Anesthesiology
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Comparative Study
Comparison of an Updated Risk Stratification Index to Hierarchical Condition Categories.
The Risk Stratification Index and the Hierarchical Condition Categories model baseline risk using comorbidities and procedures. The Hierarchical Condition categories are rederived yearly, whereas the Risk Stratification Index has not been rederived since 2010. The two models have yet to be directly compared. The authors thus rederived the Risk Stratification Index using recent data and compared their results to contemporaneous Hierarchical Condition Categories. ⋯ Risk Stratification discrimination and minimum-variance predictions make it superior to Hierarchical Condition Categories. The Risk Stratification Index provides a solid basis for care-quality metrics and for provider comparisons.
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Hypercapnia alleviates pulmonary ischemia-reperfusion injury, regulates T lymphocytes, and inhibits immune reaction. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of hypercapnia on acute cellular rejection in a rat lung transplantation model. ⋯ Hypercapnia ameliorated acute cellular rejection in a rat lung transplantation model.
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Forced air warming systems are used to maintain body temperature during surgery. Benefits of forced air warming have been established, but the possibility that it may disturb the operating room environment and contribute to surgical site contamination is debated. The direction and speed of forced air warming airflow and the influence of laminar airflow in the operating room have not been reported. ⋯ Airflow caused by forced air warming is well counteracted by downward laminar airflow from the ceiling. Thus it would be less likely to cause surgical field contamination in the presence of sufficient laminar airflow.