Der Anaesthesist
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Surgically induced fire is a life-threatening hazard; this topic has received little attention, although only 3 factors, the so-called fire triad, are needed for surgical fires to occur: an oxidizer, fuel and an ignition source. This systematic review aims to determine the impact of each component and to delegate every staff member an area of responsibility, thus ensuring patient health through prevention or protection. The trial was registered in Prospero CRD42018082656. ⋯ It was concluded that the main problem is defining the real extent of this hazard. Exact numbers and exact condition protocols are needed; therefore, standardized registration of every fire and future studies with much evidence are needed. Immediate prevention consists of close attention to patient safety to prevent surgical fires from happening.
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Review Meta Analysis
[Meta-analyses on measurement precision of non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring technologies in adults].
An ideal non-invasive monitoring system should provide accurate and reproducible measurements of clinically relevant variables that enables clinicians to guide therapy accordingly. The monitor should be rapid, easy to use, readily available at the bedside, operator-independent, cost-effective and should have a minimal risk and side effect profile for patients. An example is the introduction of pulse oximetry, which has become established for non-invasive monitoring of oxygenation worldwide. ⋯ Most studies found an acceptable bias with wide limits of agreement. Thus, most non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring technologies cannot be considered to be equivalent to the respective reference method. Studies testing the impact of non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring technologies as a trend evaluation on outcome, as well as studies evaluating alternatives to the finger for capturing the raw signals for hemodynamic assessment, and, finally, studies evaluating technologies based on a flow time measurement are current topics of clinical research.
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Sepsis-induced changes in pharmacokinetic parameters are a well-known problem in intensive care medicine. Dosing of antibiotics in this setting is therefore challenging. Alterations to the substance-specific kinetics of anti-infective substances have an effect on the distribution and excretion processes in the body. ⋯ Current international guidelines recommend individualized dosing strategies and adaptation of doses according to measured serum levels and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameters as concepts to optimize anti-infective therapy in the critically ill. Likewise, the recommendation to adjust the administration form of beta-lactam antibiotics to prolonged or continuous infusion can be found increasingly more often in the literature. This article reviews the background of the individual dosing in intensive care patients and their applicability to the clinical routine.
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Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) are characterized as self-contained units of work in a given typical clinical context, which may be entrusted to a trainee for independent execution at a certain point of training. An example could be the intraoperative anesthesia management of an ASA 1 patient for an uncomplicated surgical intervention as an EPA in early postgraduate anesthesia training. ⋯ It is a more holistic view of a trainee. Experience with this new concept is so far limited, therefore, further studies are urgently needed to determine whether and how EPAs can contribute to improvements in further training.
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After intensive care unit (ICU) treatment, the recollection of experienced pain is one of the most burdensome aftermaths. In addition, pain has several negative physiological consequences. The majority of patients report moderate to severe pain while being treated on an ICU, often caused by diagnostic or therapeutic procedures. ⋯ When using regional anesthesia the positive therapeutic effect and the possible complications need to be carefully weighed. Non-pharmaceutical procedures, especially transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), have proven successful in postoperative pain management. Even if only limited data from intensive care are available, a therapeutic attempt seems justifiable because of the low risk of complications.