Surgical tracheostomy in a cohort of COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND: One of the main symptoms of severe infection with the new coronavirus­2 (SARS-CoV-2) is hypoxemic respiratory failure because of viral pneumonia with the need for mechanical ventilation. Prolonged mechanical ventilation may require a tracheostomy, but the increased risk for contamination is a matter of considerable debate. OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of safety and effects of surgical tracheostomy on ventilation parameters and outcome in patients with COVID-19. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective observational study between March 27 and May 18, 2020, in a single-center coronavirus disease-designated ICU at a tertiary care German hospital. PATIENTS: Patients with COVID-19 were treated with open surgical tracheostomy due to severe hypoxemic respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. MEASUREMENTS: Clinical and ventilation data were obtained from medical records in a retrospective manner. RESULTS: A total of 18 patients with confirmed SARS-CoV­2 infection and surgical tracheostomy were analyzed. The age range was 42-87 years. All patients received open tracheostomy between 2-16 days after admission. Ventilation after tracheostomy was less invasive (reduction in PEAK and positive end-expiratory pressure [PEEP]) and lung compliance increased over time after tracheostomy. Also, sedative drugs could be reduced, and patients had a reduced need of norepinephrine to maintain hemodynamic stability. Six of 18 patients died. All surgical staff were equipped with N99-masks and facial shields or with powered air-purifying respirators (PAPR). CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that open surgical tracheostomy can be performed without severe complications in patients with COVID-19. Tracheostomy may reduce invasiveness of mechanical ventilation and the need for sedative drugs and norepinehprine. Recommendations for personal protective equipment (PPE) for surgical staff should be followed when PPE is available to avoid contamination of the personnel.

Effectiveness and safety of in-water resuscitation performed by lifeguards and laypersons: a crossover manikin study.

OBJECTIVE: Drowning is associated with a high mortality and morbidity and a common cause of death. In-water resuscitation (IWR) in the case of drowning accidents has been recommended by certain resuscitation guidelines in the last several years. IWR has been discussed controversially in the past, especially with regard to the delay of chest compressions, effectiveness of ventilation, and hazard to the rescuer. The aim of the present study was to assess the effectiveness and safety of IWR. METHODS: In this crossover manikin study, 21 lifeguards and 21 laypersons performed two rescue procedures in an indoor swimming pool over a 50-meter distance: In random order, one rescue procedure was performed with in-water ventilation and one without. Tidal and minute volumes were recorded using a modified Laerdal Resusci Anne (Laerdal Medical, Stavanger, Norway) and total rescue duration, submersions, water aspiration by the victim, and physical effort were assessed. RESULTS: IWR resulted in significant increases in rescue duration (lifeguards: 106 vs. 82 seconds; laypersons: 133 vs. 106 seconds) and submersions (lifeguards: 3 vs. 1; laypersons: 5 vs. 0). Furthermore, water aspiration (lifeguards: 112 vs. 29 mL; laypersons: 160 vs. 56 mL) and physical effort (lifeguards: visual analog scale [VAS] score 7 vs. 5; laypersons: VAS score 8 vs. 6) increased significantly when IWR was performed. Lifeguards achieved significantly better ventilation characteristics and performed both rescue procedures faster and with lower side effects. IWR performed by laypersons was insufficient with regard to both tidal and minute volumes. CONCLUSIONS: In-water resuscitation is associated with a delay of the rescue procedure and a relevant aspiration of water by the victim. IWR appears to be possible when performed over a short distance by well-trained professionals. The training of lifeguards must place particular emphasis on a reduction of submersions and aspiration when IWR is performed. IWR by laypersons is exhausting, time-consuming, and inefficient and should probably not be recommended. Key words: drowning; near-drowning; hypoxia; ventilation, artificial; respiration, artificial; resuscitation, in-water.

Infrared ear thermometry in water-related accidents-not a good choice.

Hypothermia in near-drowning victims is a serious problem that impacts clinical decision-making. The purpose of this trial was to determine the reliability of tympanic temperature measurements compared to oral temperature measurements after immersion in water. After ethical approval was obtained, we studied oral and tympanic temperature in 25 volunteer swimmers (aged 18-49 years). Sublingual (Fixotherm; Tradesell Europe, Eglharting, Germany) and tympanic (First Temp Genius; Sherwood Medical, Sulzbach, Germany) temperature measurements were performed before entering the water, after 45 min of immersion in water, and 15 min after leaving the water. During the immersion phase, the ears were temporarily immersed. A control group (the same 25 volunteers) had to swim for the same amount of time without ever immersing their heads in the water. The trial was performed in an indoor swimming pool at 28 degrees C water and 30 degrees C air temperature. The oral temperature did not change over time in either group. The tympanic temperature was significantly lower after immersion compared to baseline in the "immersed" group (33.7 degrees C vs. 37.5 degrees C, p < 0.001), increased significantly in the recovery period, but remained significantly lower than baseline (36.0 degrees C vs. 37.5 degrees C, p < 0.001). At baseline, the oral temperature was lower compared to the tympanic temperature. This relationship reversed after immersion and remained reversed until the end of the trial in the immersion group. The control group maintained oral temperatures lower than tympanic throughout the study; furthermore, the control group had no clinically relevant change in oral or tympanic temperature over the time (tympanic temperature: 37.4 degrees C vs. 37.2 degrees C, p = 0.06). Our data suggest that in water-related accidents such as near drowning, the values of body (core) temperature obtained via use of infrared ear thermometry are unreliable, and should not be used for clinical decision-making.

Effects of a cantaloupe melon extract/wheat gliadin biopolymer during aortic cross-clamping.

OBJECTIVE: We previously reported in healthy volunteers that a cantaloupe melon extract chemically combined with wheat gliadin (melon extract/gliadin) and containing SOD, catalase and residual glutathione peroxidase (GPx), protected against DNA strand-break damage induced by hyperbaric oxygen (HBO), a well-established model of DNA damage resulting from oxidative stress. Aortic cross-clamping is a typical example of ischemia/reperfusion injury-related oxidative stress, and therefore we investigated whether this melon extract/gliadin would also reduce DNA damage after aortic cross-clamping and reperfusion. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled experimental study. SETTING: Animal laboratory. PATIENTS AND PARTICIPANTS: 18 anesthetized, mechanically ventilated and instrumented pigs. INTERVENTIONS: After 14 days of oral administration of 1250 mg of the melon extract/gliadin (n=9) or vehicle (n=9), animals underwent 30 min of thoracic aortic cross-clamping and 4 h of reperfusion. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Before clamping, immediately before declamping, and at 2 and 4 h of reperfusion, we measured blood isoprostane (immunoassay) and malondialdehyde concentrations (fluorimetric thiobarbituric acid test), SOD, catalase and GPx activities (spectrophotometric kits), NO formation (nitrate+nitrite; chemoluminescence), DNA damage in whole blood samples and isolated lymphocytes exposed to hyperbaric oxygen (comet assay). Organ function was also evaluated. Kidney and spinal cord specimen were analysed for apoptosis (TUNEL assay). The melon extract/gliadin blunted the DNA damage, reduced spinal cord apoptosis and attenuated NO release, however, without any effect on lipid peroxidation and organ function. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-treatment with the oral melon extract/gliadin may be a therapeutic option to reduce oxidative cell injury affiliated with aortic cross-clamping.

The parp-1 inhibitor ino-1001 facilitates hemodynamic stabilization without affecting DNA repair in porcine thoracic aortic cross-clamping-induced ischemia/reperfusion.

Inhibition of poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP-1) improved hemodynamics and organ function in various shock models induced by sepsis or ischemia/reperfusion. PARP-1, however, is also referred to play a pivotal role for the maintenance of genomic integrity. Therefore, we investigated the effect of the PARP-1 blocker INO-1001 on hemodynamics, kidney function, and DNA damage and repair during porcine thoracic aortic cross-clamping. The animals underwent 45 min of aortic cross-clamping after receiving vehicle (n=9) or i.v. INO-1001 (n=9; total dose, 4 mg.kg, administered both before clamping and during reperfusion), data were recorded before clamping, before declamping, and 2 and 4 h after declamping. During reperfusion, continuous i.v. norepinephrine was incrementally adjusted to maintain blood pressure greater than or equal to 80% of the pre-clamping level. The plasma INO-1001 levels analyzed with high-pressure liquid chromatography were 1 to 1.4 micromol/L and 0.4 to 0.6 micromol/L before and after clamping, respectively. Although INO-1001-treated animals required less norepinephrine support, kidney function was comparable in the 2 groups. There was no intergroup difference either in the time course of DNA damage and repair (comet assay) as assessed both in vivo in whole blood before surgery, before clamping, before declamping, 2 h after declamping, and ex vivo in isolated lymphocytes (Ficoll gradient) sampled immediately before clamping and analyzed before, immediately, and 1 and 2 h after exposure to 4 bar 100% O2 for 2 h. There was no difference either in the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor gene, p27, in the kidney (immunohistochemistry). The reduced norepinephrine requirements during reperfusion suggest a positive inotropic effect of INO-1001, as demonstrated by other authors. In our model, INO-1001 proved to be safe with respect to DNA repair.

Effects of 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin-J2 during hyperdynamic porcine endotoxemia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the hemodynamic and metabolic effects of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma ligand and nuclear-factor (NF)-kappa B inhibitor 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin-J2 (15d-PGJ2) during long-term, hyperdynamic porcine endotoxemia. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled experimental study with repeated measures. SETTING: Investigational animal laboratory. SUBJECTS: 19 anesthetized, mechanically ventilated and instrumented pigs. INTERVENTIONS: At 12 h of continuous intravenous endotoxin and hydroxyethylstarch to keep mean arterial pressure (MAP)>60 mmHg, swine randomly received vehicle (control group, n=10) or 15-deoxy-Delta12,14-prostaglandin-J2 (15d-PGJ2 group, n=9; 1 microg kg(-1) min(-1) loading dose during 1 h; thereafter,0.25 microg kg(-1) min(-1) for 11 h). MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Hemodynamic, metabolic and organ function parameters were assessed together with parameters of nitric oxide production and oxidative stress. 15d-PGJ2 prevented the endotoxin-induced progressive hypotension, due to a positive inotropic effect, which resulted in a significantly higher blood pressure during the treatment phase and prevented the rise in hepatic vein alanine-aminotransferase activity. It did not affect, however, any other parameter of organ function nor of nitric oxide production, proinflammatory cytokine release or lipid peroxidation (8-isoprostane). CONCLUSIONS: 15d-PGJ2 stabilized systemic hemodynamics, due to improved myocardial performance, and resulted in an only transient effect on alanine-aminotransferase activity, without further beneficial effect on endotoxin-induced metabolic and organ function derangements. Low tissue 15d-PGJ2 concentrations and/or the delayed drug administration may explain these findings.

Physiological and clinical aspects of apnea diving.

Apnea diving is a fascinating example of applied physiology. The record for apnea diving as an extreme sport is 171 meters, 8:58 minutes. The short time beneath the surface induces profound cardiovascular and respiratory effects. Variations of blood-gas tensions result from the interaction of metabolism and the rapid sequence of compression and decompression. Decompression sickness is possible. Apnea divers can reach depths beyond the theoretic physiologic limit by using the lung-packing maneuver. Apnea divers exhibit a fall in heart rate, which can be trained and is an oxygen-conserving effect, but increases the incidence of ventricular arrhythmia.

Efficacy of ventilation and ventilation adjuncts during in-water-resuscitation--a randomized cross-over trial.

INTRODUCTION: Drowning is a common cause of death in young adults. The 2010 guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council call for in-water-resuscitation (IWR). There has been controversy about IWR amongst emergency and diving physicians for decades. The aim of the present study was assessing the efficacy of IWR. METHODS: In this randomized cross-over trial, nineteen lifeguards performed a rescue manoeuvre over a 100 m distance in open water. All subjects performed the procedure four times in random order: with no ventilation (NV) and transportation only, mouth-to-mouth ventilation (MMV), bag-mask-ventilation (BMV) and laryngeal tube ventilation (LTV). Tidal volumes, ventilation rate and minute-volumes were recorded using a modified Laerdal Resusci Anne manikin. Furthermore, water aspiration and number of submersions of the test mannequin were assessed, as well as the physical effort of the lifeguard rescuers.One lifeguard subject did not complete MMV due to exhaustion and was excluded from analysis. RESULTS: NV was the fastest rescue manoeuvre (advantage ∼40s). MMV and LTV were evaluated as efficient and relatively easy to perform by the lifeguards. While MMV (mean 199 ml) and BMV (mean 481 ml) were associated with a large amount of aspirated water, aspiration was significantly lower in LTV (mean 118 ml). The efficacy of ventilation was consistently good in LTV (Vt=447 ml), continuously poor in BMV (Vt=197) and declined substantially during MMV (Vt=1,019 ml initially and Vt=786 ml at the end). The physical effort of the lifeguards was remarkably higher when performing IWR: 3.7 in NV, 6.7 in MMV, 6.4 in BMV and 4.8 in LTV as measured on the 0-10 visual analogue scale. CONCLUSION: IWR in open water is time consuming and physically demanding. The IWR training of lifeguards should put more emphasis on a reduction of aspiration. The use of ventilation adjuncts like the laryngeal tube might ease IWR, reduce aspiration of water and increase the efficacy of ventilation during IWR.

Total haemoglobin mass and spleen contraction: a study on competitive apnea divers, non-diving athletes and untrained control subjects.

In diving mammals splenic contraction increases circulating red cell volume, whereas in humans increased haemoglobin concentrations have been reported. It is unknown, however, whether repetitive apnea diving also comprises an adaptive increase in total red cell volume as reported in endurance athletes. The first aim of the study therefore was to investigate the effect of repeated apnea dives on splenic size and putative red cell release in trained apnea divers (n = 10) and control subjects (SCUBA divers performing apneas without long-term apnea training, n = 7). Long-term effects of repetitive apnea diving may elevate the oxygen transport capacity by an adaptive increase in total haemoglobin mass as reported in endurance athletes. The second goal, therefore, was to compare the trained apnea divers' and the control divers' total haemoglobin mass (tHb-mass) with that of endurance-trained (n = 9) and untrained (n = 10) non-divers. Before and immediately after a series of five dives to a depth of 4 m in a heated pool, spleen volume was assessed with ultrasound tomography. tHb-mass and plasma volume were measured using the CO-rebreathing method. In the trained apnea divers, repeated apnea dives resulted in a 25% reduction of spleen size (P < 0.001), whereas no significant effect was observed in the control subjects. While tHb-mass did not differ between trained apnea divers, untrained SCUBA divers performing apneas and untrained non-divers, it was 30% lower than in endurance-trained non-divers. We conclude that prolonged apnea training causes marked apnea-induced splenic contraction. In contrast to athletes in endurance sports, the trained apnea divers did not present with increased total haemoglobin mass and, hence, no increase in blood oxygen stores.

Ethyl pyruvate improves systemic and hepatosplanchnic hemodynamics and prevents lipid peroxidation in a porcine model of resuscitated hyperdynamic endotoxemia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the systemic, pulmonary, and hepatosplanchnic hemodynamic and metabolic effects of delayed treatment with ethyl pyruvate in a long-term porcine model of hyperdynamic endotoxemia. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled experimental study with repeated measures. SETTING: Investigational animal laboratory. SUBJECTS: Anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and instrumented pigs. INTERVENTIONS: After 12 hrs of continuous infusion of lipopolysaccharide and hydroxyethyl starch to keep mean arterial pressure >60 mm Hg, swine randomly received placebo (Ringer's solution; control group, n = 11) or ethyl pyruvate in lactated Ringer's solution (n = 8; 0.03 g.kg(-1) loading dose over 10 mins, thereafter 0.03 g.kg(-1)hr(-1) for 12 hrs). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Whereas mean arterial pressure significantly decreased in control animals, mean arterial pressure was maintained at the baseline level in pigs treated with ethyl pyruvate. Global oxygen uptake was comparable, so that the trend toward a higher oxygen transport and the significantly higher mixed venous hemoglobin oxygen saturation resulted in a significantly lower oxygen extraction in the ethyl pyruvate group. Ethyl pyruvate reduced intrapulmonary venous admixture and resulted in significantly greater Pa(O2)/F(IO2) ratios. Despite comparable urine production in the two groups during the first 18 hrs of endotoxemia, ethyl pyruvate significantly increased diuresis during the last 6 hrs of the study. Lipopolysaccharide-induced systemic and regional venous metabolic acidosis was significantly ameliorated by ethyl pyruvate. Endotoxemia increased both blood nitrate + nitrite and isoprostane concentrations, and ethyl pyruvate attenuated the response of these markers of nitric oxide production and lipid peroxidation. CONCLUSIONS: Ethyl pyruvate infusion resulted in improved hemodynamic stability and ameliorated acid-base derangements induced by chronic endotoxemia in pigs. Reduced oxidative stress and an decreased nitric oxide release probably contributed to these effects.

Low-dose terlipressin during long-term hyperdynamic porcine endotoxemia: effects on hepatosplanchnic perfusion, oxygen exchange, and metabolism.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the vasopressin analog terlipressin might induce hepatosplanchnic ischemia during long-term, hyperdynamic, volume-resuscitated porcine endotoxemia. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled experimental study with repeated measures. SETTING: Investigational animal laboratory. SUBJECTS: Eighteen pigs were divided into two groups receiving either endotoxin alone (control group, n = 10) or endotoxin and terlipressin (n = 8). INTERVENTIONS: Pigs were anesthetized, mechanically ventilated, and instrumented and received a continuous intravenous infusion of Escherichia coli endotoxin. Animals were resuscitated with hydroxyethyl starch targeted to maintain mean arterial pressure >60 mm Hg. Twelve hours after the start of the endotoxin infusion, terlipressin (5-15 microg.kg.hr titrated to maintain mean arterial pressure at preendotoxin levels) or its vehicle was administered for 12 hrs. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Terlipressin increased mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistances, which was affiliated with a decrease in cardiac output and global oxygen consumption. Terlipressin restored the hepatic artery buffer response, which led to an increase in hepatic artery flow, ultimately resulting in well-maintained liver oxygen delivery, oxygen uptake, and all other variables of regional metabolism and organ function. Terlipressin markedly attenuated the hepatosplanchnic venous acidosis but was associated with pronounced hyperlactatemia. CONCLUSIONS: During long-term hyperdynamic porcine endotoxemia, the well-known vasoconstrictor properties of terlipressin blunted the progressive decrease in mean arterial pressure without any detrimental effect on hepatosplanchnic perfusion, oxygen exchange, and metabolism. The marked terlipressin-induced hyperlactatemia did not originate from the hepatosplanchnic organs but from extrasplanchnic tissues, possibly muscle and skin.