The Good, the Bad, and the Serum Creatinine: Exploring the Effect of Muscle Mass and Nutrition.

Muscle wasting (sarcopenia) is one of the hallmarks of critical illness. Patients admitted to intensive care unit develop sarcopenia through increased protein catabolism, a decrease in protein syntheses, or both. Among the factors known to promote wasting are chronic inflammation and cytokine imbalance, insulin resistance, hypermetabolism, and malnutrition. Moreover, muscle wasting, known to develop in chronic kidney disease patients, is a harmful consequence of numerous complications associated with deteriorated renal function. Plenty of published data suggest that serum creatinine (SCr) reflects increased kidney damage and is also related to body weight. Based on the concept that urea and creatinine are nitrogenous end products of metabolism, the urea:creatinine ratio (UCR) could be applied but with limited clinical usability in case of kidney damage, hypovolemia, excessive, or protein intake, where UCR can be high and independent of catabolism. Recent data suggest that the sarcopenia index should be considered an alternative to serum creatinine. It is more reliable in estimating muscle mass than SCr. However, the optimal biomarker of catabolism is still an unresolved issue. The SCr is not a promising biomarker for renal function and muscle mass based on the influence of several factors. The present review highlights recent findings on the limits of SCr as a surrogate marker of renal function and the assessment modalities of nutritional status and muscle mass measurements.

One-Lung Ventilation and Postoperative Pulmonary Complications After Major Lung Resection Surgery. A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVES: The effect of one-lung ventilation (OLV) strategy based on low tidal volume (TV), application of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), and alveolar recruitment maneuvers (ARM) to reduce postoperative acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary complications (PPCs) compared with higher TV without PEEP and ARM strategy in adult patients undergoing lobectomy or pneumonectomy has not been well established. DESIGN: Multicenter, randomized, single-blind, controlled trial. SETTING: Sixteen Italian hospitals. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 880 patients undergoing elective major lung resection. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized to receive lower tidal volume (LTV group: 4 mL/kg predicted body weight, PEEP of 5 cmH2O, and ARMs) or higher tidal volume (HTL group: 6 mL/kg predicted body weight, no PEEP, and no ARMs). After OLV, until extubation, both groups were ventilated using a tidal volume of 8 mL/kg and a PEEP value of 5 cmH2O. The primary outcome was the incidence of in-hospital ARDS. Secondary outcomes were the in-hospital rate of PPCs, major cardiovascular events, unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission, in-hospital mortality, ICU length of stay, and in-hospital length of stay. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: ARDS occurred in 3 of 438 patients (0.7%, 95% CI 0.1-2.0) and in 1 of 442 patients (0.2%, 95% CI 0-1.4) in the LTV and HTV group, respectively (Risk ratio: 3.03 95% CI 0.32-29, p = 0.372). Pulmonary complications occurred in 125 of 438 patients (28.5%, 95% CI 24.5-32.9) and in 136 of 442 patients (30.8%, 95% CI 26.6-35.2) in the LTV and HTV group, respectively (risk ratio: 0.93, 95% CI 0.76-1.14, p = 0.507). The incidence of major complications, in-hospital mortality, and unplanned ICU admission, ICU and in-hospital length of stay were comparable in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, among adult patients undergoing elective lung resection, an OLV with lower tidal volume, PEEP 5 cmH2O, and ARMs and a higher tidal volume strategy resulted in low ARDS incidence and comparable postoperative complications, in-hospital length of stay, and mortality.

Fitbit Data to Assess Functional Capacity in Patients Before Elective Surgery: Pilot Prospective Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Preoperative assessment is crucial to prevent the risk of complications of surgical operations and is usually focused on functional capacity. The increasing availability of wearable devices (smartwatches, trackers, rings, etc) can provide less intrusive assessment methods, reduce costs, and improve accuracy. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to present and evaluate the possibility of using commercial smartwatch data, such as those retrieved from the Fitbit Inspire 2 device, to assess functional capacity before elective surgery and correlate such data with the current gold standard measure, the 6-Minute Walk Test (6MWT) distance. METHODS: During the hospital visit, patients were evaluated in terms of functional capacity using the 6MWT. Patients were asked to wear the Fitbit Inspire 2 for 7 days (with flexibility of -2 to +2 days) after the hospital visit, before their surgical operation. Resting heart rate and daily steps data were retrieved directly from the smartwatch. Feature engineering techniques allowed the extraction of heart rate over steps (HROS) and a modified version of Non-Exercise Testing Cardiorespiratory Fitness. All measures were correlated with 6MWT. RESULTS: In total, 31 patients were enrolled in the study (n=22, 71% men; n=9, 29% women; mean age 76.06, SD 4.75 years). Data were collected between June 2021 and May 2022. The parameter that correlated best with the 6MWT was the Non-Exercise Testing Cardiorespiratory Fitness index (r=0.68; P<.001). The average resting heart rate over the whole acquisition period for each participant had r=-0.39 (P=.03), even if some patients did not wear the device at night. The correlation of the 6MWT distance with the HROS evaluated at 1% quantile was significant, with Pearson coefficient of -0.39 (P=.04). Fitbit step count had a fair correlation of 0.59 with 6MWT (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study is a promising starting point for the adoption of wearable technology in the evaluation of functional capacity of patients, which was strongly correlated with the gold standard. The study also identified limitations in the availability of metrics, variability of devices, accuracy and quality of data, and accessibility as crucial areas of focus for future studies.

Impact of dexamethasone on the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients: a propensity-matched cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of treatment with steroids on the incidence and outcome of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients. DESIGN: Propensity-matched retrospective cohort study from February 24 to December 31, 2020, in 4 dedicated COVID-19 Intensive Care Units (ICU) in Lombardy (Italy). PATIENTS: Adult consecutive mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients were subdivided into two groups: (1) treated with low-dose corticosteroids (dexamethasone 6 mg/day intravenous for 10 days) (DEXA+); (2) not treated with corticosteroids (DEXA-). A propensity score matching procedure (1:1 ratio) identified patients' cohorts based on: age, weight, PEEP Level, PaO2/FiO2 ratio, non-respiratory Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), C reactive protein plasma concentration at admission, sex and admission hospital (exact matching). INTERVENTION: Dexamethasone 6 mg/day intravenous for 10 days from hospital admission. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seven hundred and thirty-nine patients were included, and the propensity-score matching identified two groups of 158 subjects each. Eighty-nine (56%) DEXA+ versus 55 (34%) DEXA- patients developed a VAP (RR 1.61 (1.26-2.098), p = 0.0001), after similar time from hospitalization, ICU admission and intubation. DEXA+ patients had higher crude VAP incidence rate (49.58 (49.26-49.91) vs. 31.65 (31.38-31.91)VAP*1000/pd), (IRR 1.57 (1.55-1.58), p < 0.0001) and risk for VAP (HR 1.81 (1.31-2.50), p = 0.0003), with longer ICU LOS and invasive mechanical ventilation but similar mortality (RR 1.17 (0.85-1.63), p = 0.3332). VAPs were similarly due to G+ bacteria (mostly Staphylococcus aureus) and G- bacteria (mostly Enterobacterales). Forty-one (28%) VAPs were due to multi-drug resistant bacteria. VAP was associated with almost doubled ICU and hospital LOS and invasive mechanical ventilation, and increased mortality (RR 1.64 [1.02-2.65], p = 0.040) with no differences among patients' groups. CONCLUSIONS: Critically ill COVID-19 patients are at high risk for VAP, frequently caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria, and the risk is increased by corticosteroid treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT04388670, retrospectively registered May 14, 2020.

A Role of Circuit Clotting and Strategies to Prevent It during Blood Purification Therapy with oXiris Membrane: An Observational Multicenter Study.

INTRODUCTION: Membrane fouling is a significant complication potentially reducing clinical effects of extracorporeal blood purification (EBP) in critically ill septic patients with acute kidney injury. Although fascinating, the effect of heparin coating in preventing membrane fouling is currently unknown. This multicenter prospective study aims to preliminary describe the incidence, associated factors, and clinical consequences of premature circuit clotting in a cohort of adult critically ill septic patients treated with EBP using a high biocompatible heparin-coated hemodiafilter characterized by advanced adsorption properties. METHODS: This study was a retrospective analysis of prospectively entered data in the oXirisNet Registry; overall, 97 septic patients undergoing EBP with oXiris between May 2019 and March 2020 were enrolled in this study. Patients were divided into two groups according to the occurrence of filter clotting (premature vs. nonpremature). Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with premature circuit clotting. RESULTS: Premature clotting occurred in 18 (18.6%) patients. Results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that hematocrit (p = 0.02, odds ratio [OR] 1.15 [1.05; 1.30]), serum procalcitonin (PCT) (p = 0.03, OR 1.1 [1.05; 1.2]), and anticoagulation strategy (p = 0.05 at Wald's test) were independent predictors of circuit clotting. Systemic anticoagulation (p = 0.02, OR 0.03 [0.01; 0.52]) and regional citrate anticoagulation (p = 0.10, OR 0.23 [0.04; 1.50]) were both protective factors if compared to no-anticoagulation strategy. Patients with nonpremature circuit clotting showed more rapid recovery from hemodynamic instability, pulmonary hypo-oxygenation, and electrolyte disorders and greater improvement of inflammatory markers and SOFA scores. CONCLUSION: Although in this study the incidence of premature circuit clotting was relatively low (18.6%) compared to previously reported values (54%), membrane clotting in adult critically ill septic patients could cause clinically relevant interferences with treatment performances. Prevention of clotting should be based on avoiding higher patients' hematocrit, high serum PCT, and no-anticoagulation strategy which resulted as independent predictors of circuit clotting.

The effect of COVID-19 epidemic on vital signs in hospitalized patients: a pre-post heat-map study from a large teaching hospital.

The Lombardy SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in February 2020 represented the beginning of COVID-19 epidemic in Italy. Hospitals were flooded by thousands of patients with bilateral pneumonia and severe respiratory, and vital sign derangements compared to the standard hospital population. We propose a new visual analysis technique using heat maps to describe the impact of COVID-19 epidemic on vital sign anomalies in hospitalized patients. We conducted an electronic health record study, including all confirmed COVID-19 patients hospitalized from February 21st, 2020 to April 21st, 2020 as cases, and all non-COVID-19 patients hospitalized in the same wards from January 1st, 2018 to December 31st, 2018. All data on temperature, peripheral oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, arterial blood pressure, and heart rate were retrieved. Derangement of vital signs was defined according to predefined thresholds. 470 COVID-19 patients and 9241 controls were included. Cases were older than controls, with a median age of 79 vs 76 years in non survivors (p = < 0.002). Gender was not associated with mortality. Overall mortality in COVID-19 hospitalized patients was 18%, ranging from 1.4% in patients below 65 years to about 30% in patients over 65 years. Heat maps analysis demonstrated that COVID-19 patients had an increased frequency in episodes of compromised respiratory rate, acute desaturation, and fever. COVID-19 epidemic profoundly affected the incidence of severe derangements in vital signs in a large academic hospital. We validated heat maps as a method to analyze the clinical stability of hospitalized patients. This method may help to improve resource allocation according to patient characteristics.

Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines on the Management of Adults With Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the ICU: First Update.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic continues to affect millions worldwide. Given the rapidly growing evidence base, we implemented a living guideline model to provide guidance on the management of patients with severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 in the ICU. METHODS: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Coronavirus Disease 2019 panel has expanded to include 43 experts from 14 countries; all panel members completed an electronic conflict-of-interest disclosure form. In this update, the panel addressed nine questions relevant to managing severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019 in the ICU. We used the World Health Organization's definition of severe and critical coronavirus disease 2019. The systematic reviews team searched the literature for relevant evidence, aiming to identify systematic reviews and clinical trials. When appropriate, we performed a random-effects meta-analysis to summarize treatment effects. We assessed the quality of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach, then used the evidence-to-decision framework to generate recommendations based on the balance between benefit and harm, resource and cost implications, equity, and feasibility. RESULTS: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Coronavirus Diease 2019 panel issued nine statements (three new and six updated) related to ICU patients with severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019. For severe or critical coronavirus disease 2019, the panel strongly recommends using systemic corticosteroids and venous thromboprophylaxis but strongly recommends against using hydroxychloroquine. In addition, the panel suggests using dexamethasone (compared with other corticosteroids) and suggests against using convalescent plasma and therapeutic anticoagulation outside clinical trials. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Coronavirus Diease 2019 panel suggests using remdesivir in nonventilated patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 and suggests against starting remdesivir in patients with critical coronavirus disease 2019 outside clinical trials. Because of insufficient evidence, the panel did not issue a recommendation on the use of awake prone positioning. CONCLUSION: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Coronavirus Diease 2019 panel issued several recommendations to guide healthcare professionals caring for adults with critical or severe coronavirus disease 2019 in the ICU. Based on a living guideline model the recommendations will be updated as new evidence becomes available.

Artificial Intelligence in the Intensive Care Unit.

The diffusion of electronic health records collecting large amount of clinical, monitoring, and laboratory data produced by intensive care units (ICUs) is the natural terrain for the application of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has a broad definition, encompassing computer vision, natural language processing, and machine learning, with the latter being more commonly employed in the ICUs. Machine learning may be divided in supervised learning models (i.e., support vector machine [SVM] and random forest), unsupervised models (i.e., neural networks [NN]), and reinforcement learning. Supervised models require labeled data that is data mapped by human judgment against predefined categories. Unsupervised models, on the contrary, can be used to obtain reliable predictions even without labeled data. Machine learning models have been used in ICU to predict pathologies such as acute kidney injury, detect symptoms, including delirium, and propose therapeutic actions (vasopressors and fluids in sepsis). In the future, AI will be increasingly used in ICU, due to the increasing quality and quantity of available data. Accordingly, the ICU team will benefit from models with high accuracy that will be used for both research purposes and clinical practice. These models will be also the foundation of future decision support system (DSS), which will help the ICU team to visualize and analyze huge amounts of information. We plea for the creation of a standardization of a core group of data between different electronic health record systems, using a common dictionary for data labeling, which could greatly simplify sharing and merging of data from different centers.

Surviving Sepsis Campaign: Guidelines on the Management of Critically Ill Adults with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

BACKGROUND: The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the cause of a rapidly spreading illness, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), affecting thousands of people around the world. Urgent guidance for clinicians caring for the sickest of these patients is needed. METHODS: We formed a panel of 36 experts from 12 countries. All panel members completed the World Health Organization conflict of interest disclosure form. The panel proposed 53 questions that are relevant to the management of COVID-19 in the ICU. We searched the literature for direct and indirect evidence on the management of COVID-19 in critically ill patients in the ICU. We identified relevant and recent systematic reviews on most questions relating to supportive care. We assessed the certainty in the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach, then generated recommendations based on the balance between benefit and harm, resource and cost implications, equity, and feasibility. Recommendations were either strong or weak, or in the form of best practice recommendations. RESULTS: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 panel issued 54 statements, of which four are best practice statements, nine are strong recommendations, and 35 are weak recommendations. No recommendation was provided for six questions. The topics were: 1) infection control, 2) laboratory diagnosis and specimens, 3) hemodynamic support, 4) ventilatory support, and 5) COVID-19 therapy. CONCLUSION: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign COVID-19 panel issued several recommendations to help support healthcare workers caring for critically ill ICU patients with COVID-19. When available, we will provide new evidence in further releases of these guidelines.

Blood purification therapy with a hemodiafilter featuring enhanced adsorptive properties for cytokine removal in patients presenting COVID-19: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammation in COVID-19 often leads to multiple organ failure, including acute kidney injury (AKI). Renal replacement therapy (RRT) in combination with sequential extracorporeal blood purification therapies (EBP) might support renal function, attenuate systemic inflammation, and prevent or mitigate multiple organ dysfunctions in COVID-19. AIM: Describe overtime variations of clinical and biochemical features of critically ill patients with COVID-19 treated with EBP with a hemodiafilter characterized by enhanced cytokine adsorption properties. METHODS: An observational prospective study assessing the outcome of patients with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU (February to April 2020) treated with EBP according to local practice. Main endpoints included overtime variation of IL-6 and multiorgan function-scores, mortality, and occurrence of technical complications or adverse events. RESULTS: The study evaluated 37 patients. Median baseline IL-6 was 1230 pg/ml (IQR 895) and decreased overtime (p < 0.001 Kruskal-Wallis test) during the first 72 h of the treatment, with the most significant decrease in the first 24 h (p = 0.001). The reduction in serum IL-6 concentrations correlated with the improvement in organ function, as measured in the decrease of SOFA score (rho = 0.48, p = 0.0003). Median baseline SOFA was 13 (IQR 6) and decreased significantly overtime (p < 0.001 at Kruskal-Wallis test) during the first 72 h of the treatment, with the most significant decrease in the first 48 h (median 8 IQR 5, p = 0.001). Compared to the expected mortality rates, as calculated by APACHE IV, the mean observed rates were 8.3% lower after treatment. The best improvement in mortality rate was observed in patients receiving EBP early on during the ICU stay. Premature clotting (running < 24 h) occurred in patients (18.9% of total) which featured higher effluent dose (median 33.6 ml/kg/h, IQR 9) and higher filtration fraction (median 31%, IQR 7.4). No electrolyte disorders, catheter displacement, circuit disconnection, unexpected bleeding, air, or thromboembolisms due to venous cannulation of EBP were recorded during the treatment. In one case, infection of vascular access occurred during RRT, requiring replacement. CONCLUSIONS: EBP with heparin-coated hemodiafilter featuring cytokine adsorption properties administered to patients with COVID-19 showed to be feasible and with no adverse events. During the treatment, patients experienced serum IL-6 level reduction, attenuation of systemic inflammation, multiorgan dysfunction improvement, and reduction in expected ICU mortality rate.

Viscoelastic Blood Tests Use in Adult Cardiac Surgery: Meta-Analysis, Meta-Regression, and Trial Sequential Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Postoperative hemorrhage in cardiac surgery is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. Standard laboratory tests fail as predictors for bleeding in the surgical setting. The use of viscoelastic (VE) hemostatic assays thromboelastography (TEG) and rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) could be an advantage in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The objective of this meta-analysis was to analyze the effects (benefits and harms) of VE-guided transfusion practice in cardiac surgery patients. DESIGN: A meta-analysis of randomized trials. SETTING: For this study, PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and the Cochrane Collaboration database were searched, and only randomized controlled trials were included. A systematic review and meta-analysis were performed in accordance with the standards set forth by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement, using a random-effects model. PARTICIPANTS: The study comprised adult cardiac surgery patients. INTERVENTIONS: VE-hemostatic assays transfusion algorithm compared with transfusion algorithms based on clinicians' discretion. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Seven comparative randomized controlled trials were considered, including a total of 1,035 patients (522 patients in whom a TEG- or ROTEM-based transfusion algorithm was used). In patients treated according to VE-guided algorithms, red blood cell (odds ratio 0.61; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.37-0.99; p: 0.04; I2: 66%) and fresh frozen plasma transfusions (risk difference 0.22; 95% CI: 0.11-0.33; p < 0.0001; I2: 79%) use was reduced; platelets transfusion was not reduced (odds ratio 0.61; 95% CI: 0.32-1.15; p: 0.12; I2 74%). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that the use of VE assays in cardiac surgical patients is effective in reducing allogenic blood products exposure, postoperative bleeding at 12 and 24 hours after surgery, and the need for redo surgery unrelated to surgical bleeding.

What should I use next if clinical evaluation and echocardiographic haemodynamic assessment is not enough?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To provide an integrated clinical approach to the critically ill patients in shock. RECENT FINDINGS: The complexity behind shock mechanism has improved in the last decades; as consequence, conventional generalized practices have been questioned, in favour of different approaches, titrated to patient's individual response. Bedside clinical examination has been demonstrated to be a reliable instrument to recognize the mismatch between cardiac function and peripheral oxygen demand. Mottling skin and capillary refill time have been recently proposed using a semi-quantitative approach as reliable tool to guide shock therapy; lactate, ΔCO2 and ScVO2 are also useful to track the effect of the therapies overtime. Critical care echocardiography is useful to assess the source of the shock, to choice the correct the therapy and to customize the therapy. Finally, a more sophisticated and invasive calibrated monitoring should be promptly adopted in case of refractory or mixed shock state to titrate the therapy on predefined goals, avoiding the inappropriate use of fluids and vasoactive drugs. SUMMARY: Bedside haemodynamic assessment in critically ill patients should be considered an integrated approach supporting the decision-making process and should be based on clinical examination and critical care echocardiography.

Noninvasive Ventilation After Thoracoabdominal Aortic Surgery: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the beneficial effects of noninvasive ventilation in treating postoperative pulmonary complications in patients undergoing thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA) open repair surgery. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: University tertiary-care hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Forty patients who underwent elective TAAA open repair. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized to the "noninvasive ventilation" group, receiving 2-hour cycles of noninvasive ventilation every 8 hours for at least 3 days in addition to the best available postoperative treatment currently in use at the authors' institution versus the "standard" group, not receiving noninvasive ventilation treatment MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The primary outcome of clinical worsening, described as a composite outcome of need for therapeutic noninvasive ventilation, need for mechanical ventilation owing to respiratory causes, need for intensive care unit admission owing to respiratory causes, and in-hospital mortality, occurred in 2 (11%) patients in the noninvasive ventilation group versus 12 (57%) in the standard group (p = 0.002; relative risk 0.18; 95% confidence interval 0.047-0.72). CONCLUSION: Noninvasive ventilation is a promising, affordable, and easy-to-use tool to prevent postoperative respiratory complications after TAAA open surgical repair.

Acute Pain Service: A 10-Year Experience.

BACKGROUND: Pain management after surgery is crucial to decrease perioperative morbidity and mortality. Acute pain services (APS) are multidisciplinary teams that represent a modern strategy to address pain inside hospitals. The APS defines and applies pain treatment protocols specific for each surgery. To evaluate the performance of the APS at our institute, we performed a large retrospective cohort study focusing on complications of epidural analgesia and IV opiates. METHODS: Data from the 10 years of activity of the APS were collected. Pain was assessed using the VAS at rest (VASr) and during movement (VASm) at each daily visit; the presence of side effects and complications was also assessed. RESULTS: A total of 17,913 adult patients were followed by APS during the study period. Epidural analgesia was used in 7,776 cases (43%), while 9,239 (52%) patients used IV patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). A combination of the 2 was used in 87 patients (0.5%). A total of 456 perineural catheters (2.6%) were placed, while 442 patients(2.5%) used other analgesic techniques. We recorded 163 dural punctures during catheter placement, with no epidural hematoma, epidural abscess, or meningitis, and no permanent modification in sensitive or motor functions. CONCLUSIONS: In our large case series, APS was confirmed safe and effective in treating postoperative pain, using both epidural analgesia and IV PCA with morphine.

Small bowel obstruction and incisional hernia after laparoscopic and open colorectal surgery: a meta-analysis of comparative trials.

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies show contrasting data on the impact of laparoscopy on long-term complications such as the occurrence of small bowel obstruction (SBO) and incisional hernia (IH). The objective of the study was to assess the impact of the laparoscopic approach on the occurrence of SBO and IH after colorectal resection. METHODS: Two trained investigators independently searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and the Cochrane Central Register of clinical trials for studies comparing laparoscopy to open surgery for mid- to long-term outcomes after colorectal surgery. No language restriction was set. Sensitivity analyses for study design and quality, conversion rate, type of procedure (colon or rectal surgery), and length of follow-up were performed. RESULTS: Eleven RCTs and 14 non-RCT comparative studies for a total of 6540 patients were included in the analysis. Laparoscopy was associated with a significant reduction in the occurrence of SBO (RR 0.57, [95 %CI 0.42-0.76], 16 trials) and IH (RR 0.60, [95 %CI 0.50-0.72], 19 trials). Sensitivity analysis including only RCTs confirmed the reduction in SBO (RR 0.58, [95 %CI 0.39-0.87], 8 trials), while the difference was close to significance for IH (RR 0.76, [95 %CI 0.56-1.03], 7 trials). Sensitivity analysis including only studies with conversion rate lower than 15 % showed a significant protective effect of laparoscopy for both SBO (RR 0.53, [95 %CI 0.37-0.77], 11 trials) and IH (RR 0.58, [95 %CI 0.47-0.72], 12 trials). No significant difference between laparoscopy and open surgery was found when the analysis was limited to studies with conversion rate >15 % (SBO: RR 0.60 [0.32-1.12], IH: RR 0.70 [0.46-1.06]). Length of follow-up did not substantially impact on results. CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic surgery is associated with a significant reduction in both SBO and IH compared to the open approach. A low conversion rate in the laparoscopic group plays a key role for reduction in both SBO and IH.

Closed-Loop Delivery Systems Versus Manually Controlled Administration of Total IV Anesthesia: A Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

Bispectral Index Scale (BIS)-guided closed-loop delivery of anesthetics has been extensively studied. We performed a meta-analysis of all the randomized clinical trials comparing efficacy and performance between BIS-guided closed-loop delivery and manually controlled administration of total IV anesthesia. Scopus, PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of clinical trials were searched for pertinent studies. Inclusion criteria were random allocation to treatment and closed-loop delivery systems versus manually controlled administration of total IV anesthesia in any surgical setting. Exclusion criteria were duplicate publications and nonadult studies. Twelve studies were included, randomly allocating 1284 patients. Use of closed-loop anesthetic delivery systems was associated with a significant reduction in the dose of propofol administered for induction of anesthesia (mean difference [MD] = 0.37 [0.17-0.57], P for effect <0.00001, P for heterogeneity = 0.001, I = 74%) and a significant reduction in recovery time (MD = 1.62 [0.60-2.64], P for effect <0.0001, P for heterogeneity = 0.06, I = 47%). The target depth of anesthesia was preserved more frequently with closed-loop anesthetic delivery than with manual control (MD = -15.17 [-23.11 to -7.24], P for effect <0.00001, P for heterogeneity <0.00001, I = 83%). There were no differences in the time required to induce anesthesia and the total propofol dose. Closed-loop anesthetic delivery performed better than manual-control delivery. Both median absolute performance error and wobble index were significantly lower in closed-loop anesthetic delivery systems group (MD = 5.82 [3.17-8.46], P for effect <0.00001, P for heterogeneity <0.00001, I = 90% and MD = 0.92 [0.13-1.72], P for effect = 0.003, P for heterogeneity = 0.07, I = 45%). When compared with manual control, BIS-guided anesthetic delivery of total IV anesthesia reduces propofol requirements during induction, better maintains a target depth of anesthesia, and reduces recovery time.

Pulmonary Complications After Open Abdominal Aortic Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPC) are among the most common complications after noncardiac surgery. Men, smokers, and elderly patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or heart failure are more likely to experience PPC. The majority of patients undergoing vascular surgery belong in these categories and are at higher risk of developing PPC. Moreover, the surgical site is one of the most important risk factors associated with PPC, and aortic surgery carries the highest risk. The aim of this systematic review was to obtain an additional understanding of the real incidence of PPC after open abdominal aortic surgery and the impact of PPC on survival. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis. SETTING: Hospitals PARTICIPANTS: Patients who underwent open abdominal aortic surgery. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A literature search was performed on BioMedCentral, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Register of clinical trials. All prospective or retrospective studies reporting data on PPC after open abdominal aortic surgery were included. Co-primary endpoints were the PPC rate and the correlation between PPC and perioperative mortality. The secondary endpoint was the difference in the PPC rate and mortality between elective and urgent surgery. Data on 269,637 patients from 213 studies were analyzed. The overall median incidence of PPC was 10.3% (interquartile range 5.55%-19.1%). Pneumonia, respiratory insufficiency, prolonged mechanical ventilation, need for unplanned mechanical ventilation, atelectasis, acute respiratory distress syndrome, pulmonary edema, and pleural effusions were the most common PPC reported in the literature. Occurrence of PPC was associated with postoperative mortality (r = 0.65, p<0.01) and was significantly higher in urgent procedures (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Incidence of PPC after open abdominal aortic surgery is high and is associated with increased postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Long-Term Survival Rate in Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure Treated With Noninvasive Ventilation in Ordinary Wards.

OBJECTIVE: Noninvasive ventilation is a life-saving technique increasingly used to treat acute respiratory failure. Noninvasive ventilation has been applied mostly in ICUs, but several reasons brought to an increasing application of noninvasive ventilation in ordinary wards. Few articles evaluated the outcomes of patients receiving noninvasive ventilation including long-term follow-up. The aim of the present study was to assess 1-year survival rate of patients treated with noninvasive ventilation outside the ICU for acute respiratory failure of heterogeneous causes and to identify the predictors of long-term mortality. DESIGN: Prospective, observational, pragmatic study. SETTING: Ordinary wards of a teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Consecutive patients treated with noninvasive ventilation for acute respiratory failure. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Two-hundred and twenty-patients were enrolled. Mortality rates at 30-day, 90-days, and 1-year follow-up were 20%, 26%, and 34%. When excluding patients with "do-not-resuscitate" status, mortality rates were 13%, 19%, and 28%. The multivariate analyses identified solid cancer, pneumonia in hematologic patients, and do-not-resuscitate status as independent predictors of mortality with postoperative acute respiratory failure associated with improved survival. The same predictors were confirmed when excluding do-not-resuscitate patients from the analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Noninvasive ventilation applied in ordinary wards was effective, with long-term outcomes not different from those reported for ICU settings. Solid cancer, pneumonia in hematologic malignancies, and do-not-resuscitate status predicted mortality, whereas patients with postoperative acute respiratory failure had the best survival rate. Additional studies are required to evaluate noninvasive ventilation efficacy in the wards compared with ICU.

FragClust and TestClust, two informatics tools for chemical structure hierarchical clustering analysis applied to lipidomics. The example of Alzheimer's disease.

Lipidomic analysis is able to measure simultaneously thousands of compounds belonging to a few lipid classes. In each lipid class, compounds differ only by the acyl radical, ranging between C10:0 (capric acid) and C24:0 (lignoceric acid). Although some metabolites have a peculiar pathological role, more often compounds belonging to a single lipid class exert the same biological effect. Here, we present a lipidomics workflow that extracts the tandem mass spectrometry data from individual files and uses them to group compounds into structurally homogeneous clusters by chemical structure hierarchical clustering analysis (CHCA). The case-to-control peak area ratios of the metabolites are then analyzed within clusters. We created two freely available applications to assist the workflow: FragClust to generate the tables to be subjected to CHCA, and TestClust to perform statistical analysis on clustered data. We used the lipidomics data from the plasma of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients in comparison with healthy controls to test the workflow. To date, the search for plasma biomarkers in AD has not provided reliable results. This article shows that the workflow is helpful to understand the behavior of whole lipid classes in plasma of AD patients.

Worldwide Opinion on Multicenter Randomized Interventions Showing Mortality Reduction in Critically Ill Patients: A Democracy-Based Medicine Approach.

OBJECTIVES: Democracy-based medicine is a combination of evidence-based medicine (systematic review), expert assessment, and worldwide voting by physicians to express their opinions and self-reported practice via the Internet. The authors applied democracy-based medicine to key trials in critical care medicine. DESIGN AND SETTING: A systematic review of literature followed by web-based voting on findings of a consensus conference. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 555 clinicians from 61 countries. INTERVENTIONS: The authors performed a systematic literature review (via searching MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, and Embase) and selected all multicenter randomized clinical trials in critical care that reported a significant effect on survival and were endorsed by expert clinicians. Then they solicited voting and self-reported practice on such evidence via an interactive Internet questionnaire. Relationships among trial sample size, design, and respondents' agreement were investigated. The gap between agreement and use/avoidance and the influence of country origin on physicians' approach to interventions also were investigated. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: According to 24 multicenter randomized controlled trials, 15 interventions affecting mortality were identified. Wide variabilities in both the level of agreement and reported practice among different interventions and countries were found. Moreover, agreement and reported practice often did not coincide. Finally, a positive correlation among agreement, trial sample size, and number of included centers was found. On the contrary, trial design did not influence clinicians' agreement. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians' clinical practice and agreement with the literature vary among different interventions and countries. The role of these interventions in affecting survival should be further investigated to reduce both the gap between evidence and clinical practice and transnational differences.