Effect of thoracic epidural analgesia on clinical outcomes following transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of perioperative thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) on acute and late outcomes following transapical transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TA-TAVI). PATIENTS AND INTERVENTION: A total of 135 consecutive patients who underwent TA-TAVI were included. All patients received catheter-based pain control, either via TEA (TEA group, n=74) or intercostal local analgesia with a catheter placed at the surgical incision site (non-TEA group, n=61), depending on the preference of the anaesthesiologist responsible for the case. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain level during early postoperative period (verbal rating scale from 1 to 10), 30-day/in-hospital complications and mortality, and 1-year mortality. RESULTS: There were no differences in baseline or procedural characteristics between groups except for a lower left ventricular ejection fraction in the TEA group. The maximal pain score related to thoracotomy in the postoperative period was higher in the non-TEA group as compared with the TEA group (4 (IQR: 3-5)) vs 2 (IQR: 1-3), p<0.001). Non-TEA was associated with a higher rate of pulmonary complications (p<0.05 for nosocomial pneumonia, reintubation and tracheostomy). The 30-day/in-hospital mortality rate was higher in the non-TEA group (22.9% vs 2.7% in the TEA group, p<0.001). At 1-year follow-up, overall mortality remained higher in the non-TEA group (31.1%) compared with the TEA group (10.8%), p=0.005. Similar periprocedural and late results were obtained in a propensity score-matched analysis that included 100 matched patients. In the multivariable analysis, STS score (p=0.027) and absence of TEA (p=0.039) were independent predictors of increased cumulative late mortality. CONCLUSIONS: TEA provided superior analgesia following TA-TAVI, and was associated with a dramatic reduction in periprocedural respiratory complications, and both, short- and long-term mortality. These results highlight the importance of obtaining optimal analgesia following TA-TAVI to improve the results associated with this procedure.

Vasopressin and methylene blue: alternate therapies in vasodilatory shock.

Cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is frequently complicated by vasoplegic syndrome, a vasodilatory shock state. Traditional treatment based on fluid resuscitation and catecholamine drugs is ineffective in a number of patients. Clinical trials investigating both vasopressin and methylene blue as additional rescue or preventative therapy are reviewed. Vasopressin is suggested to retain its vasoconstrictive power in hypoxemia and acidosis, lower pulmonary hypertension, reduce supraventricular arrhythmias, and accelerate intensive care unit (ICU) recovery. Safety concerns include frequent thrombocytopenia and potentially altered mesenteric and renal perfusion. Methylene blue is suggested to facilitate CPB weaning, reduce renal, respiratory, arrhythmic, and septic complications, reduce mortality, and accelerate ICU and hospital recovery. Safety concerns include oximeter interference, pulmonary hypertension, neurotoxicity, arrhythmias, and potentially altered coronary, mesenteric, and renal perfusion. Research on both molecules is ongoing and has yet to confirm on a larger scale their efficacy and safety as treatments for post-CPB vasoplegic syndrome.