Journal of cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Aug 2007
Comparative StudyImproved neurologic outcome after implementing evidence-based guidelines for cardiac surgery.
A high incidence of neurologic complications was observed in the year 2001 in cardiac surgical patients in this department. This article attempts to show the impact of changing and optimizing management protocols on the incidence of neurologic morbidity after cardiac surgery. ⋯ The occurrences of neurologic complications, mortality, and ICU resource consumption by this patient group decreased after implementation of an optimized management protocol and evidence-based guidelines.
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Aug 2007
Comparative StudyLow-volume interscalene brachial plexus block for post-thoracotomy shoulder pain.
This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of low-volume interscalene brachial plexus block for post-thoracotomy ipsilateral shoulder pain and to compare it with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug treatment. ⋯ The authors concluded that low-volume interscalene brachial plexus block is a superior treatment for post-thoracotomy shoulder pain compared with diclofenac injection, although it requires a slightly longer stay in the PACU.
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Aug 2007
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyComparison of the modulatory effects of four different fast-track anesthetic techniques on the inflammatory response to cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.
To test the hypothesis that the choice of anesthesia technique for coronary artery surgery influences the degree and magnitude of the subsequent inflammatory response and its consequences. ⋯ Supplementation of a fast-track anesthetic technique with epidural analgesia preserves hemodynamic stability and is associated with faster extubation times (p = 0.003) and less postoperative pain (p = 0.045). Thoracic epidural analgesia was associated with significantly higher levels of IL-6 throughout the study period as compared with the total intravenous anesthesia groups. The exact clinical relevance of this finding remains unclear.
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J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. · Aug 2007
Comparative StudyKaolin-based activated coagulation time measured by sonoclot in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass.
In vivo data for the kaolin-based ACT test from the Sonoclot Analyzer (SkACT, Sienco Inc, Arvada, CO) are lacking. The aim of this study was to compare SkACT with an established kaolin-based ACT from Hemochron (HkACT) and anti-Xa activity in patients undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). ⋯ Accuracy and performance of SkACT and HkACT were comparable for heparin monitoring in patients undergoing CPB for elective cardiac surgery. However, both tests were affected significantly after initiating CPB and aprotinin infusion.