Early goal-directed therapy in severe sepsis and septic shock: insights and comparisons to ProCESS, ProMISe, and ARISE.

Prior to 2001 there was no standard for early management of severe sepsis and septic shock in the emergency department. In the presence of standard or usual care, the prevailing mortality was over 40-50 %. In response, a systems-based approach, similar to that in acute myocardial infarction, stroke and trauma, called early goal-directed therapy was compared to standard care and this clinical trial resulted in a significant mortality reduction. Since the publication of that trial, similar outcome benefits have been reported in over 70 observational and randomized controlled studies comprising over 70,000 patients. As a result, early goal-directed therapy was largely incorporated into the first 6 hours of sepsis management (resuscitation bundle) adopted by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign and disseminated internationally as the standard of care for early sepsis management. Recently a trio of trials (ProCESS, ARISE, and ProMISe), while reporting an all-time low sepsis mortality, question the continued need for all of the elements of early goal-directed therapy or the need for protocolized care for patients with severe and septic shock. A review of the early hemodynamic pathogenesis, historical development, and definition of early goal-directed therapy, comparing trial conduction methodology and the changing landscape of sepsis mortality, are essential for an appropriate interpretation of these trials and their conclusions.

Postoperative rhabdomyolysis following laparoscopic gastric bypass in the morbidly obese.

HYPOTHESIS: Laparoscopic approaches for weight reduction in the morbidly obese have become common with more than 50,000 bariatric surgical procedures being performed in 2001. The objective of this article is to raise awareness among surgeons of a new complication of rhabdomyolysis from this frequent procedure. DESIGN: Case series extracted from surgical database from January 2, 2001, through December 31, 2002. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified 5 cases of postoperative rhabdomyolysis in morbidly obese patients who underwent laparoscopic duodenal switch procedures with parietal gastrectomy. The cause, pathogenesis, and clinical features are reviewed and discussed. RESULTS: Postoperative rhabdomyolysis developed in 5 of 353 morbidly obese patients who underwent consecutive laparoscopic duodenal switch procedures, an incidence of 1.4%. All 5 patients were male, had a mean peak serum creatine kinase level of 19 680 U/L, and reported muscle pain in either the buttock, hip, or shoulder regions during the early postoperative period. CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesized that morbidly obese patients develop critical surface and deep tissue pressures during bariatric surgery, increasing their risk for tissue injury and rhabdomyolysis. Unexplained elevations in the serum creatinine level or reports of buttock, hip, or shoulder pain in the postoperative period should raise the possibility of rhabdomyolysis and prompt clinical investigation. We recommend routine preoperative and postoperative measurements of the serum creatine kinase and serum creatinine levels to aid detection. Surgeons need to keep a low index of suspicion because early diagnosis and treatment are the cornerstones of successful management of rhabdomyolysis.