Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Comparative Study
Postoperative delirium following transcatheter aortic valve implantation: a historical cohort study.
Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) techniques show favourable survival outcomes in high-risk patients, but the incidence of postoperative delirium is unknown. We conducted a historical cohort study to compare postoperative delirium in retrograde transfemoral (TF) versus anterograde transapical (TA) TAVI procedures. We also sought to identify independent predictors of delirium following TAVI. ⋯ Patients undergoing TA-TAVI had a markedly increased incidence of postoperative delirium compared with patients undergoing TF-TAVI.
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Case Reports
Paraplegia after epidural-general anesthesia in a Morquio patient with moderate thoracic spinal stenosis.
We describe an instance in which complete paraplegia was evident immediately postoperatively after apparently uneventful lumbar epidural-general anesthesia in a patient with Morquio Type A syndrome (Morquio A) with moderate thoracic spinal stenosis. ⋯ This experience leads us to suggest that, in patients with Morquio A, it may be prudent to avoid the use of epidural anesthesia without very firm indication, to support BP at or near baseline levels in the presence of even moderate spinal stenosis, and to avoid flexion or extension of the spinal column in intraoperative positioning. If the spinal cord/column status is unknown or if the patient is known to have any degree of spinal stenosis, we suggest that the same rigorous BP support practices that are typically applied in other patients with severe spinal stenosis, especially stenosis with myelomalacia, should apply to patients with Morquio A and that spinal cord neurophysiological monitoring should be employed. In the event that cord imaging is not available, e.g., emergency procedures, it would be prudent to assume the presence of spinal stenosis.
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Timely communication of intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) findings to the postoperative care team is critical to optimizing patient care. We compared the use of a personal computer (PC) system with the use of a mobile tablet device (MTD) system for point-of-care TEE data entry and hypothesized that the MTD-based system would reduce the time to preliminary TEE reporting and decrease the incidence of delinquent reporting by 50%. ⋯ Implementation of a MTD system for data entry leads to improved TEE reporting time and reduces TEE reporting delinquency. Further studies are required to determine whether this strategy enhances quality of reporting, optimizes communication between care teams, and improves outcomes without increasing costs.
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Practice Guideline
Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia - Revised Edition 2015.
The Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia Revised Edition 2015 (the guidelines) were prepared by the Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society (CAS), which reserves the right to determine their publication and distribution. Because the guidelines are subject to revision, updated versions are published annually. ⋯ Each anesthesiologist should exercise his or her own professional judgement in determining the proper course of action for any patient's circumstances. The CAS assumes no responsibility or liability for any error or omission arising from the use of any information contained in its Guidelines to the Practice of Anesthesia.
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Case Reports
Urinary retention occurring one week after spinal anesthesia: a case of Elsberg syndrome.
We describe a case of urinary retention caused by viral sacral myeloradiculitis (Elsberg syndrome) that occurred one week after spinal anesthesia. The differential diagnosis of urinary retention after spinal anesthesia is discussed. ⋯ This case suggests that Elsberg syndrome is important in the differential diagnosis of urinary retention after spinal anesthesia and should be discriminated from other anesthesia-related complications.