Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Nov 2018
Trends in practice and safety measures of epidural analgesia: Report of a national survey.
The clinical use of epidural analgesia has changed over past decades. Minimally invasive surgery and emergence of alternative analgesic techniques have led to an overall decline in its use. In addition, there is increasing awareness of the patient-specific risks for complications such as spinal haematoma and abscess. Local guidelines for management of severe neurological complications during or after epidural analgesia, ie, "epidural alert systems", have been introduced in hospitals to coordinate and potentially streamline early diagnosis and treatment. How widely such protocols have been implemented in daily practice is unknown. ⋯ This national audit concerning use and safety of epidural analgesia demonstrates that a minority of Dutch hospitals have procedures to manage suspected neurological complications of epidural analgesia, whereas in the remaining hospitals responsibilities and timelines for management of epidural emergencies are determined on an ad hoc basis.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Nov 2018
ReviewThe role of prehabilitation in frail surgical patients: A systematic review.
A useful review of the role of rehabilitation in frail patients by Milder, Pillinger and Kam.
- They note that there is no gold standard to measure frailty, although there are many attempts to reliably identify and measure frailty across its many domains.
Nonetheless frailty is strongly associated with perioperative morbidity and mortality.
One proposed indicator of physical frailty is the presence of three of Fried's five factors: unintentional weight loss; grip strength weakness; exhaustion; slow walking speed; and low physical activity.
Frailty is "...a multidimensional state of reduced physiological reserve, resulting in increased vulnerability to stressors, decreased resilience, and loss of adaptive capacity."
Prehabilitation aims to increase physiological reserve through pre-operative intervention, including but not limited to exercise, nutrition and inspiratory muscle training.
Final word: although attractive, prehab has not yet been shown to improve outcomes in frail patients, though this is likely due to the absence of high quality studies.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Nov 2018
Observational StudyDaily intra-abdominal pressure, Sequential Organ Failure Score and fluid balance predict duration of mechanical ventilation.
Elevated intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is a common occurrence in mechanically ventilated patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between IAP, pulmonary compliance and the duration of mechanical ventilation. ⋯ IAPs did not correlate with pulmonary compliance in critically ill patients. Increased IAP was associated with a longer duration of mechanical ventilation. A nomogram integrating daily IAP, SOFA score and fluid balance may be used to predict the duration of mechanical ventilation.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Nov 2018
Review Meta AnalysisPerioperative goal-directed therapy: A systematic review without meta-analysis.
Perioperative goal-directed therapy aims to optimise haemodynamics by titrating fluids, vasopressors and/or inotropes to predefined haemodynamic targets. Perioperative goal-directed therapy is a complex intervention composed of several independent component interventions. Trials on perioperative goal-directed therapy show conflicting results. We aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to investigate the benefits and harms of perioperative goal-directed therapy. ⋯ Clinical heterogeneity in patients, interventions and outcomes in perioperative goal-directed therapy trials is too large to perform meta-analysis on all trials. Future trials and meta-analyses highly depend on universally agreed definitions on aspects beyond type of surgery of the complex intervention and its evaluation.