Articles: postoperative.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Cleanliness of Disposable vs Nondisposable Electrocardiography Lead Wires in Children.
Mediastinitis costs hospitals thousands of dollars a year and increases the incidence of patient morbidity and mortality. No studies have been done to evaluate adenosine triphosphate (ATP) counts on disposable and nondisposable electrocardiography (ECG) lead wires in pediatric patients. ⋯ Results of this study support the use of disposable ECG lead wires in postoperative pediatric cardiac surgery patients for at least the first 48 hours as a direct strategy to reduce the ATP counts on ECG lead wires.
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Diagnosis of sepsis in the postoperative period is a challenge. Measurements of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), have been proposed in medical patients, but the interpretation of these values in surgical patients is more difficult. We evaluated the changes in blood CRP levels and white blood cell count in postoperative patients with and without infection. ⋯ CRP levels increase in the first week after major surgery but to a much larger extent in infected than in noninfected patients. Persistently high CRP levels after POD 4, especially when >100 mg/L, suggest the presence of a postoperative infection.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2014
Cognitive Outcome after Spinal Anesthesia and Surgery During Infancy.
Observational studies on pediatric anesthesia neurotoxicity have been unable to distinguish long-term effects of general anesthesia (GA) from factors associated with the need for surgery. A recent study on elementary school children who had received a single GA during the first year of life demonstrated an association in otherwise healthy children between the duration of anesthesia and diminished test scores and also revealed a subgroup of children with "very poor academic achievement" (VPAA), scoring below the fifth percentile on standardized testing. Analysis of postoperative cognitive function in a similar cohort of children anesthetized with an alternative to GA may help to begin to separate the effects of anesthesia from other confounders. ⋯ We found no link between duration of surgery with infant SA and scores on academic achievement testing in elementary school. We also found no relationship between infant SA and surgery with VPAA on elementary school testing, although the CIs were wide.