Error traps in patients with congenital heart disease undergoing noncardiac surgery.

Patients with congenital heart disease are living longer due to improved medical and surgical care. Congenital heart disease encompasses a wide spectrum of defects with varying pathophysiology and unique anesthetic challenges. These patients often present for noncardiac surgery before or after surgical repair and are at increased risk for perioperative morbidity and mortality. Although there is no singular safe anesthetic technique, identifying potential error traps and tailoring perioperative management may help reduce morbidity and mortality. In this article, we discuss five error traps based on the collective experience of the authors. These error traps can occur when providing perioperative care to patients with congenital heart disease for noncardiac surgery and we present potential solutions to help avoid adverse outcomes.

Multi-Disciplinary Management and Surgical Resection of Intracardiac Fibromas Causing Bilateral Ventricular Outflow Tract Obstructions in an Infant.

Cardiac tumors remain rare in children with benign pathologies predominating. Indications for surgical management often result from compromised ventricular chamber size, biventricular outflow tract obstruction, impaired ventricular function, or the presence of medically refractory dysrhythmias. We present a case of a six-month-old infant with two intracardiac fibromas originating in the interventricular septum. The fibromas were causing significant biventricular outflow obstruction. The patient successfully underwent tumor resection on cardiopulmonary bypass The literature on pediatric cardiac tumors is reviewed. Multi-disciplinary medical planning is necessary for successful anesthetic and surgical treatment of this high-risk patient population.

Severe Bronchoconstriction Caused by Administration of Rocuronium in a 3-Month-Old Infant: Case Report.

We present the case of a 3-month-old infant with severe, persistent bronchoconstriction following administration of rocuronium. This observation raises awareness of a rare but potentially life-threatening reaction to neuromuscular blocking agents.

Relationships between Physiologic and Neuropsychologic Functioning after Fontan.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate potential relationships between neuropsychologic functioning and cardiac, gastroenterologic/hepatologic, and pulmonary complications in the single ventricle heart disease (SVHD) post-Fontan population. STUDY DESIGN: Following the initiation of a Fontan Multidisciplinary Clinic, patients with SVHD were evaluated systematically according to a clinical care pathway, and data from multiple subspecialty evaluations were collected prospectively from 2016 to 2019. Biomarkers of cardiology, pulmonary, and hepatology/gastroenterology functioning were abstracted, along with neuropsychologic testing results. Bivariate correlations and regression analyses examined cross-sectional relationships between physiologic predictors and neuropsychologic outcomes. RESULTS: The sample included a cohort of 68 youth with SVHD age 3-19 years, after Fontan palliation. Sleep-disordered breathing was related to poorer visual-motor integration skills (r = -0.33; P < .05) and marginally related to poorer executive functioning (r = -0.33; P = .05). Lower arterial blood oxygen content was related to poorer executive functioning (r = .45; P < .05). Greater atrioventricular valve regurgitation was related to lower parent-rated adaptive functioning (ρ = -0.34; P < .01). These results were maintained in regression analyses controlling for history of stroke and/or seizures. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated associations between neuropsychologic functioning and potentially modifiable aspects of physiologic functioning in a prospectively evaluated cohort of patients with SVHD with Fontan physiology. Our findings emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary screening and care after a Fontan procedure and suggest avenues for intervention that may improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

Pragmatic comparative effectiveness study of multimodal fascia iliaca nerve block and continuous lumbar epidural-based protocols for periacetabular osteotomy.

Perioperative pain management protocols have a significant impact on early surgical outcomes and recovery. We hypothesized that multimodal protocol including fascia iliaca compartment nerve block (MM-FICNB) would decrease the length of hospital stay (LOS) by facilitating earlier mobilization, without compromising analgesia, compared to a traditional lumbar epidural-based protocol (EP). Demographics/comorbidities, surgical/block characteristics and perioperative pain/mobilization data were collected from a prospectively recruited MM-FICNB group (N = 16) and a retrospective EP cohort (N = 16) who underwent PAO using similar surgical techniques, physical therapy/discharge criteria. Association of MM-FICNB group with LOS (primary outcome), postoperative pain, postoperative opioid requirements in morphine equivalent rates (MER) (mcg/kg/h) and time to complete physical therapy were tested using multivariable and survival regression. Patient and surgical characteristics were similar between groups. Median time for FICNB performance was significantly less than epidural (6 versus 15 min; P < 0.001). LOS was significantly decreased in the MM-FICNB group (2.88 ± 0.72 days) compared to the EP group (4.38 ± 1.02 days); P < 0.001. MM-FICNB group had significantly lower MER on POD1 (P = 0.006) and POD2 (P < 0.001), with similar pain scores on all POD. MM-FICNB group was associated with decreased LOS and earlier mobilization (P < 0.001) by covariate-adjusted multivariate regression. Cox proportional hazard regression model showed MM-FICNB subjects had 63 (95% CI 7-571, P < 0.001) times the chance of completing physical therapy goals, compared to EP. Compared to EP, MM-FICNB protocol allowed earlier mobilization and decreased post-surgical hospitalization by 1.5 days, without compromising analgesia, with important implications for value-based healthcare and cost-effectiveness.

Cardiac diseases among liver transplant candidates.

Improvements in early survival after liver transplant (LT) have allowed for the selection of LT candidates with multiple comorbidities. Cardiovascular disease is a major contributor to post-LT complications. We performed a literature search to identify the causes of cardiac disease in the LT population and to describe techniques for diagnosis and perioperative management. As no definite guidelines for preoperative assessment (except for pulmonary heart disease) are currently available, we recommend an algorithm for preoperative cardiac work-up.