Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Oct 2024
The effect of deep versus awake removal of the laryngeal mask airway on the incidence of emergence delirium in paediatric tonsillectomy: A randomised controlled trial.
Emergence delirium, characterised by inconsolable crying, perceptual disturbances and thrashing, occurs in young children during the recovery phase from general anaesthesia. Our aim was to determine whether timing of laryngeal mask airway removal (deeply anaesthetised versus awake) influenced the incidence of emergence delirium in children after tonsillectomy. A single-centre, randomised controlled trial was conducted at Albury Wodonga Health, a regional hospital in Australia. ⋯ A greater incidence of most PACU complications was observed in the awake versus deep group; cough (24% vs. 8%), vomiting (8% vs. 0%), excessive salivation (23% vs. 8%) and oxygen desaturation (16% vs. 0%). We found no significant difference between the two techniques in terms of preventing emergence delirium. However, other PACU complications were more frequent with awake removal.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Oct 2024
Reference value models for predicting preoperative six-minute walk test in patients scheduled for abdominal and pelvic cancer surgery.
Preoperative assessment of functional capacity with the six-minute walk test (6MWT) allows for estimation of surgical risk and targeted triage to prehabilitation services. Patient with abdominal and pelvic cancers have worse preoperative function compared with the general population. However, six-minute walk distance (6MWD) reference values from cancer patients are unknown, which limits the interpretation of 6MWT in this population. ⋯ A sex-neutral model was the most representative, explaining 15% of the variance in 6MWD (6MWD = 761.00-3.00 * Age (years) -2.86 * BMI (kg/m2) - 48.09 * Sex (M1, F2)). The explored regression models, using anthropometric variables, poorly explained the variance between measured and modelled 6MWD, which suggests that these models have no clinical utility in the cancer population. Consideration of additional, non-anthropometric variables may improve regression modelling of preoperative 6MWD in patients in abdominal and pelvic cancers.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Oct 2024
Skin injury: Associations with variables related to perfusion and pressure.
Skin injuries are a major healthcare problem that are not well understood or prevented in the critically ill, suggesting that underappreciated variables are contributing. This pilot study tested the hypothesis that perfusion-related factors contribute to skin injuries diagnosed as hospital-acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs). A total of 533 adult patients were followed over 2574 critical care days (mean age 62.4, standard deviation (SD) 14.3 years, mean body mass index 30.4 (SD 7.4) kg/m2, 36.4% female). ⋯ The finding that perfusion-related variables predicted HAPIs may warrant consideration of alternative diagnoses, such as skin failure due to impaired perfusion as a pathophysiological process that occurs concurrently with multisystem organ failure. Differentiation of skin injuries primarily from circulatory malfunction, rather than external pressure, may guide the development of more effective treatment and prevention protocols. This pilot study suggests that the contribution of perfusion to skin injuries should be explored further.