Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Review Meta Analysis
Topical application of antifibrinolytic drugs for on-pump cardiac surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical application of antifibrinolytic drugs to reduce postoperative bleeding and transfusion requirements in patients undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery. ⋯ This review suggests that topical application of antifibrinolytics can reduce postoperative bleeding and transfusion requirements in patients undergoing on-pump cardiac surgery. These promising findings need to be confirmed by more trials with large sample size using patient-related outcomes and more assessments regarding the systemic absorption of the medications.
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Review Meta Analysis
Effect of epidural analgesia in patients with traumatic rib fractures: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
A consensus group recently proposed epidural analgesia as the optimal analgesic modality for patients with multiple traumatic rib fractures. However, its beneficial effects are not consistently recognized in the literature. We performed a systematic review and a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT) of epidural analgesia in adult patients with traumatic rib fractures. ⋯ No significant benefit of epidural analgesia on mortality, ICU and hospital LOS was observed compared to other analgesic modalities in adult patients with traumatic rib fractures. However, there may be a benefit on the duration of mechanical ventilation with the use of thoracic epidural analgesia with local anesthetics. Further research is required to evaluate the benefits and harms of epidural analgesia in this population before being considered as a standard of care therapy.
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Metabolic acid-base disorders are common in critically ill patients. Clinicians may have difficulty recognizing their presence when multiple metabolic acid-base derangements are present in a single patient. Clinicians should be able to identify the components of complex metabolic acid-base disorders since metabolic acidoses due to unmeasured anions are associated with increased mortality in critically ill patients. This review presents the derivation of three commonly used methods of acid-base analysis, which include the anion gap, Stewart physiochemical, and modified base excess. Clinical examples are also provided to demonstrate the subtleties of the different methods and to demonstrate their application to real patient data. ⋯ While all three methods correctly identify metabolic acidosis due to unmeasured anions, which is a predictor of mortality, it remains unclear if further delineation of complex metabolic acid-base disorders using the Stewart physiochemical or the modified base excess methods is clinically beneficial.