Anesthesia and analgesia
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2020
ReviewEducating Patients Regarding Pain Management and Safe Opioid Use After Surgery: A Narrative Review.
In recent years, there have been escalating concerns related to the opioid epidemic. With a steadily increasing opioid supply, it is critical to provide proper education to patients who are prescribed these medications. Education should be emphasized as a means of ensuring safe use and potentially as a strategy for curbing the opioid supply. ⋯ Patients who are prescribed opioids require education preoperatively to cover the topics of pain management, opioid-related side effects, and risks, storage, and disposal. Evidence from various studies demonstrates that educational interventions improve knowledge and potentially lead to safer behaviors and reduced opioid use. Education can be provided in various formats with each having unique advantages and limitations.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2020
ReviewTrials and Tribulations of Viscoelastic-Based Determination of Fibrinogen Concentration.
Acquired fibrinogen deficiency is a major determinant of severe bleeding in different clinical conditions, including cardiac surgery, trauma, postpartum hemorrhage, liver surgery, and transplantation. The existing guidelines recommend to supplement fibrinogen in patients with severe bleeding when the fibrinogen concentration is <1.5 g/L. Viscoelastic tests (VETs) provide a fast determination of the fibrinogen contribution to clot firmness and allow prompt treatment of acquired fibrinogen deficiency. ⋯ Data on sonorheometry FCS are limited and conflicting. When addressing the correlation between different tests, it is good in general, but no fixed conversion factors can be proposed, due to a considerable dispersion of the experimental points. In conclusion, VET-based fibrinogen tests are certainly powerful tools that are presently suggested by the existing guidelines; however, when using them for clinical decision-making, users should consider the possible sources of bias, which include the different level of platelet inhibition, the role of platelet count and function, the possible different degrees of blood activation with tissue factor, the important role of factor XIII in stabilizing the fibrin clot, and others.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2020
ReviewPathophysiological Response to Trauma-Induced Coagulopathy: A Comprehensive Review.
Hypercoagulability can occur after severe tissue injury, that is likely related to tissue factor exposure and impaired endothelial release of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). In contrast, when shock and hypoperfusion occur, activation of the protein C pathway and endothelial tPA release induce a shift from a procoagulant to a hypocoagulable and hyperfibrinolytic state with a high risk of bleeding. ⋯ Response to trauma is a complex, dynamic process in which risk can shift from bleeding to thrombosis depending on the injury pattern, hemostatic treatment, individual responses, genetic predisposition, and comorbidities. Based on this body of knowledge, we will review and consider future directions for the management of severely injured trauma patients.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2020
ReviewAnesthetic Implications of the New Guidelines for Button Battery Ingestion in Children.
New guidelines for paediatric button battery ingestion recommend preoperative administration with honey and/or sucralfate, and post-removal irrigation with 0.25% acetic acid.
pearl