Minerva anestesiologica
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Minerva anestesiologica · Aug 2016
Transesophageal echocardiography: what the anesthesiologist has to know.
Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is a very powerful intraoperative monitoring tool. It allows precise assessment of cardiac anatomy together with dynamic quantification of myocardial performance and flows through the heart chambers. With a high safety profile TEE counts few absolute contraindications. ⋯ Unexplained hemodynamic instability is the only strong indication in non-cardiac surgery. Qualitative assessment based on a simplified protocol seams to adequately address the clinical needs in this specific scenario. More studies are required to support the use of TEE outside of cardiac surgery at its full potential.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Aug 2016
Randomized Controlled TrialEvaluation of the efficacy of solifenacin and darifenacin for prevention of catheter-related bladder discomfort: a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study.
Urinary catheterization during surgical interventions causes postoperative catheter-related bladder discomfort (CRBD). Antimuscarinic agents are the mainstay of treatment for overactive bladder (OAB). As the symptoms of CRBD mimic to OAB, so we designed this study to assess the efficacy of solifenacin and darifenacin for prevention of CRBD. ⋯ Pretreatment with oral solifenacin or darifenacin reduces catheter-related bladder discomfort with no clinically relevant significant side effects.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Aug 2016
ReviewBleeding management in patients on new oral anticoagulants.
New oral anticoagulants (NOACs) have been developed in recent years and are increasingly used in clinical practice. Dabigatran is a direct thrombin (factor II) inhibitor while rivaroxaban, apixaban and edoxaban are direct inhibitors of factor Xa. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) currently approves these NOACs for different clinical uses. ⋯ NOACs show a similar or lower incidence of bleeding compared with conventional therapies in phase III trials. In case of bleeding, non-specific reversal strategies are available while specific reversal agents are the subject of ongoing trials. The role of this review is to summarize the current knowledge on NOCAs focusing on bleeding management in the perioperative period.
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Both the optimal caloric intake and the best route of delivery of nutrition to critically ill patients fuel an intense debate. Recently, two large pragmatic, multicenter, controlled, randomized clinical trials evaluated these issues in large cohorts of patients. In the CALORIES Study, the authors compared the parenteral with the enteral route as the most effective way to deliver early (e.g. within 36 hours from admission) nutritional support in critically ill adults in 33 English ICUs (N.=2388). ⋯ In the PermiT Study, 894 enterally fed patients from 7 ICUs were randomized to a restrictive strategy for non-protein calories (e.g. "permissive underfeeding" - 40% to 60% of energy expenditure) or to standard feeding (70 to 100% of energy expenditure) for up to 2 weeks. The primary endpoint (90-day mortality) was similar in both groups (27.2% in the permissive-underfeeding group and 28.9% in the standard-feeding group) without significant differences in feeding intolerance, diarrhea or ICU-acquired infections. We herein discuss how these studies should be interpreted with regard to the existing evidence and propose some practical suggestions for nutrition management in the critically ill patient.