Current opinion in anaesthesiology
-
Thoracic injuries are directly responsible for 20-30% of deaths in severe trauma patients and represent one of the main regions involved in preventable or potentially preventable deaths. Controlling bleeding in thoracic trauma is a major challenge because intrathoracic hemorrhagic lesions can lead to hemodynamic instability and respiratory failure. ⋯ Thoracic bleeding can result from the diaphragm, intrathoracic vessels (aorta, but also inferior or superior vena cava, and suprahepatic veins), lung, cardiac, or chest wall injuries. Depending on thoracic lesions (such as hemothorax or hemopericardium), hemodynamic instability, and respiratory failure, a pericardial window approach, sternotomy, thoracotomy, or emergency resuscitation thoracotomy may be considered after discussion with the surgeon. Alongside treatment of injuries, managing oxygenation, ventilation, hemodynamic, and coagulopathy are essential for the patient's outcome.
-
Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Feb 2025
Outcomes, cost-effectiveness, and ethics in patient blood management.
In this narrative review, we evaluate the recent evidence for benefits, cost-effectiveness, and ethical considerations of patient blood management (PBM) programs. ⋯ PBM is an important concept as it promotes the rational use of allogeneic blood products and reduces transfusion and wastage of precious and limited blood products.
-
Telehealth is a popular way for health care providers to connect with patients and is utilized by anesthesiologists across the world for preoperative evaluations. The purpose of this review is to outline the latest literature about telehealth use within obstetric anesthesia. ⋯ Obstetric anesthesiologists play a pivotal role in the perioperative planning for high-risk pregnant women, and telehealth can serve as a tool to make this easier and more efficient with high patient and provider satisfaction.
-
Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Feb 2025
ReviewPreventing, identifying and managing myocardial injury after non cardiac surgery - a narrative review.
There is mounting and convincing evidence that patients with postoperative troponin elevation, with or without any clinical symptoms, are at higher risk for both, short- and long-term morbidity and mortality. Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery (MINS) is a relatively newly described syndrome, and the pathogenesis is not fully understood yet. MINS is now an established syndrome and multiple guidelines address potential etiologies, triggers, as well as preventive and management strategies. ⋯ MINS affects up to 20% of surgical patients, remains clinically mostly silent, but is associated with elevated morbidity and mortality. A multidisciplinary approach, that includes involvement of anesthesiologists, for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of MINS is recommended.
-
Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Feb 2025
ReviewPerioperative risk scores: prediction, pitfalls, and progress.
Perioperative risk scores aim to risk-stratify patients to guide their evaluation and management. Several scores are established in clinical practice, but often do not generalize well to new data and require ongoing updates to improve their reliability. Recent advances in machine learning have the potential to handle multidimensional data and associated interactions, however their clinical utility has yet to be consistently demonstrated. In this review, we introduce key model performance metrics, highlight pitfalls in model development, and examine current perioperative risk scores, their limitations, and future directions in risk modelling. ⋯ All perioperative risk scores have some limitations, highlighting the need for robust model development and validation. Advancements in machine learning present promising opportunities to enhance this field, particularly through the integration of diverse data sources that may improve predictive performance. Future work should focus on improving model interpretability and incorporating continuous learning mechanisms to increase their clinical utility.