Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2022
Digital clock drawing test metrics in older patients before and after endoscopy with sedation: An exploratory analysis.
In the postoperative period, clinically feasible instruments to monitor elderly patients' neurocognitive recovery and discharge-readiness, especially after short-stay procedures, are limited. Cognitive monitoring may be improved by a novel digital clock drawing test (dCDT). We screened for cognitive impairment with the 4 A Test (4AT) and then administered the dCDT pre and post short-stay procedure (endoscopy). The primary aim was to investigate whether the dCDT was sensitive to a change in cognitive status postendoscopy. We also investigated if preoperative cognitive status impacted postendoscopy dCDT variables. ⋯ Postoperative dCDT time-based variables slowed in those with baseline cognitive impairment detected by the 4AT, but not for those without cognitive impairment. Our results suggest the dCDT, using the command mode, may help detect cognitive impairment in patients aged >65 years after elective endoscopy.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2022
ReviewPostoperative pain treatment after lumbar discectomy. A protocol for a systematic review with meta-analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis.
Patients undergoing lumbar discectomy usually suffer from moderate to severe pain during the postoperative period. Multimodal, or balanced analgesia, is the leading treatment principle for managing postoperative pain. The rationale is to achieve optimal pain treatment through additive or synergistic effects of several non-opioid analgesics, and thereby, reducing the need for postoperative opioids, facilitating early mobilization and functional rehabilitation. For discectomy surgery, evidence of both the benefit and harm of different analgesic interventions is unclear. ⋯ This systematic review will assess the benefits and harms of analgesic interventions after lumbar discectomy and have the potential to improve best practices and advance research.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2022
Review Meta AnalysisAlpha2 -receptor agonists as adjuvants for brachial plexus nerve blocks - a systematic review with meta-analyses.
We review the efficacy and safety of dexmedetomidine and clonidine as perineural or systemic adjuvants for brachial plexus blocks (BPB). ⋯ Alpha2-receptor agonists used as adjuvants for BPBs lead to a prolonged duration of analgesia, with dexmedetomidine as the most efficient. Alpha2-receptor agonists were associated with increased risk of cardiovascular adverse events. The quality of evidence was low to very low.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2022
Observational StudyInterhospital transport of critically ill patients: A prospective observational study of patient and transport characteristics.
The cohort of critically ill patients transported between Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in Norway has not been studied previously. The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of patients and transports for different types of interhospital transfers and explore whether there were differences in morbidity and mortality between the different transfer categories and the general Norwegian ICU population. ⋯ Intensive care patients transferred between ICUs are as critically ill as the rest of the ICU population, with a similar morbidity and mortality. The return transfers of ICU-patients appear under-triaged compared to secondary transports in terms of allocated resources.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2022
Health-related quality of life and days alive without life support or out of hospital: protocol.
Mortality is often the primary outcome in randomised clinical trials (RCTs) conducted in critically ill patients. Due to increased awareness on survivors after critical illness and outcomes other than mortality, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and days alive without life support (DAWOLS) or days alive and out of hospital (DAAOOH) are increasingly being used. DAWOLS and DAAOOH convey more information than mortality, are easier to collect than HRQoL, and are usually assessed at earlier time points, which may be preferable in some situations. However, the associations between DAWOLS-DAAOOH and HRQoL are uncertain. ⋯ The outlined study will provide important knowledge on the associations between DAWOLS-DAAOOH and HRQoL in adult critically ill patients, which may help researchers and clinical trialists prioritise and select outcomes in future RCTs conducted in this population.