Der Anaesthesist
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The prophylaxis and treatment of postoperative pain to enhance patient comfort has been a primary goal of anesthesiologists for the last decades; however, avoiding postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is, from a patient's perspective, a highly relevant and equally important goal of anesthesia. Recent consensus-based guidelines suggest the assessment of risk factors including female gender, postoperative opioid administration, non-smoking status, a history of PONV or motion sickness, young patient age, longer duration of anesthesia, volatile anesthetics and the type of surgery and reducing the patient's baseline risk (e.g. through the use of regional anesthesia and administration of non-opioid analgesics as part of a multimodal approach). In general, a liberal PONV prophylaxis is encouraged for adult patients and children, which should also be administered when no risk assessment is made. ⋯ For these patients, there is a high degree of evidence for the combination of dexamethasone and 5‑HT3 receptor antagonists. When PONV occurs, the consensus guidelines suggest that antiemetics from a class different than given as prophylaxis should be administered. To decrease the incidence of PONV and increase the quality of care, the importance of the implementation of institutional-level guidelines and protocols as well as assessment of PONV prophylaxis and PONV incidence is highly recommended.
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Meta Analysis
[Mortality in sepsis and septic shock in Germany. Results of a systematic review and meta-analysis].
The reported mortality for sepsis and septic shock varies between 15% and 59% in international comparison. For Germany, the number of studies is limited. Previous estimations of mortality in Germany are outdated or based on claims data analyses. Various authors discuss whether lacking quality initiatives and treatment standards in Germany could cause higher mortality for sepsis. This contrasts with the internationally well-recognized performance of the German intensive care infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ Our analysis does not support the notion that mortality related to sepsis and septic shock in Germany is higher in international comparison. A higher mortality would not be obvious either, since intensive care, for example also during the COVID-19 pandemic, is regarded as exemplary in Germany and the structural quality, such as the number of intensive care beds per 100,000 inhabitants, is high in international comparison. Nevertheless, deficits could also exist outside intensive care medicine. A comparison of international individual studies should take greater account of the structure of healthcare systems, the severity of disease and the limitations resulting from the data sources used.
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Allogeneic blood transfusion is avoidable in many oncological interventions by the use of cell salvage or mechanical autotransfusion (MAT). As irradiation is elaborate and expensive, the safety of leucocyte depletion filters (LDF) for autologous blood from the surgical field might be a more acceptable alternative for the prevention of cancer recurrences. A previous meta-analysis could not identify an increased risk of cancer recurrence. The aim of this review article is to provide an update of a previous meta-analysis from 2012 as well as a safety analysis of cell salvage with LDF due to the improved data situation. ⋯ Randomized controlled trials on a comparison of MAT and allogeneic blood transfusion as well as LDF and irradiation would be desirable but are not available. From observational trials and more than 6300 subjects and various tumors, cell salvage in cancer surgery with or without LDF appears to be sufficiently safe. The efficacy of leucocyte depletion of autologous salvaged blood is equivalent to irradiation. Unavailability of radiation is not a contraindication for cell salvage use in cancer surgery. By usage of leucocyte depleted salvaged autologous blood, the risks of allogeneic transfusion can be avoided.
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A myriad of publications have contributed to an evidence-based approach to airway management in emergency services and admissions in recent years; however, it remains unclear which international registries on airway management in emergency medicine currently exist and how they are characterized concerning inclusion criteria, patient characteristics and definition of complications. ⋯ This study identified eleven EARs that sometimes widely differed concerning inclusion periods, inclusion criteria, definition of complications and application of newer methods of emergency airway management. Thus, comparability of the reported results and first-pass success rates is only possible to a limited extent. The authors therefore advocate the initiation of an airway registry in emergency medicine in German-speaking countries.
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Induction of general anesthesia in patients with risk for aspiration needs special considerations to avoid the incidence and severity of complications. Since no evidence-based guidelines support the challenge for anesthesiologists various practical recommendations exist in clinical practice for rapid sequence induction and intubation (RSI). The aim of this systematic review is, to summarize the evidence and recommend a decision making process. ⋯ The consideration of all practical, clinical procedures in patients at risk for aspiration represents an effective prevention of pulmonary aspiration during the induction of anesthesia. These include the optimal drug pre-treatment with antacids (e. g. sodium citrate) for highly aspiration-endangered and proton pump inhibitors or H2 blockers in other patients the evening before. Each patient should be examined and explained prior to RSI according to the recommendations of the National German Society of Anesthesiology for preoperative evaluation. A RSI should be performed in patients with no 2h liquid and no 6h food fasting or acute vomiting, sub-ileus or ileus, or no protective reflexes or a gastrointestinal passenger disorder. In addition, RSI should be performed in pregnant women after the 3rd trimester and during birth. The expertise and competence of the physician before and during rapid sequence induction and intubation about the respective task distribution minimizes the risk of aspiration, as does the adequate equipment, as well as an optimized upper body elevation of the patient. Consistent pre-oxygenation with an FIO2 of 1.0 (FetO2-concentration > 0.9) and an oxygen flow > 10 l/min using a completely sealing respiratory mask with capnography should take 3-5 minutes. Fast enough deep anesthesia and muscle relaxation to avoid coughing and choking can be achieved by a combination of opioid, hypnotic and muscle relaxation. In addition, an opioid of choice, propofol, thiopental, etomidate and ketamine can be used as hypnotic and rocuronium with the availability of sugammadex should be used as muscle relaxant. If there are no contraindications, succinylcholine can also be used as a muscle relaxant. In case of an unexpected difficult airway, a 2nd generation extraglottic airway device should be used. During regurgitation or aspiration, intensive medical monitoring and fiber-optic bronchoscopy should be performed, depending on the degree of severity and an X‑ray thorax image or a CT scan should be performed if symptoms arise. Three factors reduce the risk of aspiration: expertise, support from an experienced anesthesiologist and close monitoring of an inexperienced anesthesiologist.