intravenous fluid bag. ⋯ There was no bacterial growth in prespiked normal saline IV bags in a perioperative environment. Thus, prespiking of normal saline IV bags in advance should pose no risk of infection to a patient if prepared within 4 hours.