Minerva anestesiologica
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Minerva anestesiologica · Sep 2016
Review Meta AnalysisAcute Kidney Injury (AKI) after cardiac arrest: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies.
The prevalence of and the risk factors for acute kidney injury (AKI) after cardiac arrest (CA), and the association of AKI with outcome have not been systematically investigated so far. ⋯ post-arrest AKI has an early onset, occurs in more than 50% of CA patients, and it is associated with increased mortality. Decreased renal function on admission, an initial non-shockable rhythm and both pre-arrest and post-arrest markers of hypoperfusion are associated with increased risk of AKI in this setting.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Sep 2016
ReviewRed blood cell transfusion strategies in critically ill patients: lessons from recent randomized clinical studies.
A randomized, multicenter trial conducted in 32 northern European general intensive care units (ICUs) enrolled some patients with septic shock randomly assigned to receive a red blood cell transfusion when the hemoglobin (Hb) level was ≤7 g/dL ("lower threshold"; N.=502) or ≤9 g/dL ("higher threshold"; N.=496) throughout the ICU stay. Patients were excluded if they had an acute coronary syndrome, life-threatening bleeding, acute burn injury, had already been transfused or had previously experienced transfusion-related reactions. The two groups of patients had comparable severity of disease scores and chronic cardiovascular conditions. ⋯ In the higher threshold group, approximately twice as many transfusions were given (3088 vs. 1545 units transfused, P<0.001) as in the lower threshold group. In the lower threshold group, more patients received no RBC transfusion (36% vs. 1.2%, P<0.001) than in the higher threshold group, but there were also more temporary protocol suspensions (5.9 % vs. 2.2%, P=0.004), in particular because of myocardial ischemia (6/488, 1.2% vs. 0/489), life-threatening bleeding (18/488, 3.7% vs. 9/489, 1.8%) and need for higher Hb levels during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy. We discuss how anemia should be managed in patients with sepsis or other critical illness, especially in the context of the potential risks associated with RBC transfusion and data from other recent large randomized trials.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Sep 2016
Near zero difficult tracheal intubation and tracheal intubation failure: too good to be true.
Unpredicted Difficult Tracheal Intubation (DTI) with Macintosh occurs frequently in obese patients. We investigated the incidence of DTI using an algorithm based on preoperative assessment with the El-Ganzouri Risk Index (EGRI) and Glidescope® routine use. ⋯ The incidence of DTI and Intubation Failure was reduced to near-zero using Glidescope® and the Besta Airway Algorithm in this sample of morbidly obese patients.