Der Anaesthesist
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A hybrid suite is an operating theater with imaging equipment equivalent to that used in an angiography suite with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They are often situated outside the operating room area and typically serve as multifunctional rooms designed to support a variety of catheter-based endovascular procedures and open surgery to be performed in the same location. The possibility to perform these in the same location facilitates the combination of both approaches to so-called hybrid procedures. ⋯ The challenge in anesthesia is to ensure that when patients are taken to these complex environments the resources available enable high standards of care to be provided. With future developments in imaging technology combined with more powerful hardware and software, a far greater integration of all these imaging and navigation technologies will be seen in future operating rooms. Finally, patients are becoming more aware of medical developments via the world wide web and increasingly request what they consider to be state of the art treatment.
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For cardiac surgery patients who were employed prior to surgery, the return to their professional life is of special importance. In addition to medical reasons, such as pre-existing conditions, the success of the operation or postoperative course and patient-intrinsic reasons, which can be assessed with the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scale by Antonovsky, may also play a role in the question of a possible return into working life. ⋯ Patients with an SOC score < 130 are at greater risk not to return to their professional life after cardiac surgery. The SOC is an easily obtainable score that reliably predicts the probability of return to work after cardiac surgery.