Minerva anestesiologica
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The goal of hemodynamic monitoring is to maintain adequate tissue perfusion. Classical hemodynamic monitoring is based on the invasive measurement of systemic, pulmonary arterial and venous pressures, and of cardiac output. Since organ blood flow cannot be directly measured in clinical practice, arterial blood pressure is used, despite limitations, as estimate of adequacy of tissue perfusion. ⋯ CVP is often used as sole parameter to monitor hemodynamic. However CVP alone may not differentiate between changes in volume (different venous return curve) or changes in contractility (different starling curve). Finally, other techniques such as echocardiography, transesophageal Doppler and volume-based monitoring system are now available.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Apr 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialProne position for the prevention of lung infection.
Pulmonary infection is frequent in brain injured patients. It has been identified as an independent predictor of unfavorable neurological outcome, calling for attempts of prevention. We recently evaluated intermittent prone positioning for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in comatose brain injured patients, in a randomized study. 25 patients were included in the prone position (PP) group: they were positioned on prone four hours once daily until they could get up to sit in an armchair; 26 patients were included in the supine position (SP) group. ⋯ There was no serious complication attributable to prone positioning. In conclusion, the beneficial effect of prone positioning for prevention of lung infection in brain injured patients is not well established. However, in those patients, prone positioning is able to avoid the worsening of pulmonary function, especially in oxygenation.
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Brain injured patients have an increased risk of extracerebral organ failure, mainly pulmonary dysfunction. The prevalent cause of pulmonary failure is ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) which increases morbidity and mortality. The respiratory dysfunction is mainly characterized by the presence of alveolar consolidation of the dependent lobes. ⋯ In conclusion, in brain injured patients 1) the respiratory mechanics is altered; 2) PEEP is uneffective to improve respiratory function in respiratory failure due to ventilator associated pneumonia. Further studies are warranted to better elucidate the pathophysiology and clinical management of respiratory dysfunction in brain injured patients.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Apr 2002
ReviewEffect of postoperative epidural analgesia on surgical outcome.
Pain relief allowing sufficient mobilization after major surgical procedures can only be achieved by continuous epidural analgesia with local anesthetics, which also reduces the stress response to surgery. However, the role of postoperative epidural analgesia on postoperative morbidity is controversial. We therefore update the effects of postoperative analgesia on surgical outcome. ⋯ Continuous epidural analgesia significantly lowers the risk of thromboembolic complications after lower body procedures, while no effect is seen after major abdominal surgery. Unfortunately, many studies have inadequate study design, with use of lumbar epidural analgesia for abdominal procedures, or the epidural regimen does not contain a sufficient amount of local anesthetics. Future evaluation of the effects of epidural analgesia on postoperative outcome also requires integration of epidural analgesia within a multimodal rehabilitation programme.
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Corticosteroids were proposed to treat patients with severe sepsis as early as 1940. A summary of all available randomized controlled trials performed between 1966 and 1993 was provided in two systematic review that recommended to abandon the use of high dose coricosteroids to treat patients with severe infection. Nonetheless, a doubt still persist regarding the efficacy of a strategy of replacement therapy in cathecolamines-dependent shock. ⋯ The authors found a significant reduction in 28-day mortality in patient with occult renal insufficiency. In sum, short course with high doses of corticosteroids should not be given in severe sepsis, except for specific entitles like severe typhoid fever, pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS or bacterial meningitis in children. The rational for a replacement therapy with hydrocortisone in catecholamines-dependent septic shock grows stronger.