Minerva anestesiologica
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Minerva anestesiologica · Nov 2019
The incidence of intraoperative gastric tube malposition verified by Point-of-Care Ultrasound.
Over a million gastric tubes are placed yearly for varying medical reasons including gastric decompression. In the operating room (OR), this is performed blindly, and position is confirmed by auscultation, aspiration, or palpation by a surgeon. Despite the known risks of malpositioned gastric tubes, there is limited data in anesthesia literature about the incidence of intraoperative malpositioned gastric tubes. In this study, we use Point-of-Care ultrasonography (POCUS) to confirm gastric tube placement in the OR. ⋯ In summary, we demonstrated that the incidence of malposition of blindly gastric tubes was 14%. Given the attendant risks of malpositioned gastric tubes, this data should inform decision algorithms for the blind placement of gastric tubes.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Nov 2019
Observational StudyThe prognostic role of red blood cell distribution width in transfused and non-transfused critically ill patients.
Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) value is gaining popularity as a prognostic factor in critically ill patients. However, its role in transfused patients is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of Red blood cell distribution width (RDW) on Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission for 90-day mortality among either transfused or non-transfused critically ill patients. ⋯ High RDW values on ICU admission are independently associated with 90-day mortality in critically ill patients regardless of previous red blood cells transfusion. However, we identified two different cut-offs of "high RDW" to be used in ICU in transfused and non-transfused patients.