Pandemic Recovery Using a COVID-Minimal Cancer Surgery Pathway.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has created unprecedented disruption in health care delivery around the world. In an effort to prevent hospital-acquired COVID-19 infections, most hospitals have severely curtailed elective surgery, performing only surgeries if the patient's survival or permanent function would be compromised by a delay in surgery. As hospitals emerge from the pandemic, it will be necessary to progressively increase surgical activity at a time when hospitals continue to care for COVID-19 patients. In an attempt to mitigate the risk of nosocomial infection, we have created a patient care pathway designed to minimize risk of exposure of patients coming into the hospital for scheduled procedures. The COVID-minimal surgery pathway is a predetermined patient flow, which dictates the locations, personnel, and materials that come in contact with our cancer surgery population, designed to minimize risk for virus transmission. We outline the approach that allowed a large academic medical center to create a COVID-minimal cancer surgery pathway within 7 days of initiating discussions. Although the pathway represents a combination of recommended practices, there are no data to support its efficacy. We share the pathway concept and our experience so that others wishing to similarly align staff and resources toward the protection of patients may have an easier time navigating the process.

A Breast Cancer Survivor's Self-Controlled Case Report: Methylprednisolone Acetate Provided a Week Longer Analgesia Than Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate via Thoracic Paravertebral Blockade.

Proper perioperative pain control with opioid-sparing techniques that extend into post-discharge arena is desirable yet hard to accomplish in breast cancer patients. We here reported a case where we took advantage of long-acting local anesthetics in conjunction with glucocorticoids of different hydrophilic/lipophilic properties and achieved prolonged analgesia for days after single administration thoracic paravertebral blockade. Further exploration into the potential effects of long-acting glucocorticoids in breast cancer patients through peripheral nerve blockage is warranted.

Perioperative Considerations in the Management of Anticoagulation Therapy for Patients Undergoing Surgery.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: As ambulatory surgery has become increasingly more common, the appropriate management of anticoagulation therapy in patients undergoing invasive procedures has become progressively more relevant to healthcare professionals. The purpose of this literature review is to provide an overview of current common anaticoagulants and their pharmacological properties and to evaluate recent relevant literature and bridging therapy and provide recommendations on risk-guided therapy. RECENT FINDINGS: With the development of new drugs and the advancing study and practice of anticoagulation use, clinicians must keep up-to-date on the optimal management of patients requiring anticoagulation. NOACs and warfarin continue to be the mainstays of treatment, with varying timelines regarding when to hold administration of the different agents within the perioperative period. There are numerous factors that are considered in patients with multiple comorbidities including the risk for stroke on long-term anticoagulation and risk for thromboembolism, particularly in the perioperative setting when certain medication regimens may be altered and/or briefly held. There is ongoing investigation whether certain NOACs have more efficacy or greater safety profiles, depending on the degree of surgical intervention.

Aortic valve replacement for critical aortic stenosis after bilateral lung transplantation.

Four years after bilateral lung transplantation, a 62-year-old man with critical aortic stenosis required aortic valve replacement. This is the first report of aortic valve replacement after bilateral lung transplantation. Anesthetic and surgical management are described.