Postoperative urinary retention (POUR): A narrative review.

Postoperative urinary retention (POUR) is defined as the inability to void in the presence of a full bladder after surgery. Complications include delirium, pain, prolonged hospitalization, and long-term altered bladder contractility. Comorbidities, type of surgery and anesthesia influence the development of POUR. The incidence varies between 5% and 70%. History and clinical examination, the need for bladder catheterization and ultrasonographic evaluation are three methods used to diagnose POUR. The prevention of POUR currently involves identifying patients with pre-operative risk factors and then modifying them where possible. Bladder catheterization is the standard treatment of POUR, however, further studies are necessary to establish patients who need a bladder catheter, bladder volume thresholds and duration of catheterization.

Obesity Surgery Mortality Risk Score as a Predictor for Intensive Care Unit Admission in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery.

Background: Laparoscopic bariatric surgery provides many benefits including lower postoperative pain scores, reduced opioid consumption, shorter hospital stays, and improved quality of recovery. However, the anaesthetic management of obese patients requires caution in determining postoperative risk and in planning adequate postoperative pathways. Currently, there are no specific indications for intensive care unit (ICU) admission in this surgical population and most decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. The aim of this study is to investigate whether Obesity Surgery Mortality Risk Score (OS-MRS) is able to predict ICU admission in patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery (LBS). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed data of patients who underwent LBS during a 2-year period (2017-2019). The collected data included demographics, comorbidities and surgery-related variables. Postoperative ICU admission was decided via bariatric anaesthesiologists' evaluations, based on the high risk of postoperative cardiac or respiratory complications. Anaesthesia protocol was standardized. Logistic regression was used for statistical analysis. Results: ICU admission was required in 2% (n = 15) of the 763 patients. The intermediate risk group of the OS-MRS was detected in 84% of patients, while the American Society of Anaesthesiologists class III was reported in 80% of patients. A greater OS-MRS (p = 0.01), advanced age (p = 0.04), male gender (p = 0.001), longer duration of surgery (p = 0.0001), increased number of patient comorbidities (p = 0.002), and previous abdominal surgeries (p = 0.003) were predictive factors for ICU admission. Conclusions: ICU admission in obese patients undergoing LBS is predicted by OS-MRS together with age, male gender, number of comorbidities, previous abdominal surgeries, and duration of surgery.

The new robotic platform Hugo™ RAS for lateral transabdominal adrenalectomy: a first world report of a series of five cases.

Robotic assisted surgery is the most rapidly developing field of minimally invasive surgery. Its wide diffusion has led to the development and standardization of robotic-assisted approaches also for adrenalectomy. In this study, we present the first five robotic-assisted lateral transabdominal adrenalectomies performed with the new Hugo RAS™ system (Medtronic, Minneapolis, MN, USA). After an official training course of the surgical team, five consecutive patients scheduled for unilateral adrenalectomy, underwent robotic-assisted operations in our institution. Patients that were candidates for partial adrenalectomy were excluded. A description of the operating theatre, robotic arms and docking setup is provided. Four female and one male patient underwent lateral transabdominal adrenalectomy, three for lesions on the left side and two on the right. Median lesion size was 3.9 cm (range: 30-90) and preoperative diagnosis was Cushing's syndrome in three patients, an adrenal cystic lesion and a pheochromocytoma. The median docking time was 5 min (range: 5-8) and the median console time was 55 min (range: 29-108). Procedures were performed without intraoperative complications and no conversions or additional ports were needed. System's function and docking were uneventful. Based on our initial experience, adrenalectomy with the Hugo™ system is feasible. This study provides technical notes for other centres that wish to perform robotic-assisted adrenalectomies with the Hugo™ RAS as well as general information and our preliminary insights on this new platform.

Effects of deep neuromuscular block on surgical workspace conditions in laparoscopic bariatric surgery: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

INTRODUCTION: It has been hypothesized that routine use of deep neuromuscular block (dNMB) is advisable in laparoscopic bariatric surgery to optimize workspace conditions. dNMB seems to have advantages in laparoscopic procedures on non-obese patients as it improves surgical space conditions and reduces postoperative pain scores. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at comparing the impact of deep vs. moderate NMB (mNMB) on surgical conditions and outcomes, including duration of surgery and postoperative pain in patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: Studies were identified from Medline, Embase and Cochrane library (update: Sep 1, 2019). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing dNMB with mNMB were identified if they reported surgeon satisfaction for workspace conditions (primary outcome). The effects of dNMB on surgery duration and postoperative pain (secondary outcomes) were also investigated. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Of the 45 retrieved records, four were finally included. dNMB improved the surgeon's satisfaction score about workspace (on a scale ranging from 1 to 5), with a mean difference (MD) of 0.52 (95% CI: 0.36-0.68). Surgical duration was not affected by block level (MD: -3.29 minutes; 95% CI: from -14.35 to 7.76). Only one study showed that dNMB also decreased postoperative pain. CONCLUSIONS: It was found that dNMB helps improve surgical space conditions in patients undergoing laparoscopic bariatric surgery whereas it fails to shorten procedure duration. More high-quality large-sampled RCTs are needed to confirm these results. The relationship between dNMB use and other clinical outcomes, such as complications occurrence, needs to be further investigated.

Further Hemodynamic Insight Into Patients Undergoing Liver Transplantation: A Preliminary Report on Cardiac Power Index.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate any relationship between cardiac power index (CPI) and preload indexes during liver transplantation (LT). METHODS: Thirty-three patients with normal preoperative cardiac evaluation undergoing LT were included. Anesthesia management was standardized. Monitoring included continuous cardiac output determination by pulmonary artery catheter. CPI was calculated throughout LT by using the following standard formula: Mean Arterial Pressure [mm Hg] × Cardiac Index [L/min/m2] × k, where k = 0.0022. A logistic regression to determine which preload indexes predicted an adequate CPI (≥ 0.4 watt/m2) was performed. Postregression analysis was carried out to calculate a cutoff of right ventricle end diastolic volume index (RVEDVI) able to guarantee an adequate CPI after establishing a sensitivity >0.9. The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was also run separately for patients with a Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score < or ≥ 25 to establish an accurate level of prediction in these subgroups (post-hoc analysis). RESULTS: Logistic regression showed that RVEDVI was the only predictor of CPI (AUC = 0.81). A cutoff value for RVEDVI of 105 mL/m2 was found (sensitivity = 90.5%; specificity = 50%). RVEDVI predicted CPI with moderate accuracy (AUC = 0.80) in patients with MELD < 25 (n = 25), whereas the prediction was highly accurate (AUC = 0.96) in patients with MELD ≥ 25 (n = 8). CONCLUSION: An RVEDVI = 105 mL/m2 can be considered a valid cutoff to perform a fluid challenge to optimize preload during LT. Sicker recipients (with MELD ≥ 25) could exhibit less tolerance to preload reduction, proven by a decrease of CPI below the minimum value considered safe (0.40 watt/m2).

Patient-Related Factors Predicting Workspace Conditions during Laparoscopic Bariatric Surgery.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have focused on the role of deep neuromuscular blockade (NMB) in improving surgical conditions during laparoscopic bariatric surgery. However, a wide inter-individual variability has been noted. The aim of this study was to identify patient-related factors affecting surgeon satisfaction with the surgical space and surgery duration in laparoscopic bariatric surgery under deep NMB. METHODS: One hundred eighty-five patients scheduled for laparoscopic gastric bypass were enrolled. Anesthesia was standardized. A deep NMB was maintained together with fixed patient positioning (30 reverse Trendelenburg) and constant pneumoperitoneum pressure (14 mmHg) during the whole surgical procedure. Immediately after surgery, the surgeon was invited to state his satisfaction with the surgical space through a verbal numeric scale (VNS) ranging from 0 (extremely poor) to 10 (optimal). RESULTS: VNS score was negatively correlated with male gender (r = - 0.35; p = 0.0001), BMI (r = - 0.16; p = 0.03), and age (r = - 0.20; p = 0.008). Surgery duration was positively correlated with male gender (r = 0.27; p = 0.0003) and BMI (r = 0.22; p = 0.006). Multivariate linear regressions showed that lower VNS scores were predicted by male gender (p = 0.000001) and increased age (p = 0.009), and that a longer surgery duration was predicted by male gender (p = 0.0002). CONCLUSIONS: Findings showed that male gender and higher patient age were independent predictors of lower surgeon satisfaction with the workspace during laparoscopic bariatric surgery. Male gender also had a significant role in predicting longer surgery duration. The role of android obesity, which is more frequently associated with male gender, in affecting surgeon-perceived workspace conditions needs further investigation.