Minerva anestesiologica
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Regional anesthesia is associated with recognized physiological advantages; however trials evaluating its impact on postoperative outcomes have shown contrasting results, probably because these effects have not been utilized in a multimodal perioperative care program. Enhanced recovery has attracted clinical interest because of its standardized, coordinated, multidisciplinary perioperative care plan that incorporates several evidenced-based interventions with positive influence on postoperative patient recovery. ⋯ Clearly, there are synergistic benefits derived from integrating specific regional anesthetic and analgesic techniques with other perioperative elements characteristic of a particular surgical procedure. This challenge requires a team approach in delivering such integrated care, ultimately providing the best cure for patient.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Nov 2014
Peripheral microcirculatory exploration during mechanical ventilation weaning.
Weaning from mechanical ventilation is a daily challenge in intensive care patients. Our objective was to explore microcirculatory perfusion during mechanical ventilation weaning and to evaluate its predictive value on the weaning outcome. ⋯ In unselected mechanically ventilated patients undergoing SBT, mottling score and knee StO2 are early predictors of weaning failure.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Nov 2014
Comparative StudyBuprenorphine versus tramadol as perineural adjuvants for postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair under middle interscalene block. A retrospective study.
The aim of this retrospective study was to compare buprenorphine and tramadol, in order to assess their different efficacy in prolonging postoperative analgesia and their associated side effects when used as perineural adjuvants with a local anesthetic. ⋯ The results showed that the group treated with buprenorphine benefited from a longer post-operative analgesia than that treated with local anesthetic alone (P<0.0001). Otherwise, a less evident not statistically significant (P=0.4825) difference turned out between the group treated with the anesthetic alone and the group treated with tramadol as adjuvant. No difference turned out to be between the local anesthetic alone treatment and the tramadol-local anesthetic one (P=0.4825; HR=0.863, 95% CI 0.574-1.299); on the contrary, a significant difference was demonstrated between the buprenophine-local anesthetic group and the local anesthetic alone one (P<0.0001; HR=0.330, 95% CI 0.216-0.530) CONCLUSION: Both buprenorphine and tramadol are effective as perineural adjuvants used in order to prolong the postoperative analgesia, buprenorphine proving more efficacious for this purpose than tramadol.
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Lung transplantation is a widely accepted therapeutic option for patients with end-stage lung disease. However, despite the significant medical progress achieved since the first human lung transplant was performed in 1963, perioperative and long-term patient outcomes are still jeopardised by a variety of complications. ⋯ However, in the absence of internationally recognised guidelines, the optimal strategies for managing lung transplant recipients remain unclear. This article presents a practical approach to the management of the early post-transplantation period aiming at standardising clinical care and improving patient outcome.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Nov 2014
THE ROLE OF EXTRACORPOREAL MEMBRANE OXYGENATION IN DONATION AFTER CIRCULATORY R DEATH.
Donor scarcity and the increased need for organ transplantation has prompted the development of an alternative source of donors to the more conventional brain dead donor. While in a Beating-Heart donor, abdominal and intrathoracic organs are perfused, in a non-beating heart donor (NHBD, or DCD), perfusion should be maintained, after confirmation of death, by means of ECMO and inflation of intra-aortic balloon accordingly to the localization of the organs that should be transplanted. ⋯ Despite the fact that available studies suffer from methodological limitations (small cohorts, retrospective analysis, not always comparative), they all reach the same conclusion: the concept of extracorporeal support with oxygenation in DCD seems very promising since it has been reported to increase the available organ supply by approximately 20% to 25%2 by increasing the number of donors by approximately 33%. Centres with ECMO facilities should implement local programmes for donation after cardiac death (both in the emergency department and intensive care) using ECMO taking into account that this technique has been proven to increase donor pool.