Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Dec 2009
Epidural anesthesia in elderly patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of thoracic epidural anesthesia on postoperative N-terminal pro B-natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) release in elderly patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. ⋯ Epidural anesthesia added to general anesthesia for CABG surgery significantly attenuates NT-proBNP release in elderly patients and reduces the incidence of prolonged intensive care unit stay.
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Dec 2009
Meta AnalysisSpinal analgesia in cardiac surgery: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Controversial results exist on the effects of spinal analgesia in cardiac surgery. The authors conducted a review of randomized studies to show whether there are any advantages in clinically relevant outcomes using spinal analgesia in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. ⋯ This analysis indicated that spinal analgesia does not improve clinically relevant outcomes in patients undergoing cardiac surgery, discouraging further randomized controlled trials on this topic even if changes in techniques, devices, and drugs could modify the outlook of the comparison between spinal and standard anesthesia in this setting.