Current opinion in anaesthesiology
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Feb 2023
ReviewMultimodal prehabilitation program valuation for thoracic surgical patients.
Modifiable patient-related risk factors, such as physical, emotional, and cognitive frailty, poor nutritional status, sleep hygiene, anemia, alcohol abuse, and smoking reduce a patient's ability to effectively recover from the insult of surgery. Herein, we review the value of implementing a comprehensive prehabilitation program for patients undergoing thoracic surgery. ⋯ It stands to reason that well designed prehabilitation programs can add value by improving quality metrics at a lower cost to our healthcare system. Definitive randomized trials are needed to confirm this notion.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Feb 2023
ReviewMitochondrial transplantation in cardiac surgical patients: optimism, caveats, and outstanding questions.
Mitochondria satisfy the high metabolic demand of the heart, and also play major roles in reactive oxygen species signaling, calcium buffering, and regulation of cell death. Mitochondrial damage or dysfunction can drive diseases seen in cardiac surgical patients, including heart failure and ischemia/reperfusion injury. Exogenous transplantation of isolated mitochondria has been proposed as one way to augment mitochondrial function and mitigate a number of pathologic processes, with a heavy focus on ischemia/reperfusion injury. ⋯ Mitochondrial transplantation is a potential therapeutic strategy for cardiac ischemia/reperfusion injury. Effective application to selected cardiac surgical patients can be informed by further mechanistic investigations.
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With first research reports dating back to the 1970s, the important role of anxiety in the perioperative period has been recognized for a long time and remains in effect. ⋯ Preoperative anxiety remains a critical issue in the perioperative period. Further research is needed to develop effective management strategies, which may need to be tailored to the patient's individual need.
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In this study, we summarize six articles published from January 2020 through June 2022 covering anaesthesia staff scheduling and consider their relevance to ambulatory surgery. Staff scheduling refers to the planned shift length of each person working on specific dates. ⋯ Readers can reasonably select among these studies and benefit from the one or two applicable to their facilities' characteristics and work hours.
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Also in ambulatory surgery, there will usually be a need for analgesic medication to deal with postoperative pain. Even so, a significant proportion of ambulatory surgery patients have unacceptable postoperative pain, and there is a need for better education in how to provide proper prophylaxis and treatment. ⋯ Multimodal analgesia should start pre or per-operatively and include paracetamol, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), dexamethasone (or alternative glucocorticoid) and local anaesthetic wound infiltration, unless contraindicated in the individual case. Paracetamol and NSAID should be continued postoperatively, supplemented with opioid on top as needed. Extra analgesia may be considered when appropriate and needed. First-line options include nerve blocks or interfascial plane blocks and i.v. lidocaine infusion. In addition, gabapentinnoids, dexmedetomidine, ketamine infusion and clonidine may be used, but adverse effects of sedation, dizziness and hypotension must be carefully considered in the ambulatory setting.