Minerva anestesiologica
-
Both the optimal caloric intake and the best route of delivery of nutrition to critically ill patients fuel an intense debate. Recently, two large pragmatic, multicenter, controlled, randomized clinical trials evaluated these issues in large cohorts of patients. In the CALORIES Study, the authors compared the parenteral with the enteral route as the most effective way to deliver early (e.g. within 36 hours from admission) nutritional support in critically ill adults in 33 English ICUs (N.=2388). ⋯ In the PermiT Study, 894 enterally fed patients from 7 ICUs were randomized to a restrictive strategy for non-protein calories (e.g. "permissive underfeeding" - 40% to 60% of energy expenditure) or to standard feeding (70 to 100% of energy expenditure) for up to 2 weeks. The primary endpoint (90-day mortality) was similar in both groups (27.2% in the permissive-underfeeding group and 28.9% in the standard-feeding group) without significant differences in feeding intolerance, diarrhea or ICU-acquired infections. We herein discuss how these studies should be interpreted with regard to the existing evidence and propose some practical suggestions for nutrition management in the critically ill patient.
-
Minerva anestesiologica · Aug 2016
Transesophageal echocardiography: what the anesthesiologist has to know.
Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a very powerful intraoperative monitoring tool. It allows precise assessment of cardiac anatomy together with dynamic quantification of myocardial performance and flows through the heart chambers. With a high safety profile TEE counts few absolute contraindications. ⋯ Unexplained hemodynamic instability is the only strong indication in non-cardiac surgery. Qualitative assessment based on a simplified protocol seams to adequately address the clinical needs in this specific scenario. More studies are required to support the use of TEE outside of cardiac surgery at its full potential.
-
Minerva anestesiologica · Aug 2016
The Impact of patient controlled analgesia on prognosis of patients receiving major abdominal surgery.
Postoperative pain is a major disease burden after surgery. Patient-controlled analgesia has been wide used for pain management in surgical patients, yet, large-scaled studies are lacking to assess its impact on the prognosis of patients. ⋯ Intravenous patient-controlled analgesia was related to improved survival, less complications and chronic post-surgical pain after major abdominal surgery, reiterating the important role of pain management for the prognosis of patients who underwent surgery.
-
Minerva anestesiologica · Aug 2016
Validation of a novel index of hemorrhage using a lower body negative pressure shock model.
Vital signs are late indicators of blood loss in trauma patients. Indexed Heart to Arm Time (iHAT) is a non-invasive index based on a modified pulse transit time (mPTT) indexed to the time between R waves on the electrocardiogram (RR interval). We aimed to investigate how early iHAT is able to detect central hypovolemia during the progression from mild to severe simulated hemorrhage induced by applying lower body negative pressure (LBNP). ⋯ iHAT measures both the reduction in preload and the parabolic heart rate increase due to the linear decrease in stroke volume. iHAT was able to detect a progressive central volume loss in a model of hemorrhage in healthy volunteers undergoing LBNP. A rising trend in iHAT can be a useful marker for progressive volume loss during moderate to severe bleeding.
-
Minerva anestesiologica · Aug 2016
Comparative StudyInfluence of supraglottic airway device placement on cerebral hemodynamics.
Supraglottic airway devices (SGDs) are of current use in anesthesia practice and in emergency conditions. It has been suggested that cerebral blood flow (CBF) can decrease after SGD insertion or cuff inflation; however, it is uncertain if this reduction is caused by the SGD or the anesthetic drugs utilized for the anesthetic procedure. During minor surgery we separated CBF measurements by an adequate time interval in order to measure the distinctive changes in cerebral hemodynamics associated with anesthesia induction, SGD insertion and cuff inflation. ⋯ SGD insertion and cuff inflation did not influence cerebral hemodynamics in anesthetized patients undergoing minor surgery. At normal etCO2 range, the CBF reduction with transient increase in PI was associated with anesthesia induction and not SGD insertion itself.