Safety and Effectiveness of a "Percutaneous-First" Approach to Endovascular Aortic Aneurysm Repair.

BACKGROUND: Percutaneous endovascular aneurysm repair (PEVAR) has been increasingly used in the endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Furthermore, the percutaneous approach can be used with minimal sedation and local anesthesia in most cases. The purpose of this study was to assess the safety and effectiveness of a "percutaneous first" approach to femoral access for EVAR. METHOD: From 2012 to 2014, PEVAR has been the preferred approach to femoral access for EVAR at our institution. Retrospective review of institutional vascular quality initiative data was used to compare outcomes with elective PEVAR to a contemporary institutional series of elective EVAR via open femoral exposure. These 2 patient groups were compared with assess perioperative outcomes, procedural details (including anesthesia modality, procedure time, and length of stay [LOS]) and access-related complications between groups. RESULTS: One hundred two consecutive patients underwent attempted PEVAR and were compared with 98 patients undergoing surgical femoral exposure. Demographics and comorbidities were similar between groups, although there was a greater proportion of smokers in the PEVAR group (76.5% vs. 63.3%; P = 0.04). PEVAR was associated with an increased utilization of local anesthesia (67.6% vs. 12.2%; P < 0.001). PEVAR was associated with shorter postoperative LOS (mean 1.7 vs. 3.0 days; P = 0.035), shorter procedure times (137 vs. 222 min; P < 0.001), and significantly less blood loss (169 vs. 481 mL; P < 0.001). There were 5 access-site complications (4.9%) in the PEVAR group requiring conversion to open femoral exposure, compared with 2 patients (2.0%) with access-related complications after open femoral exposure (P = 0.09). There were significantly more hematomas in the PEVAR group (9.8% vs. 2.0%, P = 0.02). However, there were no significant differences in overall postoperative complications, wound infection, or ICU LOS. CONCLUSIONS: A "PEVAR first" approach proved feasible in the overwhelming majority of patients. Conversion to open transfemoral exposure was rare. PEVAR facilitated endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair under local anesthesia in most patients and resulted in decreased procedural morbidity and resource utilization.

Variability in anesthetic considerations for arteriovenous fistula creation.

INTRODUCTION: Anesthetic options for arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation include regional anesthesia (RA), general anesthesia (GA) and local anesthetic for select cases. In addition to the benefits of avoiding GA in high-risk patients, recent studies suggest that RA may increase perioperative venous dilation and improve maturation. Our objective was to assess perioperative outcomes of AVF creation with respect to anesthetic modality and identify patient-level factors associated with variation in contemporary anesthetic selection. METHODS: National Surgical Quality Improvement Project (NSQIP) data (2007-2010) were accessed to identify patients undergoing AVF creation. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed to assess the relationships among patient characteristics, anesthesia modality and outcome. RESULTS: Of 1,540 patients undergoing new upper extremity AVF creation, 52% were male and 81% were younger than 75 years. Anesthesia distribution was GA in 85.2%, local/monitored anesthetic care (MAC) in 2.9% and RA in 11.9% of cases. By multivariate analysis, independent predictors of RA were dyspnea at rest (hazard ratio [HR] 2.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-4.9), age >75 (HR 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.3) and teaching hospital status as indicated by housestaff involvement (HR 3.7, 95% CI 2.5-5.5). RA was associated with higher total operative time, duration of anesthesia, length of time in operating room and duration of anesthesia start until surgery start (p<0.01). There were no differences between perioperative complications or mortality among anesthetic modalities, although all deaths occurred in the GA group. DISCUSSIONS: Despite recent reports highlighting potential benefits of RA for AVF creation, GA was surprisingly used in the vast majority of cases in the United States. The only comorbidities associated with preferential RA use were advanced age and dyspnea at rest. Practice environment may influence anesthetic selection for these cases, as a nonteaching environment was associated with GA use. The trend seen here toward higher mortality in GA and the potential perioperative benefits of RA for the access should encourage more widespread use of RA in practice for this high-risk patient population.

Breast conservation after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for stage II carcinoma of the breast.

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has become the standard treatment for stage III breast cancer. Gratifying results in these patients prompted this prospective, nonrandomized study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in stage II breast cancer. This study presents our experience with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 127 patients with stage II carcinoma of the breast. STUDY DESIGN: Patients with stages IIA (T > 3.0 cm) and IIB carcinoma were considered for this study and underwent treatment with cyclic chemotherapy until a plateau of response was achieved. Responders underwent breast conservation or mastectomy according to conventional assessment. Chemotherapy was continued in the adjuvant setting. Survival data were compared with historic controls. RESULTS: Between 1981 and 2001, 127 women between the ages of 22 and 80 years (mean age 52, median age 50), with stage II breast cancer were enrolled, with median followup of 60 months. One hundred twenty-two patients (96.1%) responded to chemotherapy. Of this group, 35 (29.2%) experienced complete pathologic responses or had only microscopic foci of disease after treatment. Sixty-two patients (52.5%) had negative lymph nodes at the time of the operation; 28 of these patients were previously considered N-1 clinically. Seventy-six patients (62%) underwent breast conservation. Overall survivals at 5 years for stage IIA and IIB disease were 94.7% and 88%, respectively. Disease-free survival at 5 years was 85.2% for stage IIA patients and 69.1% for stage IIB patients. CONCLUSIONS: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be effectively applied to patients with stage II disease, and breast conservation becomes feasible in the majority of patients. When compared with historic controls, the current study suggests a statistically significant overall survival advantage (p < 0.007) at 5 years.