Annals of cardiac anaesthesia
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We prospectively compared four techniques of cardiac output measurement: bolus thermodilution cardiac output (TDCO), continuous cardiac output (CCO), pulse contour cardiac output (PiCCO), and Flowtrac (FCCO), simultaneously in fifteen patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB). All the patients received pulmonary artery catheter (capable of measuring both bolus thermodilution cardiac output and CCO), PiCCO arterial cannula in the left and FCCO in the right femoral artery. Cardiac indices (CI) were obtained every fifteen minutes by using all the four techniques. ⋯ The values of CI measured simultaneously appeared in the following descending order of accuracy; TDCO>CCO>FCCO>PiCCO (the % times TDCO correlated with CCO, FCCO, PiCCO was 93, 86 and 80 respectively). The bias and precision (in L/min) for CCO were 0.03, 0.06, PiCCO 0.13, 0.1 and flowtrac 0.15, 0.04 respectively suggesting interchangeability. We conclude that the cardiac output measured by CCO technique and the pulse contour as measured by PiCCO and FCCO were interchangeable with TDCO more than 80% of the times.
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We investigated the potential utility of transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) in facilitating central venous catheter (CVC) insertion in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Thirty five patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery and CVC insertion were prospectively included in the observational, single-centre clinical investigation. Following induction of general anaesthesia and tracheal intubation, the TOE probe was inserted and the bicaval view obtained prior to CVC insertion (site at discretion of the anaesthesiologist). ⋯ One patient was found to have an unanticipated large mobile superior vena cava thrombus that extended into the RA, which changed clinical management by prompting initial CVC insertion into the femoral vein (potentially avoiding morbidity associated with thrombus dislodgement). Our prospective observational clinical study indicates that routine use of TOE during CVC insertion may help avoid potential complications associated with this intervention. If both CVC insertion and TOE are going to be used in the same patient, the benefits of TOE should be maximized by routine visualization of the bicaval view during guidewire insertion.
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Maintenance of anaesthesia with volatile anaesthetic agents affects the perioperative course of patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) surgery. This facilitates adequate depth of anaesthesia, reduction in need of analgesic dosage, early extubation and transfer from Intensive Care Unit. We compared two volatile anaesthetic agents sevoflurane and isoflurane in terms of haemodynamic effects, amount of analgesic needed during surgery, quantity of agent needed for maintenance of anaesthesia and postoperative recovery in 40 patients undergoing OPCAB surgery. ⋯ Time of awakening (48+/-13 vs 114 +/- 21 mins; P < 0.001) and subsequent extubation (124 +/- 25 vs 177 +/- 36 mins, P<0.001) was earlier in sevoflurane group than isoflurane group. There was no evidence of perioperative myocardial infarction in both the groups. We conclude that sevoflurane and isoflurane can both be safely used in OPCAB surgery, but the awakening and extubation times are significantly less with sevoflurane.