International angiology : a journal of the International Union of Angiology
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The aim of the study was to investigate the utility of NT-proBNP measurement for the stratification of presurgical cardiac risk. ⋯ Measuring NT-proBNP before non cardiac surgery in clinical practice could be useful to better stratify patients' risk.
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Antiplatelet drugs given to high risk patients for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease are frequently withdrawn prior to surgical or diagnostic procedures to reduce bleeding complications. This is also the case for many patients undergoing lower limb vascular surgery via spinal or epidural anaesthesia. The aim of this study is to corroborate the clinician's decision for discontinuing or continuing the anti-platelet treatment in these patients perioperatively. ⋯ Therefore, their preoperative withdrawal is suggested 8 hours to 14 days prior, accordingly. The existing evidence does not justify the discontinuation of aspirin and NSAIDs before the intended procedure. Anesthesiologists and surgeons should be aware of the cardiovascular risks of withdrawal versus the non - evidence based benefit in hemorrhage complications.
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Case Reports
Endovascular graft bail-out post reconstruction of popliteal artery injury. First case report.
A male patient who sustained a blunt trauma to the right knee and chest resulting in posterior dislocation of the knee joint and avulsion injury to the right popliteal artery (segments II and III) had a vascular repair by interposition saphenous vein graft. Postoperatively an episode of hypotension resulted in thrombotic occlusion of the graft and acute limb ischemia. Graft and distal thrombectomy, though successful, resulted in a stenotic segment with two perforations. ⋯ Immediate regain of pedal pulses was achieved, and at 6 months follow up Viabahn endograft is still patent, foot well perfused with normal pedal pulses and patient fully active. In complicated popliteal artery injuries, with complex time consuming revascularization procedures, an endovascular graft as a back up or bail-out technique might be a valid option in some selected cases with high anesthetic risk, to shorten operating time. In this context Viabahn endoprosthesis seems to be both efficient and durable on the short term.
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A mainstay of lymphedema management involves the use of compression therapy. Compression therapy application is variable at different levels of disease severity. Evidence is scant to direct clinicians in best practice regarding compression therapy use. Further, compression clinical trials are fragmented and poorly extrapolable to the greater population. An ideal construct for conducting clinical trials in regards to compression therapy will promote parallel global initiatives based on a standard research agenda. The purpose of this article is to review current evidence in practice regarding compression therapy for BCRL management and based on this evidence, offer an expert consensus recommendation for a research agenda and prescriptive trials. Recommendations herein focus solely on compression interventions. ⋯ This document should inform future research trials in compression therapy and serve as a guide to clinical researchers, industry researchers and lymphologists regarding the strengths, weaknesses and shortcomings of the current literature. By providing this construct for research trials, the authors aim to support evidence-based therapy interventions, promote a cohesive, standardized and informative body of literature to enhance clinical outcomes, improve the quality of future research trials, inform industry innovation and guide policy related to BCRL.