Tracheal intubation in critically ill adults with a physiologically difficult airway. An international Delphi study.

PURPOSE: Our study aimed to provide consensus and expert clinical practice statements related to airway management in critically ill adults with a physiologically difficult airway (PDA). METHODS: An international Steering Committee involving seven intensivists and one Delphi methodology expert was convened by the Society of Critical Care Anaesthesiologists (SOCCA) Physiologically Difficult Airway Task Force. The committee selected an international panel of 35 expert clinician-researchers with expertise in airway management in critically ill adults. A Delphi process based on an iterative approach was used to obtain the final consensus statements. RESULTS: The Delphi process included seven survey rounds. A stable consensus was achieved for 53 (87%) out of 61 statements. The experts agreed that in addition to pathophysiological conditions, physiological alterations associated with pregnancy and obesity also constitute a physiologically difficult airway. They suggested having an intubation team consisting of at least three healthcare providers including two airway operators, implementing an appropriately designed checklist, and optimizing hemodynamics prior to tracheal intubation. Similarly, the experts agreed on the head elevated laryngoscopic position, routine use of videolaryngoscopy during the first attempt, preoxygenation with non-invasive ventilation, careful mask ventilation during the apneic phase, and attention to cardiorespiratory status for post-intubation care. CONCLUSION: Using a Delphi method, agreement among a panel of international experts was reached for 53 statements providing guidance to clinicians worldwide on safe tracheal intubation practices in patients with a physiologically difficult airway to help improve patient outcomes. Well-designed studies are needed to assess the effects of these practice statements and address the remaining uncertainties.

Efficacy, Safety, and Strategies for Recombinant-Activated Factor VII in Cardiac Surgical Bleeding: A Narrative Review.

As perioperative bleeding continues to be a major source of morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgery, the search continues for an ideal hemostatic agent for use in this patient population. Transfusion of blood products has been associated both with increased costs and risks, such as infection, prolonged mechanical ventilation, increased length of stay, and decreased survival. Recombinant-activated factor VII (rFVIIa) first was approved for the US market in 1999 and since that time has been used in a variety of clinical settings. This review summarizes the existing literature pertaining to perioperative rFVIIa, in addition to society recommendations and current guidelines regarding its use in cardiac surgery.

Erector Spinae Regional Anesthesia for Robotic Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery Is Not Associated With Reduced Postoperative Opioid Use: A Retrospective Observational Study.

OBJECTIVE: Regional anesthesia techniques are gaining traction in cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to compare the analgesic efficacy of erector spinae plane block catheters (ESPBC), serratus anterior plane block catheters (SAPBC), and paravertebral single-shot block (PVB) versus no block after robotic minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB). DESIGN: This was a retrospective observational study of routinely recorded data. SETTING: The study was performed at a single healthcare system. PARTICIPANTS: All patients underwent robotic MIDCAB. INTERVENTION: Data were analyzed from 346 patients during a 53-month period. The clinical data warehouse was queried for all robotic MIDCAB surgeries. Variables abstracted included type of nerve block, age, sex, use of adjuncts, Society of Thoracic Surgeons predicted short length of stay (PSLOS), total opioid consumption during the 72 hours after surgery, and postoperative hospital length of stay (LOS). The primary outcome was total oral morphine milligram equivalents (MME) consumed during the first 72 hours after surgery. The secondary outcome was hospital LOS. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: In a model adjusting for PSLOS, the authors did not observe an association between ESPBC and the reduction of total administered oral MME within 72 hours after surgery. There was no significant difference in MME when comparing patients who received PVB to patients with ESPBC. Older age and female sex were associated with significantly lower MME. Patients who received ESPBC had a significantly shorter hospital LOS than patients with SAPBC. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggested that postoperative pain after MIDCAB surgery might not be completely covered by ESPBC. Prospective studies are needed to further elucidate the value of this technique for robotic MIDCAB.

Impact of COVID-19 response on global surgical volumes: an ongoing observational study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether location-linked anaesthesiology calculator mobile application (app) data can serve as a qualitative proxy for global surgical case volumes and therefore monitor the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: We collected data provided by users of the mobile app "Anesthesiologist" during 1 October 2018-30 June 2020. We analysed these using RStudio and generated 7-day moving-average app use plots. We calculated country-level reductions in app use as a percentage of baseline. We obtained data on COVID-19 case counts from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. We plotted changing app use and COVID-19 case counts for several countries and regions. FINDINGS: A total of 100 099 app users within 214 countries and territories provided data. We observed that app use was reduced during holidays, weekends and at night, correlating with expected fluctuations in surgical volume. We observed that the onset of the pandemic prompted substantial reductions in app use. We noted strong cross-correlation between COVID-19 case count and reductions in app use in low- and middle-income countries, but not in high-income countries. Of the 112 countries and territories with non-zero app use during baseline and during the pandemic, we calculated a median reduction in app use to 73.6% of baseline. CONCLUSION: App data provide a proxy for surgical case volumes, and can therefore be used as a real-time monitor of the impact of COVID-19 on surgical capacity. We have created a dashboard for ongoing visualization of these data, allowing policy-makers to direct resources to areas of greatest need.

Lack of association between intraoperative handoff of care and postoperative complications: a retrospective observational study.

BACKGROUND: The significance of intraoperative anesthesia handoffs on patient outcomes are unclear. One aspect differentiating the disparate results is the treatment of confounding factors, such as patient comorbidities and surgery time of day. We performed this study to quantify the significance of confounding variables on composite adverse events during intraoperative anesthesia handoffs. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we analyzed data from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (ACS NSQIP). We examined the effects of intraoperative handoffs between anesthesia personnel. A total of 12,111 cases performed examined at two hospitals operated by a single healthcare system that were that included in the ACS NSQIP database performed. The presence of attending and anesthetist or resident handoffs, patient age, sex, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status (ASA-PS) classification, case length, surgical case complexity, and evening/weekend start time were measured. RESULTS: A total of 2586 of all cases in the NSQIP dataset experienced a handoff during the case. When analyzed as a single variable, attending handoffs were associated with higher rates of adverse outcomes. However, once confounding variables were added into the analysis, attending handoffs and complete care transitions were no longer statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Inclusion of significant covariates is essential to fully understanding the impact provider handoffs have on patient outcomes. Case timing and lengthy case duration are more likely to result in both a handoff and an adverse event. The impact of handoffs on patient outcomes seen in the literature are likely due, in part, to how covariates were addressed.

Association of Serratus Anterior Plane Block for Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery With Higher Opioid Consumption: A Retrospective Observational Study.

OBJECTIVE: The optimal regional technique for minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB) has yet to be determined. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of ultrasound-guided serratus anterior plane block (SAPB) with paravertebral block (PVB) and no block for controlling acute thoracotomy pain after robotic-assisted coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). DESIGN: This is a retrospective study. Multiple variable regression analyses were performed. SETTING: The study was performed as a single institution. PARTICIPANTS: All patients underwent robotic-assisted CABG. INTERVENTION: Data were analyzed from 197 patients during a 27-month period. Charts were abstracted manually to ascertain type of nerve block, age, gender, use of home opioids, use of adjuncts for opioid reduction, Society of Thoracic Surgeons predicted long length of stay (LOS), total opioid consumption during the 72 hours after surgery, and postoperative LOS. The authors' primary outcome was total morphine equivalents consumed during the first 72 hours after surgery. The secondary outcome was hospital LOS. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Patients who received SAPB did not have significantly different opioid consumption than patients who had no block (p = 0.15), but it was increased significantly compared to patients administered PVB (PVB v SAPB catheter, p = 0.049; PVB v SAPB single shot, p = 0.049). There were no significant differences between groups in terms of postoperative LOS. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest SAPB might not cover adequately the incisional and tube pain associated with MIDCAB. If validated by prospective studies, these findings suggest that SAPB should be considered only for patients who are not candidates for PVB.

Variable effectiveness of stepwise implementation of nudge-type interventions to improve provider compliance with intraoperative low tidal volume ventilation.

BACKGROUND: Identifying mechanisms to improve provider compliance with quality metrics is a common goal across medical disciplines. Nudge interventions are minimally invasive strategies that can influence behavioural changes and are increasingly used within healthcare settings. We hypothesised that nudge interventions may improve provider compliance with lung-protective ventilation (LPV) strategies during general anaesthesia. METHODS: We developed an audit and feedback dashboard that included information on both provider-level and department-level compliance with LPV strategies in two academic hospitals, two non-academic hospitals and two academic surgery centres affiliated with a single healthcare system. Dashboards were emailed to providers four times over the course of the 9-month study. Additionally, the default setting on anaesthesia machines for tidal volume was decreased from 700 mL to 400 mL. Data on surgical cases performed between 1 September 2016 and 31 May 2017 were examined for compliance with LPV. The impact of the interventions was assessed via pairwise logistic regression analysis corrected for multiple comparisons. RESULTS: A total of 14 793 anaesthesia records were analysed. Absolute compliance rates increased from 59.3% to 87.8%preintervention to postintervention. Introduction of attending physician dashboards resulted in a 41% increase in the odds of compliance (OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.69, p=0.002). Subsequently, the addition of advanced practice provider and resident dashboards lead to an additional 93% increase in the odds of compliance (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.52 to 2.46, p<0.001). Lastly, modifying ventilator defaults led to a 376% increase in the odds of compliance (OR 3.76, 95% CI 3.1 to 4.57, p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Audit and feedback tools in conjunction with default changes improve provider compliance.

Initial experience with the unrestricted introduction of sugammadex at a large academic medical center: a retrospective observational study examining postoperative mechanical ventilation and efficiency outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Sugammadex rapidly reverses deep neuromuscular blockade, but owing to cost, questions remain about its optimal utilization. After the unrestricted introduction of sugammadex at Emory University Hospital, we hypothesized that reductions would be demonstrated in the primary outcome of post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) mechanical ventilation (MV) and secondary outcomes of PACU length of stay (LOS) and emergence time (surgery end to anesthesia end time in the PACU). METHODS: This retrospective observational study included patients undergoing general anesthesia over a 12-month period. Using multiple variable penalized logistic regression in a one-group before-and-after design, we compared the categorized rates of PACU MV to examine the effect of sugammadex introduction following a post-hoc chart review to ascertain the reason for postoperative MV. Additionally, multiple variable linear regression was used to assess for differences in PACU LOS and emergence time within a propensity-matched set of patients receiving neostigmine or sugammadex. RESULTS: In total, 7,217 surgical cases met the inclusion criteria: 3,798 before and 3,419 after sugammadex introduction. The incidence of PACU MV was 2.3% before and 1.8% after (P = 0.118) sugammadex introduction. PACU MV due to residual neuromuscular blockade (rNMB) decreased from 0.63% to 0.20% (P = 0.005). Ventilation because of other causes was unchanged. PACU LOS and emergence time were unchanged in the propensity-matched set of 1,444 patients. CONCLUSIONS: rNMB was an important contributor to PACU MV utilization and its incidence significantly decreased after sugammadex introduction. The selected efficiency measures may not have been sufficiently granular to identify improvements following introduction.

Low End-Tidal Carbon Dioxide at the Onset of Emergent Trauma Surgery Is Associated With Nonsurvival: A Case Series.

BACKGROUND: End-tidal carbon dioxide (EtCO2) is a valuable marker of the return of adequate circulation after cardiac arrest due to medical causes. Previously, the prognostic value of capnography in trauma has been studied among limited populations in prehospital and emergency department settings. We aimed to investigate the relationship between early intraoperative EtCO2 and nonsurvival of patients undergoing emergency surgery at a level 1 academic trauma center as a case series. If there is a threshold below which survival was extremely unlikely, it might be useful in guiding decision-making in the early termination of futile resuscitative efforts. METHODS: After institutional review board approval, a data set was created to investigate the relationship between EtCO2 values at the onset of emergent trauma surgery and nonsurvival. Patients who were admitted and transferred to the operating room (OR) directly from a resuscitation bay were identified using the Ryder Center trauma registry (October 1, 2013, to June 30, 2016). Electronic records from the hospital's anesthesia information management system were queried to identify the matching anesthesia records. The maximum EtCO2 values within 5 and 10 minutes of the onset of mechanical ventilation in the OR were determined for patients undergoing general anesthesia with mechanical ventilation. Patients were divided into 2 groups: those who were discharged from the hospital alive (survivors) and those who died in the hospital before discharge (nonsurvivors). The threshold EtCO2 giving a positive predictive value of 100% for in-hospital mortality was determined from a graphical analysis of the data. Association of determined threshold and mortality was analyzed using the 2-tailed Fisher exact test. RESULTS: There were 1135 patients who met the inclusion criteria. Within the first 5 minutes of the onset of mechanical ventilation in the OR, if the maximum EtCO2 value was ≤20 mm Hg, hospital mortality was 100% (21/21, 95% binomial confidence interval, 83.2%-100%). CONCLUSIONS: A maximum EtCO2 ≤20 mm Hg within 5 minutes of the onset of mechanical ventilation in the OR may be useful in decision-making related to the termination of resuscitative efforts during emergent trauma surgery. However, a large-scale study is needed to establish the statistical reliability of this finding before potential adoption.