Der Anaesthesist
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Out of hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is encountered on a regular basis in prehospital care. Specific guidelines exist for cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Guidelines cover most related situations but cannot cover all of them. ⋯ The guidelines provided no answers to this specific situation. Wittingly, the emergency physician decided to abandon the standard approach. Based on this case, this article discusses the pathophysiological considerations and an approach deviating from the standard approach, which could have led to a positive patient outcome without casting doubt on the current resuscitation guidelines.
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Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a frequent complication in the perioperative period and is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. AKI is an independent risk factor for adverse outcome. The Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcome (KDIGO) guidelines define AKI based on increases in serum creatinine and/or urinary output. Since there is no causal therapy available, early detection and timely implementation of preventive measures are of particular importance. ⋯ For timely diagnosis and prevention of AKI the recommendations for action of the KDIGO guidelines should be implemented. High-risk patients should be detected early in the perioperative period in order to be able to initiate preemptive strategies in a timely manner.
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Minimum volume thresholds for specific surgical procedures in German hospitals were established in 2004 but remain controversial. For the first time, this study investigated the relationship between hospital performance volume and surgical procedure duration in a multicenter approach. The question here was whether a concentration on frequently performed procedures leads to a reduction in surgical process times. ⋯ The case volume only appeared to have a direct but limited influence on incision to suture times in laparoscopic and arthroscopic procedures. Overall, the hospital performance volume appeared to be of subordinate importance in terms of OR-economics.