Enhanced recovery after cardiac surgery.

The concept of early recovery after surgery (ERAS) consists of bundle interventions during the pre-, intra- and postoperative periods and team work. The ERAS, which is a multimodal strategy, enables one to limit the neurohumoral response to the surgery, maintain homeostasis, reduce the risk of complications, shorten the hospital stay, accelerate the return to everyday functioning, improve the patient's satisfaction, achieve a satisfactory quality of life and finally reduce the treatment costs and eliminate any redundant and ineffective practices. Almost every patient can be classified for the ERAS strategy except for patients undergoing urgent and emergency surgery. The necessity to give up ERAS can result from poor organisation and management. Moreover, the procedure itself can be the cause of the lack of adherence to the planned standard. It is necessary to use protocols and checklists. While fulfilling this doctrine, the anaesthesiologist becomes a perioperative specialist.

Can human myocardium be remotely preconditioned? The results of a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: No experimental study has shown that the myocardium of a remotely preconditioned patient is more resistant to a standardized ischaemic/hypoxic insult. METHODS: This was a single-centre randomized (1:1), double-blinded, sham-controlled, parallel-group study. Patients referred for elective coronary bypass surgery were allocated to either remote ischaemic preconditioning (3 cycles of 5-min ischaemia/5-min reperfusion of the right arm using a blood pressure cuff inflated to 200 mmHg) or sham intervention. One hundred and thirty-four patients were recruited, of whom 10 dropped out, and 4 were excluded from the per-protocol analysis. The right atrial trabecula harvested on cannulation for cardiopulmonary bypass was subjected to 60 min of simulated ischaemia and 120 min of reoxygenation in an isolated organ experiment. Postoperative troponin T release and haemodynamics were assessed in an in vivo study. RESULTS: The atrial trabeculae obtained from remotely preconditioned patients recovered 41.9% (36.3-48.3) of the initial contraction force, whereas those from non-preconditioned patients recovered 45.9% (39.1-53.7) (P = 0.399). Overall, the content of cleaved poly (ADP ribose) polymerase in the right atrial muscle increased from 9.4% (6.0-13.5) to 19.1% (13.2-23.8) (P < 0.001) after 1 h of ischaemia and 2 h of reperfusion in vitro. The amount of activated Caspase 3 and the number of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling-positive cells also significantly increased. No difference was observed between the remotely preconditioned and sham-treated myocardium. In the in vivo trial, the area under the curve for postoperative concentration of troponin T over 72 h was 16.4 ng⋅h/ml (95% confidence interval 14.2-18.9) for the remote ischaemic preconditioning and 15.5 ng⋅h/ml (13.4-17.9) for the control group in the intention-to-treat analysis. This translated into an area under the curve ratio of 1.06 (0.86-1.30; P = 0.586). CONCLUSIONS: Remote ischaemic preconditioning with 3 cycles of 5-min ischaemia/reperfusion of the upper limb before cardiac surgery does not make human myocardium more resistant to ischaemia/reperfusion injury. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01994707.

Levosimendan in patients with low ejection fraction undergoing cardiac surgery.

INTRODUCTION: Significant impairment of left ventricular function causes low cardiac output syndrome in the immediate postoperative period in 3-14% of patients undergoing surgery, increasing the mortality 15-fold. AIM: To assess the use of levosimendan in patients undergoing cardiac surgery in 2016. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis included 14 patients: 3 (21.4%) women and 11 (78.6%) men aged 65.4 ±11.8 years. The mean value of left ventricular ejection fraction amounted to 20 ±6.25%. In 11 patients, levosimendan infusion was started immediately after the induction of anesthesia. Three patients received the agent during the early postoperative period due to low cardiac output syndrome refractory to conventional therapy. The dosage was modified within the range of 0.05-0.2 µg/kg/min. On the day of the surgery, all patients received continuous infusion of adrenaline and levonor. RESULTS: The cardiac index amounted to 2.8 ±0.71 l/m2 after several hours of infusion and 2.9 ±0.1 l/m2 the next morning. The first examination showed that the mean systemic vascular resistance was 1010 dyn/s-5 and the second: 940 ±100 dyn/s-5; mixed venous blood saturation amounted to 66 ±7.5% and 65.5 ±8%, respectively. Respectively, the mean concentration of lactates was 2.0 ±0.96 mmol/l and 1.8 ±0.24 mmol/l. Mechanical lung ventilation lasting more than 48 hours was required in 50% of the patients. Two patients with chronic kidney disease required bedside renal replacement therapy before the procedure. Two (14.3%) patients died. Nine (64.3%) patients were discharged home, and three were transferred to cardiac wards. CONCLUSIONS: Levosimendan therapy proved safe in the study group. The nature of the study and the small sample size preclude the formulation of detailed conclusions.

Perioperative care in elderly cardiac surgery patients.

INTRODUCTION: Surgery is an extreme physiological stress for the elderly. Aging is inevitably associated with irreversible and progressive cellular degeneration. Patients above 75 years of age are characterized by impaired responses to operative stress and a very narrow safety margin. AIM: To evaluate perioperative complications in patients aged ≥ 75 years who underwent cardiac surgery in comparison to outcomes in younger patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted at the Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases in Zabrze in 2009-2014 after a standard of perioperative care in seniors was implemented to reduce complications, in particular to decrease the duration of mechanical ventilation and reduce postoperative delirium. The study group included 1446 patients. RESULTS: The mean duration of mechanical ventilation was 13.8 h in patients aged ≥ 75 years and did not differ significantly compared to younger patients. In-hospital mortality among seniors was 3.8%, a value significantly higher than that observed among patients younger than 75 years of age. Patients aged ≥ 75 years undergoing cardiac surgery have significantly more concomitant conditions involving other organs, which affects treatment outcomes (duration of hospital stay, mortality). CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a standard of perioperative care in this age group reduced the duration of mechanical ventilation and lowered the rate of postoperative delirium.

Diagnostic accuracy of pre-operative NT-proBNP level in predicting short-term outcomes in coronary surgery: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: B-type natriuretic peptides (BNP) are acknowledged markers of acute and chronic heart failure. Insufficient data exist, however, regarding their diagnostic usefulness in cardiac surgery, particularly in coronary patients. AIM: To assess diagnostic accuracy of preoperative value of NT-proBNP level as a predictor of short-term postoperative complications in subjects undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). METHODS: This pilot study included 100 consecutive patients scheduled for elective CABG, including 24 females and 76 males (mean age 65.9 ± 9.1 years). Exclusion criteria were: significant valvular disorders, off-pump procedure, renal failure (GFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2), low ejection fraction (< 30%), intra-aortic balloon pump counterpulsation (IABP), use of inotropic agents, atrial fibrillation (AF), and implanted pacemaker or defibrillator. The NT-proBNP level was measured on the day of the surgery before induction of anaesthesia. We investigated short-term postoperative complications, defined as those occurring within 30 days or before hospital discharge. RESULTS: Median NT-proBNP concentration was 526.0 pg/mL (IQR 156.0-1150.0). None of patients died postoperatively. Excessive drainage (> 850 mL) was found in 13 (13%) patients and 22 (22%) subjects required transfusions. Prolonged mechanical ventilation (> 12 h) was necessary in 15 (15%) patients and respiratory failure occurred in 2 (2%) of them. Postoperative AF was present in 34 (34%) subjects. Perioperative myocardial infarction was diagnosed in 2 (2%) persons. Low cardiac output was present in 9 (9%) patients. Haemodynamic support with the use of IABP was necessary in 7 (7%) patients and inotropic drugs were used in 61 (61%) subjects. Stroke or delirium was diagnosed in 1 (1%) subject. The NT-proBNP level correlated with the operative risk estimated by logistic and additive EuroSCORE: r = 0.558 (95% CI 0.406-0.680; p < 0.001) and r = 0.551 (95% CI 0.397-0.674; p < 0.001), respectively. The NT-proBNP level correlated significantly with the length of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) stay and hospital stay: r = 0.412 (95% CI 0.238-0.566; p < 0.001) and r = 0.547 (95% CI 0.393-0.672; p < 0.001), respectively. The NT-proBNP level was a predictor of postoperative prolonged mechanical ventilation, respiratory failure, AF, IABP use, inotropic support and postoperative platelet transfusions (p < 0.05 for all). However, good or very good diagnostic accuracy was found only in relation to mechanical ventilation (AUROC = 0.854), respiratory insufficiency (AUROC = 0.867), IABP use (AUROC = 0.889), and milrinone use (AUROC = 0.929). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative assessment of NT-proBNP level in CABG patients could be a valuable diagnostic method for predicting several postoperative complications, especially pulmonary outcomes and requirement for haemodynamic support, and it correlated with the length of ICU stay and hospital stay.