Impact of Radial Arterial Location on Catheter Lifetime in ICU Surgical Intensive Care.

The use of arterial catheters is frequent in intensive care for hemodynamic monitoring of patients and for blood sampling, but they are often removed because of dysfunction. The primary objective is to compare the prevalence of radial arterial catheter dysfunction according to location in relation to the radiocarpal joint in intensive care patients. DESIGN: Prospective randomized, controlled, single-center study. SETTING: The surgical ICU of the university hospital of Poitiers in France. PATIENTS: From January 2016 to April 2017, all patients over 18 years old admitted to the surgical ICU and requiring an arterial catheter were included. INTERVENTIONS: Randomization into two groups: catheter placed near the wrist (within 4 cm of the radiocarpal joint) and catheter placed away the wrist. The primary endpoint was the prevalence of dysfunction. We also compared the prevalence of infection and colonization. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: One hundred seven catheters were analyzed (14 failed placements with no difference between the two groups, and 16 catheters excluded for missing data), with 58 catheters in near the wrist group and 49 in away the wrist group. We did not find any significant difference in the number of catheter dysfunctions between the two groups (p = 0.56). The prevalence density of catheter dysfunction was 30.5 of 1,000 catheter days for near the wrist group versus 26.7 of 1,000 catheter days for away the wrist group. However, we observed a significant difference in terms of catheter-related infection in favor of away the wrist group (p = 0.04). In addition, distal positioning of the catheter was judged easier by the physicians. CONCLUSIONS: The distal or proximal position of the arterial catheter in the radial position has no influence on the occurrence of dysfunction. However, there may be an association with the prevalence of infections.

Treatment of yew leaf intoxication with extracorporeal circulation.

Taxine, a yew tree toxin, is highly cardiotoxic. We report the case of a patient who developed severe cardiac failure and ventricular fibrillation after consuming yew leaves and who made a full recovery after extracorporeal life support. Yew poisoning can be added to the list of potential indications of extracorporeal life support for refractory toxic cardiogenic shock.

Nefopam pharmacokinetics in patients with end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of intense postoperative pain in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is a recurrent problem for anesthesiologists because of the risk of accumulation of numerous molecules and their metabolites. Nefopam is a potent analgesic metabolized by the liver and weakly eliminated intact in urine that may offer advantages for use in patients with ESRD because it lacks respiratory-depressive effects. However, the effects of renal failure on nefopam disposition have never been investigated. METHODS: We studied 12 ESRD patients (creatinine clearance < 20 mL/min, mean age 57 ± 13 years) having surgery under general anesthesia to create or repair an arteriovenous fistula. Postoperatively, after complete recovery from anesthesia, each patient received a single 20-mg dose of nefopam IV over 30 minutes. Nefopam and desmethyl-nefopam concentrations in plasma samples obtained over 48 hours were determined by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. The pharmacokinetic parameter values obtained were compared with those of 12 healthy 50- to 60-year-old volunteers who also received a single 20-mg nefopam infusion over 30 minutes using a population pharmacokinetic approach. RESULTS: Healthy volunteers and ESRD patients had comparable demographic characteristics. In comparison with those volunteers, ESRD patients had a lower volume of central compartment (115 and 53 L vs. 264 L for patients not yet hemodialyzed and on chronic hemodialysis, respectively; P < 0.001) and lower mean nefopam clearance (37.0 and 27.3 L/h vs. 52.9 L/h, P < 0.001), resulting in higher mean nefopam peak concentration (121 and 223 ng/mL vs. 61 ng/mL, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Nefopam distribution and elimination are altered in patients with ESRD, resulting in heightened exposure. To avoid too-high concentration peaks, it is suggested that the daily nefopam dose be reduced by 50%.