Therapy In High-risk Surgical Patients Research Articles

Hydroxyethyl Starch for Fluid Replacement Therapy in High-Risk Surgical Patients

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Prosthetic Valve Thrombosis: About 205 Patients

Background: The prosthetic heart valve thrombosis (PVT) is a life-threatening complication of mechanical valve prosthesis. It can be attributed more frequently to inadequate anticoagulant therapy. In the aortic and mitral position, reported incidences vary widely from 0.5% to 6% per patient-year, and are highest in the mitral position and up to 20% in tricuspid valve prosthesis. Medical therapy (Thrombolysis) has emerged as an alternative therapy in high-risk surgical patients, considering that surgical prosthetic valve replacement is related to significant operative morbidity and mortality rates. The purpose of this study is to present a single-center experience of 205 consecutive patients hospitalized between 2000 and 2016. Methods: From 2000 to 2016, 205 consecutive patients were hospitalized in our center for mechanical prosthetic valve thrombosis (PVT). The diagnosis of PVT was mainly assessed by echocardiography and/or fluoroscopy. There were 41 men and 164 women aged between 07 to 75 years. Prosthetic valve location was mitral in 191 patients, tricuspid in 05, aortic in 8 and mitro-tricuspid in one case. Predisposing causes of MVT were: poor compliance with warfarin, pregnancy or unknown. The interval from first operation to valve thrombosis was from 1 day to 38 years. Delay from first symptoms to hospitalization ranged from 1 to 4 months. The diagnosis was an incidental finding during an echocardiography, on the basis of a subacute increase in the transvalvular mean gradient seen due to thrombotic obstruction on transthoracic echocardiography and was confirmed by transesophageal echocardiography. First clinical symptoms were reported as systemic emboli, progressive exertional dyspnea (NYHA II to III–IV), muffled opening or closing sounds of the prosthetic valve, left heart failure, stroke, and cardiogenic shock. Transthoracic echocardiography is the diagnostic tool often used to evaluate a patient with valve prosthesis, when there is suspicion of PVT, and also is useful in the follow-up of patients during thrombolysis. Fluoroscopy was complementary. Anticoagulation regimen was inadequate, recently stopped or incorrectly conducted. Results: There were two groups, the first group (A) comprised of 135 patients have been operated with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (prosthetic replacement or declotting and excision of pannus). It is an emergency surgery in 101 patients. In this group, we deplore 18 (13.5%). 70 patients underwent medical treatment (heparin, oral anticoagulants and aspirin) on clinical, sonographic and under strict supervision in a hospital and some external purposes for a period of 07 days at 6 months. For the non-operated group, all patients have unlocked their prothesis; we deplored 05 deaths (7.14%) (hemorrhagic stroke, left and right ventricle dysfunction). Conclusion: PVT remains a serious complication of mechanical heart valve prosthetic with high morbidity and mortality despite aggressive treatment by thrombolysis and/or surgery. Surgery treatment should be the preferred therapeutic modality for most patients with PVT. Thrombolysis, followed by heparin, warfarin, and aspirin is advised for high-risk surgical candidates without hemodynamic instability under strict echocardiographic survey. Because of the high risk of thromboembolism during thrombolysis for left sided PVT. For certain category of patients, medical therapy (thrombolysis anticoagulation++aspirin) may be offered in highrisk surgical patients, this with the consent of patients on medical and surgical rigorous monitoring and evaluating the operational risk compared to the risk of progression under medical treatment.

G3. Intraoperative haemodynamic monitoring during high-risk caesarean section: a comparison between bioreactance (NICOM R) and pressure waveform analysis (LidCOrapidR): preliminary results

Background: Intraoperative haemodynamic monitoring is carried out in high-risk surgical patients, often using invasive methods, including pulmonary artery catheterisation. Early goal-directed therapy in high-risk surgical patients reduces tissue hypoxia, organ failure and improves outcomes. Significant maternal morbidity arises as a result of perioperative haemorrhage. At present, heart rate and brachial blood pressure are used as proxy markers to aid in fluid resuscitation, however, we know that these exhibit minimal change during early stages of shock, and are poor indicators of the adequacy of therapeutic intervention.Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the cardiac output trends observed during C-section for morbidly adherent placenta, using NICOM® and LiDCOrapid®.Methods: This is an ongoing, prospective observational study in women undergoing planned high-risk surgery for morbidly adherent placenta in a tertiary centre. Cardiac output estimations were collected at 2 min intervals, over 60 min. A total of 155 paired datasets were collected.Results: We present a case series of temporal intraoperative cardiac output trends using NICOM® and LiDCOrapid®, along with the percentage changes observed when compared to the pre-operative baseline and correlation analysis.Conclusions: NICOM® appears to be a promising, non-invasive device to display real-time intraoperative haemodynamic trends during postpartum haemorrhage.

Individualised oxygen delivery targeted haemodynamic therapy in high-risk surgical patients: a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, controlled, mechanistic trial

Morbidity after major surgery is associated with low oxygen delivery. Haemodynamic therapy aimed at increasing oxygen delivery in an effort to reduce oxygen debt, tissue injury, and morbidity, is controversial. The most appropriate target for this strategy is unclear and might have several off-target effects, including loss of neural (parasympathetic)-mediated cellular protection. We hypothesised that individualised oxygen delivery targeted haemodynamic therapy (goal-directed therapy) in high-risk surgical patients would reduce postoperative morbidity, while secondarily addressing whether goal-directed therapy affected parasympathetic function. In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, controlled trial, adult patients undergoing major elective surgery were allocated by computer-generated randomisation to a postoperative protocol (fluid, with and without dobutamine) targeted to achieve their individual preoperative oxygen delivery value (goal-directed therapy) or standardised care (control). Patients and staff were masked to the intervention. The primary outcome was absolute risk reduction (ARR) in morbidity (defined by Clavien-Dindo grade II or more) on postoperative day 2. We also assessed a secondary outcome focused on parasympathetic function, using time-domain heart rate variability measures. Analyses were done on an intention-to-treat basis. The trial was registered with Controlled Clinical Trials (number ISRCTN76894700). We enrolled 204 patients between May 20, 2010, and Feb 12, 2014. Intention-to-treat analysis of the 187 (92%) patients who completed the trial intervention period showed that early morbidity was similar between goal-directed therapy (44 [46%] of 95 patients) and control groups (49 [53%] of 92 patients) (ARR -7%, 95% CI -22 to 7; p=0·30). Prespecified secondary analysis showed that 123 (66%) of 187 patients achieved preoperative oxygen delivery (irrespective of intervention). These patients sustained less morbidity (ARR 19%, 95% CI 3-34; p=0·016), including less infectious complications. Goal-directed therapy reduced parasympathetic activity postoperatively (relative risk 1·33, 95% CI 1·01-1·74). Achievement of preoperative oxygen delivery values in the postoperative phase was associated with less morbidity, but this was not affected by the use of an oxygen delivery targeted strategy. Reduced parasympathetic activity after goal-directed therapy was associated with the failure of this intervention to reduce postoperative morbidity. Academy of Medical Sciences and Health Foundation Clinician Scientist Award.

Using bispectral index and cerebral oximetry to guide hemodynamic therapy in high-risk surgical patients.

High-risk surgery represents 12.5% of cases but contributes 80% of deaths in the elderly population. Reduction in morbidity and mortality by the use of intervention strategies could result in thousands of lives being saved and savings of up to £400m per annum in the UK. This has resulted in the drive towards goal-directed therapy and intraoperative flow optimization of high-risk surgical patients being advocated by authorities such as the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence and the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.Conventional intraoperative monitoring gives little insight into the profound physiological changes occurring as a result of anesthesia and surgery. The build-up of an oxygen debt is associated with a poor outcome and strategies have been developed in the postoperative period to improve outcomes by repayment of this debt. New monitoring technologies such as minimally invasive cardiac output, depth of anesthesia and cerebral oximetry can minimize oxygen debt build-up. This has the potential to reduce complications and lessen the need for postoperative optimization in high-dependency areas.Flow monitoring has thus emerged as essential during intraoperative monitoring in high-risk surgery. However, evidence suggests that current optimization strategies of deliberately increasing flow to meet predefined targets may not reduce mortality.Could the addition of depth of anesthesia and cerebral and tissue oximetry monitoring produce a further improvement in outcomes?Retrospective studies indicate a combination of excessive depth of anesthesia hypotension and low anesthesia requirement results in increased mortality and length of hospital stay.Near infrared technology allows assessment and maintenance of cerebral and tissue oxygenation, a strategy, which has been associated with improved outcomes. The suggestion that the brain is an index organ for tissue oxygenation, especially in the elderly, indicates a role for this technology in the intraoperative period to assess the adequacy of oxygen delivery and reduce the build-up of an oxygen debt.The aim of this article is to make the case for depth of anesthesia and cerebral oximetry alongside flow monitoring as a strategy for reducing oxygen debt during high-risk surgery and further improve outcomes in high-risk surgical patients.

Treatment-related cardiac complications associated with goal-directed therapy in high-risk surgical patients: a meta-analysis

We hypothesized that goal-directed therapy (GDT) is not associated with an increased risk of cardiac complications in high-risk, noncardiac surgical patients. Patients with limited cardiopulmonary reserve are at risk of mortality and morbidity after major surgery [1]. Augmentation of the oxygen delivery index (DO2I) with a combination of intravenous fluids and inotropes (GDT) has been shown to reduce the postoperative mortality and morbidity in high-risk patients [2]. However, concerns regarding cardiac complications associated with fluid challenges and inotropes used to augment cardiac output may deter clinicians from instituting early GDT in the very patients who are more likely to benefit.

Perioperative morbidity

To identify the recent literature supporting the ability of anesthesiologists to impact morbidity and mortality outside of the immediate intraoperative period. Hemodynamic management designed to optimize cardiac output and stroke volume can significantly lower the risk of perioperative morbidity, and, in some cases, mortality. The implications of the POISE trial, which upended the previously accumulating data in support of indiscriminate perioperative β-blockade by demonstrating worsened outcomes, were supported by high-quality, propensity-matched, prospectively collected data. Data supporting the safety of colloid use has been threatened by the retraction of 88 publications of a single author, as well as prospective, nonrandomized data, suggesting increased renal morbidity in critically ill patients receiving synthetic colloids. Large datasets continue to suggest an association between red blood cell transfusion and mortality. Analysis of the operating room strongly implicates anesthesia providers as a potential mechanism for bacterial contamination. Anesthesiologists should consider implication of goal-directed therapy in high-risk surgical patients, adhere to the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines with regard to perioperative β-blockade, critically assess the data to support their choice of synthetic colloids over crystalloids, explore all possible strategies for avoiding perioperative transfusion, and be cognizant of their potential contribution to perioperative infectious morbidity.

Goal-directed therapy in high-risk surgical patients: a 15-year follow-up study

Goal-directed therapy in the perioperative setting has been shown to be associated with short-term improvements in outcome. This study assesses the longer-term survival of patients from a previous randomized controlled trial of goal-directed therapy in high-risk surgical patients. All patients from a previous randomized controlled study were followed up for 15 years following randomization to ascertain their length of survival following surgery. Factors that may be associated with increased survival were evaluated to determine what influenced long-term outcomes. Data from 106 of the original 107 patients (99%) were available for analysis. At 15 years, 11 (20.7%) of the goal-directed therapy patients versus 4 (7.5%) of the control group were alive (p = 0.09). Median survival for the goal-directed group was increased by 1,107 days (1,781 vs. 674 days, p = 0.005). Long-term survival was associated with three independent factors: age [hazard ratio (HR) 1.04 (1.02-1.07), p < 0.0001], randomization to the goal-directed group of the study [HR 0.61 (0.4-0.92), p = 0.02], and avoidance of a significant postoperative cardiac complication [HR 3.78 (2.16-6.6), p = 0.007]. Long-term survival after major surgery is related to a number of factors, including patient age and avoidance of perioperative complications. Short-term goal-directed therapy in the perioperative period may improve long-term outcomes, in part due to its ability to reduce the number of perioperative complications.

Feasibility of Magnetic Resonance Imaging–guided Focused Ultrasound Surgery as an Adjunct to Tamoxifen Therapy in High-risk Surgical Patients with Breast Carcinoma

To evaluate the feasibility of treating breast neoplasms with use of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging-guided focused ultrasound (US) surgery. Twenty-four female patients, each with a single biopsy-proven breast carcinoma, who were considered to be at increased surgical risk or who had refused surgery underwent MR imaging-guided focused US surgery as an adjunct to their chemotherapeutic regimen of tamoxifen. Follow-up included routine studies to rule out metastatic disease and MR studies with and without contrast material infusion in the treated breast (10 days and 1, 3, and 6 months after the treatment session). Percutaneous biopsy was performed after 6-month follow-up, and if residual tumor was present, a second MR imaging-guided focused US surgery treatment session was performed, followed by repeat biopsy 1 month later. Twenty-three of 24 patients completed the protocol, with only one minor complication associated with the treatment sessions (second-degree skin burn resolved with local treatment). Follow-up MR studies demonstrated a varying hypointense treatment margin (range, 1-11 mm), which represents destruction of tissue beyond the visible tumor. Absence of enhancement may be an indicator of tumor destruction (18 of 19 patients with negative biopsy results) whereas persistent enhancement suggested tumor residue (three of five patients with residual tumor). Overall, 19 of 24 patients (79%) had negative biopsy results after one or two treatment sessions. MR imaging-guided focused US surgery of breast tumors is a safe, repeatable, and promising method of focal tumor destruction.

Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Therapy of Fungal Infections in Surgery

AbstractOver the past decade, the incidence of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections caused byCandidastrains has risen, while the implicated species have changed.Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, andCandida glabrataall have increased in incidence. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that, between 1980 and 1990,Candidaemerged as the sixth most common nosocomial pathogen (7.2.%) and was the fourth most common pathogen in nosocomial bloodstream infections, surpassed only by coagulase-negative staphylococci,Staphylococcus aureus, and enterococci. The incidence of candidemia is dramatically higher in high-risk critical-care units: 25% of cases occur in surgical intensive-care units (ICUs) versus 25% in bone marrow transplantation units, 20% in medical ICUs, 20% in general medical wards, and 10% in oncology-hematology units. Burns and gastrointestinal surgery predispose to nosocomial candidemia. Independent risk factors include prior therapy with multiple antibiotics, isolation ofCandidafrom sites other than blood, and prior hemodialysis. Crude mortality exceeds 55% and is associated with older age and concomitant renal failure, hepatic failure, acute respiratory diseases, or postoperative shock. In addition to extreme vigilance for early recognition ofCandidasepsis in critically ill surgical patients, the high risk for candidemia probably necessitates fungal surveillance cultures and initiation of preemptive antifungal therapy in high-risk surgical patients.

Epidemiology, diagnosis, and therapy of fungal infections in surgery.

Over the past decade, the incidence of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections caused by Candida strains has risen, while the implicated species have changed. Candida tropicalis, Candida parapsilosis, and Candida glabrata all have increased in incidence. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveal that, between 1980 and 1990, Candida emerged as the sixth most common nosocomial pathogen (7.2%) and was the fourth most common pathogen in nosocomial bloodstream infections, surpassed only by coagulase-negative staphylococci, Staphylococcus aureus, and enterococci. The incidence of candidemia is dramatically higher in high-risk critical-care units: 25% of cases occur in surgical intensive-care units (ICUs) versus 25% in bone marrow transplantation units, 20% in medical ICUs, 20% in general medical wards, and 10% in oncology-hematology units. Burns and gastrointestinal surgery predispose to nosocomial candidemia. Independent risk factors include prior therapy with multiple antibiotics, isolation of Candida from sites other than blood, and prior hemodialysis. Crude mortality exceeds 55% and is associated with older age and concomitant renal failure, hepatic failure, acute respiratory diseases, or postoperative shock. In addition to extreme vigilance for early recognition of Candida sepsis in critically ill surgical patients, the high risk for candidemia probably necessitates fungal surveillance cultures and initiation of preemptive antifungal therapy in high-risk surgical patients.