Retrospective investigation of anesthetic management and outcome in patients with deep neck infections

BACKGROUND: Although incidence of deep neck infection has decreased after the introduction of antibiotics and improvement of oral hygiene, the disease may remain serious to anesthesiologists and patients, especially relative to postoperative prognosis and airway management. The objective of this study is to clarify clinical characteristics and consider anesthetic implications. METHODS: This study reviews the experience of 116 patients that received operations for deep neck infections 1997–2017 in a university hospital. Variables included in data were age, sex, lesion, etiology, underlying disease, result of culture, anesthetic techniques, C-reactive protein level, and a variety of scores including ASA physical status, APACHE II, and SOFA. Scores were analyzed statistically to elucidate prognostic ability, and influences on intubation. RESULTS: The following background variables were associated postoperative complication; age, presence of diabetes, hypertension, and infectious disease, extended space and use of N2O. APACHE II ≥ 7 and SOFA ≥ 3 were revealed to be associated with postoperative complication. The following background variables were associated with difficult intubation: date of surgery ≤ 2009, non-otolaryngology department, and submental space. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed the possibility that the preoperative evaluation, including the determination of scoring system, may be useful in predicting outcome and making a clinical decision of airway management in deep neck infections.

Preliminary study of anesthetic risk factors in surgery for pathologic fractures secondary to metastatic tumors

BACKGROUND: Despite advances in the treatment of primary cancer, metastatic pathologic fractures still affect the survival of cancer patients. The goals of surgery, such as those with terminal cancer, are to maintain a maximum level of independence and improve the quality of life. A patient may be a poor surgical candidate because of a short life expectancy or illness that is too severe to benefit from surgical fixation. Moreover, this surgery is an operation accompanied with significant morbidity and mortality. This retrospective study investigated the characteristics of these patients and assessed the influence of anesthetic risk factors on the outcome. METHODS: The records of 45 patients with pathologic fractures who underwent surgical stabilization for metastatic factors from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2013 at our hospital were reviewed. Demographic data, various severity scores, anesthetic factors, and survival were reviewed. RESULTS: The most common sites of primary tumors were lung, liver and stomach. The predominant sites of pathologic fractures were the femur (71.1%); six lesions were in the humerus and four in the spine. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified several prognostic factors with a significantly worse influence on survival, including lung tumor and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score. CONCLUSIONS: Although the number of patients was too small to result in a satisfactory appraisal, the most important step is to select candidates to gain the benefits of palliative surgery. We suggest the possibility of APACHE II scoring and the recognition of lung cancer in making the clinical decision of performing the palliative osteosyntheses for patients with pathologic fractures.

An analysis of consultations requested to a pain clinic

BACKGROUND: The study investigated in detail the current status of the consultations requested in a pain clinic. We evaluated the characteristics of the consultations to determine the kind of contents requested, referring departments and factors including demographics, co-morbidities, previous medical problems, and the descriptions of the reasons for the consultation to the pain clinic. METHODS: Clinical data were collected in the authors' institution between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2013. The medical records were reviewed and compared. Characteristics of both outpatients and inpatients were analysed. RESULTS: Data from 1,140 patients was available for this study. Seven hundred thirteen individuals belonged to the outpatient group and 427 individuals belonged to the inpatient group. Orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and otolaryngology were the main departments that requested consultations to the pain clinic. The most frequent requested lesion and diagnostic term were low back and lumbar spinal stenosis, respectively, and the most common reason for consulting was for "control of pain not controlled by medications." Factors that were significantly different between the two groups were gender, questions about other illnesses apart from the main diagnoses, history of specific diseases, acute onset, cancer, operation within 3 months, and physical system abnormalities. CONCLUSIONS: The medical problems addressed by a pain clinic consultation service were diverse. It is rational to develop standardized guidelines for pain consultations, and treatment strategies aimed at alleviating pain per se as well as caring for comorbid conditions.

Dislocation of the temporomandibular joint following general anesthesia / 대한마취과학회지

No abstract available.

Anesthetic management of a patient with undiagnosed paraganglioma: a case report / 대한마취과학회지

Retroperitoneal paragangliomas are uncommon neuroendocrine tumors which are derived from extra-adrenal paraganglioma with various clinical signs and symptoms. Although most extra-adrenal paragangliomas are histologically benign, some tumors can synthesize and secrete excess catecholamine from the tumor. Excessive production of catecholamine causes numerous cardiovascular manifestations such as severe hypertension, cardiomyopathy, cardiac arrhythmias, and even multiorgan failure. It can lead to high risks of morbidity and mortality, especially in patients who are unrecognized or not adequately prepared. We present a female patient who was preoperatively undiagnosed of secreting retroperitoneal paraganglioma that caused cardiac tachyarrhythmia and severe intraopertive hypertension not controlled by usual antihypertensive agents. A secreting extra-adrenal paraganglioma should be included in differential diagnosis for patient who have incidentaloma and show wide range of hypertension with hemodynamic instability that is not well controlled by common antihypertensive drugs.

Anesthetic management with propofol/remifentanil target controlled infusion for awake craniotomy: A case report

Awake craniotomy is indicated for tumor resection involving eloquent cortex. It allows the operator to perform appropriate cortical mapping during surgery and facilitate maximum tumor resection while minimizing neurologic deficit. Therefore anesthesia should provide adequate analgesia and sedation but also importantly a full consciousness and cooperation for neurologic testing. This case reports the use of target-controlled infusion (TCI) and monitoring of sedation and anesthetic depth through bispectral index (BIS), providing good control of sedation and analgesia to meet frequent changes throughout the different levels of the procedure while maintaining good condition for intraoperative brain mapping. We propose that TCI of propofol and remifentanil in combination may be a useful alternative for awake craniotomy requiring intraoperative brain mapping surgery.

Analysis of unanticipated admission after outpatient anesthesia

BACKGROUND: Outpatient anesthesia is becoming more universal because of patient comfort and reduced health care cost. But unanticipated admission after outpatient anesthesia poses patient discomfort and increases cost. We investigated past medical records to evaluate the incidence and the causes of unanticipated admission after outpatient anesthesia. METHODS: Total number of outpatient anesthesia were 1268 patients between November 2007 and June 2009. Medical records were retrospectively analyzed about 35 patients who admitted unexpectedly. RESULTS: The overall mean rates of admissions during the study period was 2.8 percent. The principal reasons for admissions were observation, surgery related admissions, medical disease, wish of patients and anesthesia related admissions. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of unanticipated admission was 2.8%, department of general surgery had the highest admission rate and observation was the most common cause of unanticipated admission.

Comparison of the neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses after laparoscopic and abdominal hysterectomy / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic surgery is associated with a more favorable clinical outcome than that of conventional open surgery. This might be related to the magnitude of the tissue trauma. The aim of the present study was to examine the differences of the neuroendocrine and inflammatory responses between the two surgical techniques. METHODS: Twenty-four patients with no major medical disease were randomly assigned to undergo laparoscopic (n = 13) or abdominal hysterectomy (n = 11). Venous blood samples were collected and we measured the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), CRP and cortisol at the time before and after skin incision, at the end of peritoneum closure and at 1 h and 24 h after operation. RESULTS: The laparoscopic hysterectomy group demonstrated less of an inflammatory response in terms of the serum IL-6 and CRP responses than did the abdominal hysterectomy group, and the laparoscopic hysterectomy group had a shorter hospital stay (P < 0.05). The peak serum IL-6 (P < 0.05) and CRP concentrations were significantly less increased in the laparoscopic group as compared with that of the abdominal hysterectomy group (P < 0.05), while the serum cortisol concentration showed a similar time course and changes and there were no significant difference between the groups. The response of interleukin-6 showed a significant correlation with the response of CRP (r = 0.796; P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The laparoscopic surgical procedure leaves the endocrine metabolic response largely unaltered as compared with that of open abdominal hysterectomy, but it reduces the inflammatory response as measured by the IL-6 and CRP levels.

Rhabdomyolysis after laparoscopic radical nephrectomy: A case report / 대한마취과학회지

Rhabdomyolysis is a rare but potentially lethal clinical syndrome that results from acute muscle fiber necrosis with leakage of muscle constituents into blood. This devastating disease could be due to muscle compression caused by urologic positioning for a lengthy nephrectomy. In this regard, laparoscopic renal surgery may be a risk for the development of rhabdomyolysis. This phenomenon of massive muscle necrosis can produce secondary acute renal failure. The risk factors have to be managed carefully during anesthetic management. Here, we report a case of a patient with rhabdomyolysis that developed in the flexed lateral decubitus position during laparoscopic nephrectomy.