Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2016
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyDesmopressin after cardiac surgery in bleeding patients. A multicenter randomized trial.
Previous studies showed that desmopressin decreases post-operative blood loss in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. These studies were small and never studied the effect of desmopressin in patients with active bleeding. Objective of the study was to determine whether desmopressin reduces red blood cells transfusion requirements in patients with active bleeding after cardiac surgery who had been pre-treated with tranexamic acid. ⋯ This multicenter randomized trial demonstrated that, in patients pre-treated with tranexamic acid, desmopressin should not be expected to improve treatment of patients who experience bleeding after cardiac surgery.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Jul 2016
Multicenter StudyImpact of a communication strategy on family satisfaction in the intensive care unit.
Family satisfaction of critically ill patients has gained increased interest as important indicator to evaluate the quality of care in the intensive care unit (ICU). The family satisfaction in the ICU questionnaire (FS-ICU 24) is a well-established tool to assess satisfaction in such settings. We tested the hypothesis that an intervention, aiming at improved communication between health professionals and patients' next of kin in the ICU improves family satisfaction, as assessed by FS-ICU 24. ⋯ No significant improvement in family satisfaction of critically ill adult patients could be found after implementing the VALUE strategy. Whether these results are due to insufficient training of the new strategy or a missing effect of the strategy in our socio-economic environment remains to be shown.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Sep 2015
Multicenter StudyRenal function and symptoms/adverse effects in opioid-treated patients with cancer.
Renal impairment and the risk of toxicity caused by accumulation of opioids and/or active metabolites is an under-investigated issue. This study aimed at analysing if symptoms/adverse effects in opioid-treated patients with cancer were associated with renal function. ⋯ Only severe constipation and loss of appetite were associated with low GFR in patients treated with morphine. Oxycodone and fentanyl, in relation to the symptoms studied, seem to be safe as used and titrated in routine cancer pain care.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2015
Multicenter Study Observational StudyVariability in targeted arterial oxygenation levels in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.
Supplemental oxygen therapy is used for intensive care (ICU) patients with severe sepsis, but with no general guidelines and few safety data. The aim of this observational study was to describe the variability in oxygen administration as well as the association between partial pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2 ) and mortality. ⋯ Administration of oxygen in patients with severe sepsis resulted in a wide range of PaO2 . Significantly higher mortality was observed in patients with an average PaO2 < 8 kPa and FiO2 ≥ 0.60. The results do not imply causation and the associations between average PaO2 and adverse outcomes have to be assessed further.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Mar 2015
Multicenter StudyPaediatric ECMO at low-volume paediatric cardiac centres in the Nordic countries.
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a life-saving resource-intensive technology for patients with respiratory and/or circulatory failure. We aimed to evaluate outcome data from three Nordic paediatric centres comparing with data from the International Registry of the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) and selected high-volume single-centre studies. ⋯ Survival after ECMO in three low-volume Nordic centres demonstrated comparable outcome data with ELSO data and data from high-volume centres. We believe regular quality assurance surveys, as the present study, should be performed in order to maintain excellent therapy within the individual ECMO centres.