Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2012
Unrestricted access to sugammadex: impact on neuromuscular blocking agent choice, reversal practice and associated healthcare costs.
Ledowski et al. investigated the effect of unrestricted access to sugammadex in an Australian teaching hospital with a retrospective observational audit.
Use of both sugammadex and amino steroid relaxants increased dramatically, with average reversal costs per case increasing by AUS$85.
Although there was no change in anaesthesia, surgical or PACU time, there was a statistically significant decrease in median time from surgery to hospital discharge (0.2 days shorter) after introduction of sugammadex. Do to the nature of the study, it is nevertheless impossible to infer a causal link.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2012
The influence of unrestricted use of sugammadex on clinical anaesthetic practice in a tertiary teaching hospital.
This retrospective audit identified an association between the introduction of unrestricted access to sugammadex and a fall in 'anaesthetic theatre time'. Mean hospital stay was also observed to be 0.8 days shorter after introduction of sugammadex, but was not statistically significant after adjusting for confounders.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2012
Case ReportsA persistent 'can't intubate, can't oxygenate' crisis despite rocuronium reversal with sugammadex.
An interesting CICO case study highlighting that while sugammadex will rapidly and completely reverse paralysis, this is only one consideration when managing an airway crisis. The use of any reversal agent in an airway crisis should be considered within the context of the case and a clear understanding of the objective of our actions.
Neuromuscular reversal will only improve a CICO scenario if spontaneous ventilation will improve patient oxygenation, otherwise return of muscle function may actually make other CICO interventions more difficult.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2012
EditorialSugammadex: restricted vs unrestricted or selective vs non-selective?
Neville Gibbs and Peter Kam outline three evidence-based indications for use of sugammadex in 2012, even with its high cost:
Early reversal of rocuronium when suxamethonium is contraindicated. For example in ECT for patients with a pseudocholinesterase deficiency or neuromuscular denervation conditions.
Reversal of rocuronium when even very mild residual neuromuscular block carries significant patient risk. For example, patients with neuromuscular disorders such as myotonic dystrophy or myasthenia gravis; and patients with severe pulmonary disease with limited reserve.
Unplanned early reversal of rocuronium during a failed intubation where rapid reversal may allow awakening of the patient.
Rescue from residual paralysis despite having given neostigmine.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Mar 2012
Comparative StudyComparison of outcomes by modality for critically ill patients requiring renal replacement therapy: a single-centre cohort study adjusting for time-varying illness severity and modality exposure.
Prolonged intermittent renal replacement therapy (PIRRT) is a recently defined acute modality for critically ill patients, and in theory combines the superior detoxification and haemodynamic stability of continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) with the operational convenience and low cost of intermittent haemodialysis (iHD). We performed a retrospective cohort study for all critically ill adults treated with renal replacement therapy at our centre in Auckland, New Zealand from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2008. The exposure of interest was modality (PIRRT, CRRT, iHD). ⋯ With PIRRT as the reference, the adjusted hazard ratios for patient hospital mortality were 1.31 (0.60 to 2.90) for CRRT and 1.22 (0.21 to 2.29) for iHD. Corresponding estimates for mortality at 90 days were 0.96 (0.39 to 2.36) and 2.22 (0.49 to 10.11), respectively, reflecting the poorer longer-term prognosis of patients still on iHD at hospital discharge with delayed or non-recovery of acute kidney injury. Our study supports the recent increased use of PIRRT, which within limits can be regarded as safe and effective.