Der Anaesthesist
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Perioperative pain therapy using an epidural catheter is the standard operating procedure for numerous surgical interventions. The necessity of initiating anticoagulant therapy in a patient with an epidural catheter requires a careful weighing up between thromboembolic complications and epidural hematoma. ⋯ By using the short-acting antiplatelet drug tirofiban over a time period of 7 days the gap for dual antiplatelet therapy was reduced with the help of specific platelet aggregation assays to a time frame of a few hours to minimize the risk of stent thrombosis. The epidural catheter was removed without complications under consideration of the current recommendations for regional anesthesia and antithrombotic agents.
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Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a life-threatening, acute pharmacogenetic disorder mostly due to heterozygous mutations in the ryanodin receptor 1 (RYR1) gene. Diagnosis is generally confirmed by the in vitro contracture test (IVCT). In this study the genotype-phenotype correlation was analyzed and the presumed prevalence of MH is discussed. ⋯ In the two patients described the presence of two mutated RYR1 alleles seemed to have an additive effect on the functional restriction of the (RYR1 receptor and to lead to a stronger response both in the IVCT and with regard to clinical signs. The patients with no detected RYR1 mutations possibly have a RYR1 mutation with smaller effects outside the hot spot regions tested and/or false positive IVCT results. The data from a small patient group indicate a substantially higher prevalence of MH with a correspondingly lower penetrance in the German population than previously assumed.
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Due to the technical advances in pumps, oxygenators and cannulas, veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (va-ECMO) or extracorporeal life support (ECLS) has been widely used in emergency medicine and intensive care medicine for several years. An accepted indication is peri-interventional cardiac failure in cardiac surgery (postcardiotomy low cardiac output syndrome). Furthermore, especially the use of va-ECMO for other indications in critical care medicine, such as in patients with severe sepsis with septic cardiomyopathy or in cardiopulmonary resuscitation has tremendously increased. ⋯ This review gives an overview of the indications, complications and contraindications for va-ECMO. It discusses its advantages in organ transplantation and transport of critically ill patients. The reader will learn the differences between peripheral and central cannulation and how to monitor and manage va-ECMO.
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Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is an established diagnostic tool and has to be regarded as the standard of care for intraoperative monitoring and cardiac surgical decision-making. Furthermore, intraoperative TEE is also used for monitoring and assessment of hemodynamic changes and the detection of previously unknown pathologies. ⋯ Especially during mitral valve surgery, 3D-TEE has proven its superiority in the diagnosis of the underlying pathology as demonstrated by a large number of studies in this field. This review presents the available data about the role of intraoperative 3D-TEE echocardiography and introduces practical fields of application.