Perioperative Factors Impact on Mortality and Survival Rate of Geriatric Patients Undergoing Surgery in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Prospective Cohort Study in Indonesia.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on geriatric patients worldwide since geriatrics itself is an age group with a high risk due to declined physiological function and many comorbidities, especially for those who undergo surgery. In this study, we determine the association between perioperative factors with 30-day mortality and a survival rate of geriatric patients undergoing surgery during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted at 14 central hospitals in Indonesia. The recorded variables were perioperative factors, 30-day mortality, and survival rate. Analyses of associations between variables and 30-day mortality were performed using univariate/multivariable logistic regression, and survival rates were determined with Kaplan−Meier survival analysis. Results: We analyzed 1621 elderly patients. The total number of patients who survived within 30 days of observation was 4.3%. Several perioperative factors were associated with 30-day mortality (p < 0.05) is COVID-19 (OR, 4.34; 95% CI, 1.04−18.07; p = 0.04), CCI > 3 ( odds ratio [OR], 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03−5.26; p = 0.04), emergency surgery (OR, 3.70; 95% CI, 1.96−7.00; p ≤ 0.01), postoperative ICU care (OR, 2.70; 95% CI, 1.32−5.53; p = 0.01), and adverse events (AEs) in the ICU (OR, 3.43; 95% CI, 1.32−8.96; p = 0.01). Aligned with these findings, COVID-19, CCI > 3, and comorbidities have a log-rank p < 0.05. The six comorbidities that have log-rank p < 0.05 are moderate-to-severe renal disease (log-rank p ≤ 0.01), cerebrovascular disease (log-rank p ≤ 0.01), diabetes with chronic complications (log-rank p = 0.03), metastatic solid tumor (log-rank p = 0.02), dementia (log-rank p ≤ 0.01), and rheumatology disease (log-rank p = 0.03). Conclusions: Having at least one of these conditions, such as COVID-19, comorbidities, emergency surgery, postoperative ICU care, or an AE in the ICU were associated with increased mortality in geriatric patients undergoing surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Comorbidities and COVID-19 status influence the survival rate of geriatric patients in intensive care units: a prospective cohort study from the Indonesian Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy.

BACKGROUND: With the more advanced science in the field of medicine and disease management, the population of geriatric intensive care patients is increasing. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted healthcare management around the globe, especially on critically-ill elderly patients. We aim to analyse the relationship between underlying illnesses, including COVID-19, and the survival rate of elderly patients who are treated in the intensive care setting. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study at 14 teaching hospitals for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy Education in Indonesia. We selected all subjects with 60 years of age or older in the period between February to May 2021. Variables recorded included subject characteristics, comorbidities, and COVID-19 status. Subjects were followed for 30-day mortality as an outcome. We analysed the data using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. RESULTS: We recruited 982 elderly patients, and 728 subjects were in the final analysis (60.7% male; 68.0 ± 6.6 years old). The 30-day mortality was 38.6%. The top five comorbidities are hypertension (21.1%), diabetes (16.2%), moderate or severe renal disease (10.6%), congestive heart failure (9.2%), and cerebrovascular disease (9.1%). Subjects with Charlson's Comorbidity Index Score > 5 experienced 66% death. Subjects with COVID-19 who died were 57.4%. Subjects with comorbidities and COVID-19 had lower survival time than subjects without those conditions (p < 0.005). Based on linear correlation analysis, the more comorbidities the geriatric patients in the ICU had, the higher chance of mortality in 30 days (p < 0.005, R coefficient 0.22). CONCLUSION: Approximately one in four elderly intensive care patients die, and the number is increasing with comorbidities and COVID-19 status.

Fatal iliopsoas and rectus sheath hemorrhage in a critically ill patient with COVID-19 on therapeutic anticoagulation.

Pulmonary embolism and thrombosis are two common postmortem findings in novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the fact which led experts to include anticoagulants in the standard management of COVID-19. However, at least until now, no guidelines stated the exact safe yet optimal dose of anticoagulants. We report a case of a 65-year-old man admitted to our hospital with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome due to COVID-19. He showed remarkable improvement during the first 10 days of treatment at our facility but subsequently developed spontaneous iliopsoas hemorrhage (IPH). We discontinued antithrombotic and anticoagulant agents as soon as we confirmed the IPH from the abdominal computed tomography scan. His condition worsened even after he received adequate blood transfusion sets and eventually developed disseminated intravascular coagulation. Due to the limitation of our hospital, we could not perform stent grafting and angiographic embolization. He finally died 6 days after the occurrence of IPH. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of COVID-19 with IPH in Indonesia. As a developing country, many hospitals in Indonesia do not have stent grafting and angiographic embolization. This condition urges the dose recommendation for anticoagulant therapy to provide safe and efficient management for COVID-19.

Pulmonary embolism in patients with severe COVID-19 treated with systemic low-dose thrombolytic therapy: A case series.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been associated with respiratory failure and high mortality. Hypercoagulability and thromboembolic complications have been found in a high percentage of patients amongst which, pulmonary embolism (PE) is the most common. Currently, there are no guidelines on using thrombolysis therapy in COVID-19 patients who developed PE. We present five survivors aged 30-75 years old with confirmed COVID-19. All cases were proven by computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) to have PE treated with low-dose recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA). PE should be suspected in all COVID-19 patients with rapid worsening of dyspnea, desaturation, unexplained shock, and increased level of D-dimer and fibrinogen. In our cases, PE developed despite preventative anticoagulation regimens with low molecular weight heparin. After thrombolytic therapy, all patients showed improvement in partial-arterial-oxygen-pressure to inspired oxygen-fraction ratio (arterial partial pressure of oxygen/inspired oxygen fraction ratio). D-dimer showed elevation after thrombolytic therapy and decreased in the following days. Fibrinogen levels decreased following thrombolytic therapy. Current anticoagulation regimens seem insufficient to halt the course of thrombosis, and thrombolytic therapy may be beneficial for patients with severe COVID-19 and PE. Systemic thrombolysis therapy is a double-edged sword, and clinicians must balance between benefit and risk of bleeding.

A Comparison of Erectile Dysfunction Improvement Between Patients With Regular Hemodialysis and Patients With Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis.

BACKGROUND: Erectile dysfunction (ED) is one of the sexual dysfunctions that are often encountered as a complication of male patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease (stage 5 CKD). ED can be caused by psychological factors in patients with regular dialysis therapy. Currently, Hemodialysis (HD) therapy is the first choice in dialysis therapy and only 2% of stage 5 CKD patients are using Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD) as a dialysis therapy. ED in stage 5 CKD patients should become a part of the treatment of patients with dialysis, which hopefully will improve the quality of life of patients. This study aims to compare the improvement in ED degree in patients with HD and CAPD. METHOD: This study is an observational analytic comparative study involving 44 male patients with stage 5 CKD; 22 of whom underwent HD and the remaining 22 patients underwent CAPD. The differences evaluated were changes in the ED degree before and after dialysis, which were assessed using the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5). RESULT: There were significant differences in the improvement in ED degree and IIEF-5 scores in CAPD group. In the HD group, no significant difference was obtained in the improvement in ED degree and IIEF-5 score. A significant difference was obtained in the improvement in ED degree between the HD and CAPD groups by comparing the improvement in IIEF-5 score. CONCLUSION: Patients with CAPD have a better improvement in ED degree than patients with HD. Duarsa GWK, Kandarini Y, Winarta GK, et al. A Comparison of Erectile Dysfunction Improvement Between Patients With Regular Hemodialysis and Patients With Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis. J Sex Med Rev 2021;18:920-925.