European journal of cardio-thoracic surgery : official journal of the European Association for Cardio-thoracic Surgery
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2007
Cognitive brain function after hypothermic circulatory arrest assessed by cognitive P300 evoked potentials.
The role of hypothermic circulatory arrest (HCA) in cardiovascular surgery is controversial and assumed to result in neurocognitive dysfunction that is not always detected by standard clinical observation. We assessed cognitive P300 visual evoked potentials (P300) in patients undergoing either HCA or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) to elucidate whether HCA was associated with postoperative cognitive decline. ⋯ P300 detected no significant neurocognitive impairment due to the relatively brief period of HCA (approximately 28 min).
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2007
Review Practice GuidelineTracheotomy: clinical review and guidelines.
Tracheotomy is a commonly performed procedure. The Belgian Society of Pneumology (BVP-SBP) and the Belgian Association for Cardiothoracic Surgery (BACTS) developed guidelines on tracheotomy for mechanical ventilation in adults. The levels of evidence as developed by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) were used. ⋯ Because of its technical simplicity and short procedure time, the modified Ciaglia Blue Rhino technique is advocated as technique of choice. PDT should be considered the procedure of choice in elective non-urgent tracheotomy. There are some relative contraindications for PDT, but with growing experience, they become less frequent.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialIntravenous paracetamol as adjunctive treatment for postoperative pain after cardiac surgery: a double blind randomized controlled trial.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids are routinely used after cardiac surgery in order to mitigate postoperative pain; however, these drugs are burdened by side effects. Tramadol and paracetamol are believed to be lacking in such side effects. The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of intravenous paracetamol as an adjunctive analgesic to a tramadol-based background analgesia after cardiac surgery. ⋯ In patients undergoing cardiac surgery, intravenous paracetamol in combination with tramadol provides effective pain control.
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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg · Sep 2007
The prognostic value of carcinoembryonic antigen in T1N1M0 and T2N1M0 non-small cell carcinoma of the lung.
To evaluate the significance of preoperative clinicopathological factors, including serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), as well as postoperative clinicopathological factors in T1-2N1M0 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent curative pulmonary resection. ⋯ An elevated serum CEA level (>or=5.0 ng/ml) was an independent predictor of survival in pN1 patients except for T3 and T4 cases. Therefore, even in completely resected pN1 non-small cell lung cancer, patients with a high CEA level might be candidates for multimodal therapy.