HSR proceedings in intensive care & cardiovascular anesthesia
-
HSR Proc Intensive Care Cardiovasc Anesth · Jan 2012
Perioperative management of antiplatelet therapy in patients with drug-eluting stents.
Significant advancements in percutaneous treatment of coronary artery disease have been achieved with the introduction of bare metal stents. They have two major drawbacks: acute/subacute stent thrombosis, successfully managed with antiplatelet therapy immediately after stent implantation; and in-stent restenosis, prevention of which has been achieved with the development of drug-eluting stents. Drug-eluting stents have become preferred therapy for patients undergoing coronary artery intervention, though reports of late stent thrombosis have led to uncertainty about the duration of antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stents placement. ⋯ There is no definite standard of care for the perioperative management of drug-eluting stents in patients with drug-eluting stents. However, there is a growing understanding of the importance of continuation of drug-eluting stents in the perioperative period in order to prevent stent thrombosis along with a concern about the possibility of increased bleeding. Appropriate timing of surgery after coronary artery stenting, team approach to the perioperative management of such patients with involvement of cardiologist, anesthesiologist, and surgeon, and development of an individual plan for each patient, weighing that patient's risk of thrombosis vs the risk of bleeding, could improve patient safety and optimize outcome.
-
HSR Proc Intensive Care Cardiovasc Anesth · Jan 2011
Use of the LUCAS mechanical chest compression device for percutaneous coronary intervention during cardiac arrest: is it really a game changer?
Cardiopulmonary support including closed chest compression is a mainstay in the management of cardiac arrest. However, traditional means (i.e. manual) chest compression may be logistically challenging, especially in patients requiring emergent invasive procedures such as percutaneous coronary intervention for cardiac arrest due to acute myocardial infarction. The LUCAS mechanical chest compression device provides external and automated closed chest compression, thus enabling even complex invasive procedures without interrupting cardiopulmonary support. Nonetheless, no randomized trial has proved to date its benefit in comparison to standard manual chest compression, and to date only observational studies and consensus opinion support its clinical use.
-
HSR Proc Intensive Care Cardiovasc Anesth · Jan 2011
Role of continuous positive airway pressure to the non-ventilated lung during one-lung ventilation with low tidal volumes.
In multiple study populations large tidal volumes (8 - 12 ml/kg) have deleterious effects on lung function in multiple study populations. The accepted approach to hypoxemia during one-lung ventilation is the application of continuous positive airway pressure to the non-ventilated lung first, followed by application of positive end-expiratory pressure to the ventilated lung. To our knowledge the effectiveness of positive end-expiratory pressure or continuous positive airway pressure on maintaining PaO(2) with one-lung ventilation was not studied with smaller tidal volume (6ml/kg) ventilation. Our objective was to compare continuous positive airway pressure of 5 cm H(2)O or positive end-expiratory pressure of 5 cm H(2)O during small tidal volume one-lung ventilation. ⋯ The use of continuous positive airway pressure of 5 cm H(2)O to the non-ventilated lung while using small tidal volumes for one-lung ventilation improved PaO(2) when compared with positive end-expiratory pressure of 5 cm H(2)O to the ventilated lung.
-
HSR Proc Intensive Care Cardiovasc Anesth · Jan 2011
Neuraxial anesthesia for cardiac surgery: thoracic epidural and high spinal anesthesia - why is it different?
Anesthesiologists can offer much more then stable blood pressure and heart rate in the intraoperative period. By choosing appropriate anesthetic techniques they can tremendously influence perioperative stress. This may positively impact on the overall surgical outcome. ⋯ The authors of this expert opinion prefer spinal anesthesia to thoracic epidural anesthesia and have been using it routinely for the last 20 years without any neurological complications. The risk of spinal hematoma from a 27G spinal needle prior to full heparinization is unknown but in our opinion is remote. Both epidural and spinal techniques can and should have a place in modern cardiac anesthesia practice and should be further investigated.