Seminars in cardiothoracic and vascular anesthesia
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Semin Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth · Mar 2010
Anesthesia management of a patient with a ventricular assist device for noncardiac surgery.
Congestive heart failure represents a severe health condition with unfavourable long-term prognosis despite all the progress in pharmacological therapy of heart failure. Another therapeutic option is represented by mechanical cardiac support devices. Ventricular assist devices (VAD) constitute largest subgroup of these devices. ⋯ In all the patients supported with VAD, transesophageal echocardiography is extremely useful method for monitoring the function of VAD itself, and in the case of univentricular VAD for monitoring the function of nonsupported cardiac ventricle. The most important issue in hemodynamic management of the patients with VAD is avoiding hypovolemia because it can cause inadequate VAD output with resulting low cardiac output and hypotension. All the patients with VAD need some degree of anticoagulation, and for noncardiac surgery the question of interrupting or decreasing the level of anticoagulation should be discussed among members of the caring team.
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Semin Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth · Mar 2010
The importance of oral health for cardiothoracic and vascular patients.
Prior to cardiothoracic or vascular surgery, a patient's oral health is not usually a high priority for the surgical team. Yet, oral neglect often mirrors systemic disease and the need for proper dental care is often unmet. ⋯ Considering scheduling constraints and the urgency of the procedure, a pre-operative dental screening is suggested for patients who undergo elective cardiothoracic or vascular surgery, to ensure that any oral infection is diagnosed and definitively treated. Implementing such an effective and preventive approach can improve surgical outcome and overall patient health.
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Semin Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth · Mar 2010
Left ventricular assist devices: an evolving state of the art.
Heart failure is a disease of increasing prevalence around the world. The treatment options for patients suffering from this ailment range from pharmacologic to surgical. Heart failure, however, continues to harbor a dismal prognosis despite conventional treatments. ⋯ Heart transplantation continues to generate the most reproducible survival benefit to patients with advanced heart failure, but is limited by a lack of donors. It is therefore the goal of mechanical assist therapy to improve patient survival and quality of life in heart failure in light of the limitations of heart transplantation. In this article we examine the evolving utility of LVAD's in the treatment of heart failure.
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Semin Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth · Mar 2010
Highlights of anesthetic considerations for intraoperative neuromonitoring.
Though relatively new, intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) has become standard of care for many neurosurgical procedures. The use of IONM has substantially decreased the rate of paralysis after deformity surgery, and has been validated in cervical spine surgery, and thoracic and lumbar laminectomy (1) (2), (3). The main modalities are: somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs), motor evoked potentials (MEPs), and electromyography (EMGs). ⋯ The anesthesiologist should strive to understand the rationale behind monitoring and the basis of its utility. IONM has many implications for anesthetic technique and need for control of the physiologic milieu. With this knowledge the anesthesiologist can work together with the neuromonitoring team and surgeon to ensure patient safety during and after surgery.