Current opinion in anaesthesiology
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Apr 2024
ReviewAntidote vs. unspecific hemostatic agents for the management of direct oral anticoagulant-related bleeding in trauma.
The advent of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) marks a significant milestone in anticoagulant treatment. However, DOACs can exacerbate bleeding, which is challenging for the treating clinician, especially when combined with traumatic injury. ⋯ Current guidelines recommend specific antidots and PCCs in DOAC-related major bleeding. Prospective randomized trials comparing specific vs. nonspecific hemostatic agents in the perioperative setting are needed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of the hemostatic agents.
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Increased public awareness of ethical issues in pain and palliative care, along with patient advocacy groups, put pressure on healthcare systems and professionals to address these concerns.Our aim is to review the ethics dilemmas concerning palliative care in ICU, artificial intelligence applications in pain therapy and palliative care, and the opioids epidemics. ⋯ Palliative care in the ICU should involve a multidisciplinary team, to mitigate patients suffering and futility. Providing spiritual support in the ICU is an important aspect of holistic patient care too.Increasingly sophisticated tools for diagnosing and treating pain, as those involving artificial intelligence, might favour disparities in access, cause informed consent problems, and surely, they need prudence and reproducibility.Pain clinicians worldwide continue to face the ethical dilemma of prescribing opioids for patients with chronic noncancer pain. Balancing the need for effective pain relief with the risk of opioid misuse, addiction, and overdose is a very controversial task.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Apr 2024
ReviewUnexpected intensive care unit admission after surgery: impact on clinical outcome.
This review is focused on providing insights into unplanned admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery, including its causes, effects on clinical outcome, and potential strategies to mitigate the strain on healthcare systems. ⋯ Unplanned ICU admission after surgery is a multifactorial phenomenon that imposes a significant burden on healthcare systems without a clear impact on clinical outcome. Thus, the early identification of patient necessitating ICU interventions is imperative.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Apr 2024
ReviewIntraoperative EEG-based monitors: are we looking under the lamppost?
While electroencephalogram (EEG)-based depth of anesthesia monitors have been in use clinically for decades, there is still a major debate concerning their efficacy for detecting awareness under anesthesia (AUA). Further utilization of these monitors has also been discussed vividly, for example, reduction of postoperative delirium (POD).It seems that with regard to reducing AUA and POD, these monitors might be applicable, under specific anesthetic protocols. But in other settings, such monitoring might be less contributive and may have a 'built-it glass ceiling'.Recent advances in other venues of electrophysiological monitoring might have a strong theoretical rationale, and early supporting results, to offer a breakthrough out of this metaphorical glass ceiling. The purpose of this review is to present this possibility. ⋯ Attention-related monitoring might have a strong theoretical basis for the prevention of AUA, POD, and potentially other distressing postoperative outcomes, such as stroke and postoperative neurocognitive disorder. There seems to be already some initial supporting evidence in this regard.
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Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are increasingly prescribed for prevention of thromboembolic events. Thus, trauma care providers are facing a steadily raising number of injured patients on DOACs. ⋯ Current guidelines recommend the measurement of DOAC plasma levels in trauma patients. Compared to VKAs, DOACs do not carry a higher bleeding risk. DOAC specific antagonists facilitate the individual bleeding management.