British journal of anaesthesia
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Editorial Comment
Achieving a preoperative haemoglobin above 130 g L-1 may be more important in female than in male patients before cardiac surgery.
Sex-specific preoperative haemoglobin levels and the need for perioperative red cell transfusion in men and women are still debated. Cavalli and colleagues examined the appropriateness of World Health Organization (WHO) anaemia thresholds (haemoglobin <130 g L-1 for males and <120 g L-1 for females) in a retrospective cohort analysis of >6000 adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. The authors concluded that the WHO anaemia threshold disproportionately disadvantages female cardiac surgery patients, and a preoperative haemoglobin level of at least 130 g L-1 should be targeted in all cardiac surgical patients regardless of sex.
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Editorial Comment Review
Consensus guidelines, Delphi methods, and evidence around anaesthetic technique for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.
Consensus guidelines on the anaesthetic management of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) have recently been published. The rigorous synthesis of expert opinion is invaluable when there are limited data, and these guidelines are a significant step forward. This review both guides practice and identifies important research questions. We challenge those working in this field to collaborate and produce the evidence for whether monitored anaesthesia care (MAC) is associated with a lower incidence of adverse events and better outcomes than general anaesthesia for ERCP.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system dynamics after targeted blood pressure control using angiotensin II or norepinephrine in cardiac surgery: mechanistic randomised controlled trial.
The role of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone axis in vasoplegia after cardiac surgery remains unclear. We tested the hypothesis that, compared with norepinephrine, infusion of angiotensin II titrated to achieve similar mean arterial pressure (MAP) would suppress plasma renin concentration (PRC) while maintaining aldosterone levels. ⋯ Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry-ACTRN12621000195853 23/02/2021.
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Comment Letter Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Delirium in older patients given propofol or sevoflurane anaesthesia for major cancer surgery: a multicentre randomised trial. Comment on Br J Anaesth 2023; 131: 253-65.
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Editorial Comment
The art of chasing numbers in titration of anaesthetic dose.
There is no difference in between-patient variability of concentrations when comparing propofol and sevoflurane titrated to a bispectral index of 40-60. There is about a 300% variation in hypnotic concentration between the bottom 5% and top 5% of the population. Anaesthesia titration cannot be based solely on measured or estimated drug concentrations.