Permanent hemidiaphragmatic paresis after interscalene brachial plexus block: a case report.

Interscalene brachial plexus block has been widely used in shoulder surgery. We report one case of long-term phrenic palsy following ultrasound-guided interscalene brachial plexus block and we will discuss the possible etiology and mechanism of this disability. For painful shoulder surgery, ultrasound-guided interscalene brachial plexus block remains topical. Alternative blocks, such as suprascapular and axillary blocks, may be reserved for patients with pre-existing respiratory pathology.

[Comparison of two doses of intra-articular tranexamic acid on postoperative bleeding in total knee arthroplasty: a randomized clinical trial]. / Comparação entre duas doses de ácido tranexâmico intra­articular no sangramento pós­operatório de artroplastia total do joelho: estudo clínico randomizado.

INTRODUCTION: Tranexamic Acid (TXA), an antifibrinolytic that inhibits the fibrinolytic activity of plasmin is used to decrease perioperative blood loss and transfusion requirements in orthopedic surgery. The aim of our study was to compare postoperative bleeding in two intra-articular doses (1g and 2g) of tranexamic acid in adult patients undergoing unilateral total knee replacement. METHOD: We conducted a single-operator, randomized, and controlled, double-blind study in two groups. The G1 group received 1g of intra-articular TXA and the G2 group 2g of intra-articular TXA. Both groups received 15mg.kg-1 IV before the surgical incision (TXA induction dose) and then 10mg.kg-1, orally, 6 and 12hours after the induction dose of TXA. The primary endpoint was bleeding measured by blood loss in postoperative drainage. Secondary outcomes were change in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels on the first and third postoperative days, and the need for transfusion during hospitalization. RESULTS: In total, 100 patients were randomized, and 100 were included in the analysis. Blood loss in postoperative drainage was similar in both groups (200±50 vs. 250±50mL, G1 and G2 groups respectively). Change in hematocrit and hemoglobin values (% of change) between preoperative and day 3 were not statically significant between groups G1 and G2 (18±5 vs. 21±4; 21±7 vs. 22±5 respectively). No patients received blood transfusion. CONCLUSIONS: Our study did not show superiority of 2g of intra-articular tranexamic acid compared to 1g. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04085575.

Comparison of two doses of intra-articular tranexamic acid on postoperative bleeding in total knee arthroplasty: a randomized clinical trial / Comparação entre duas doses de ácido tranexâmico intra-articular no sangramento pós-operatório de artroplastia total do joelho: estudo clínico randomizado

Abstract Introduction: Tranexamic Acid (TXA), an antifibrinolytic that inhibits the fibrinolytic activity of plasmin is used to decrease perioperative blood loss and transfusion requirements in orthopedic surgery. The aim of our study was to compare postoperative bleeding in two intra-articular doses (1 g and 2 g) of tranexamic acid in adult patients undergoing unilateral total knee replacement. Method: We conducted a single-operator, randomized, and controlled, double-blind study in two groups. The G1 group received 1 g of intra-articular TXA and the G2 group 2 g of intra-articular TXA. Both groups received 15 mg kg-1 IV before the surgical incision (TXA induction dose) and then 10 mg kg-1, orally, 6 and 12 hours after the induction dose of TXA.The primary endpoint was bleeding measured by blood loss in postoperative drainage. Secondary outcomes were change in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels on the first and third postoperative days, and the need for transfusion during hospitalization. Results: In total, 100 patients were randomized, and 100 were included in the analysis. Blood loss in postoperative drainage was similar in both groups (200 ± 50 vs. 250 ± 50 mL, G1 and G2 groups respectively). Change in hematocrit and hemoglobin values (% of change) between preoperative and day 3 were not statically significant between groups G1 and G2 (18 ± 5 vs. 21 ± 4; 21 ± 7 vs. 22 ± 5 respectively). No patients received blood transfusion. Conclusions: Our study did not show superiority of 2 g of intra-articular tranexamic acid compared to 1 g.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04085575

Resumo Introdução: O Ácido Tranexâmico (TXA), agente antifibrinolítico que inibe a atividade fibrinolítica da plasmina, é usado para reduzir a perda sanguínea perioperatória e a necessidade de transfusão em cirurgia ortopédica. O objetivo do estudo foi comparar o efeito de duas doses intra-articulares (1 g e 2 g) de ácido tranexâmico no sangramento pós-operatório de pacientes adultos submetidos a prótese total unilateral de joelho. Método: Realizamos estudo com operador único, randomizado, controlado e duplo-cego em dois grupos. O grupo G1 recebeu 1 g de TXA intra-articular e o grupo G2, 2 g de TXA intra-articular. Os dois grupos receberam 15 mg.kg-1 IV antes da incisão cirúrgica (dose de indução de TXA) e 10 mg.kg-1 por via oral, 6 e 12 horas após a dose de indução de TXA. O desfecho primário foi o sangramento medido pela perda sanguínea na drenagem pós-operatória. Os desfechos secundários foram alteração nos níveis de hemoglobina e hematócrito no primeiro e terceiro dias de pós-operatório e necessidade de transfusão durante a hospitalização. Resultados: Cem pacientes foram randomizados e 100 foram incluídos na análise. A perda sanguínea pela drenagem pós-operatória foi semelhante nos dois grupos (200 ± 50 mL vs. 250 ± 50 mL, grupos G1 e G2, respectivamente). A variação nos valores de hematócrito e hemoglobina (% de variação) entre o pré-operatório e o dia 3 não foi estatisticamente significante entre os grupos G1 e G2 (18 ± 5 vs. 21 ± 4; 21 ± 7 vs. 22 ± 5, respectivamente). Nenhum paciente recebeu transfusão de sangue. Conclusões: O estudo não mostrou superioridade na dose de 2 g de ácido tranexâmico intra-articular em comparação à dose de 1 g. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT04085575.

Spinal subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia: case report / Hematoma espinhal subaracnoideo após raquianestesia: relato de caso

Abstract Subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia is known to be very rare. In the majority of these cases, spinal anaesthesia was difficult to perform and/or unsuccessful; other risk factors included antiplatelet or anticoagulation therapy, and direct spinal cord trauma. We report a case of subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia in a young patient without risk factors.

Resumo Hematoma subaracnoideo após anestesia espinal é conhecido por ser muito raro. Na maioria desses casos, a anestesia espinal foi difícil de executar e/ou malsucedida; outros fatores de risco incluem terapia anticoagulante ou antiplaquetária e trauma medular direto. Relatamos um caso de hematoma subaracnoideo após raquianestesia em paciente jovem sem fatores de risco.

Spinal subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia: case report.

Subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia is known to be very rare. In the majority of these cases, spinal anaesthesia was difficult to perform and/or unsuccessful; other risk factors included antiplatelet or anticoagulation therapy, and direct spinal cord trauma. We report a case of subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia in a young patient without risk factors.

[Spinal subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia: case report]. / Hematoma espinhal subaracnoideo após raquianestesia: relato de caso.

Subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia is known to be very rare. In the majority of these cases, spinal anaesthesia was difficult to perform and/or unsuccessful; other risk factors included antiplatelet or anticoagulation therapy, and direct spinal cord trauma. We report a case of subarachnoid haematoma after spinal anaesthesia in a young patient without risk factors.

The analysis for the causes of surgical cancellations in a Brazilian university hospital.

BACKGROUND: The aim of our study is to quantify the occurrence of suspension of scheduled surgeries in a Brazilian university hospital, trying to identify the causes of suspension of these operations and meet the medical specialties that most contributed to the cancellation. METHODS: This study takes the form of an exploratory, descriptive, and quantitative enquiry carried out by analyzing the database from 2008 to 2011 of the operating theater. RESULTS: Of the 29,518 scheduled surgeries, 16.1% were cancelled. The patient was the main reason, accounting for more than 40% of all suspensions. When calculating the rate of surgery suspended from a specialty, dividing the number of cancelled surgeries in a specialty by the number of scheduled surgeries in the same, we found that otolaryngology is the specialty with the highest rate of 21.3%. CONCLUSIONS: One of the main reasons in our sample why surgeries were cancelled is nonappearance of the patient. Improving communication between patient and hospital facilitates the client program and also contributes to avoid cancellations.

Anestesia para craniotomia em paciente acordado: relato de caso / Anesthesia for awake craniotomy: case report / Anestesia para craneotomía en paciente despierto: relato de caso

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: Alguns procedimentos intracranianos são possíveis com pacientes acordados e os desafios vão da cooperação do paciente até a homeostasia. O objetivo é apresentar um caso de cirurgia intracraniana para exérese de tumor em lobo parietal esquerdo com o paciente em estado vígil. RELATO DE CASO: Após seleção do paciente e preparo psicológico, foi esclarecida e aceita a proposta de exérese de lesão parietal esquerda em estado vígil. Administraram-se propofol e remifentanil em perfusão contínua para manter o escore de Ramsay entre 2-3. Foi feito um bloqueio bilateral do escalpo com ropivacaína. Foi instalado o fixador de Mayfield e os campos cirúrgicos foram ajustados para manter vias aéreas e olhos acessíveis para o mapeamento com eletroestimulação e exérese da lesão. Para incisão da dura-máter foi aplicada uma compressa com lidocaína 2% por três minutos. A cirurgia transcorreu sem intercorrências. O paciente recebeu alta hospitalar no sétimo dia de internação sem apresentar complicação. CONCLUSÃO: Apesar de ser um desafio manter analgesia e estabilidade hemodinâmica com o paciente acordado, a infusão alvo-controlada do propofol estabeleceu o nível de consciência desejado; a do remifentanil titulou a analgesia e a sedação sem o acúmulo da droga e o bloqueio com a ropivacaína, uma analgesia satisfatória. Concluímos que a técnica anestésica foi satisfatória para nosso paciente.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Some intracranial procedures are achievable with patients awake, however, there are challenges ranging from patient compliance to homeostasis. The aim of this study is to present a case of intracranial surgery for removal of a tumor in the left parietal lobe with the patient awake during the procedure. CASE REPORT: After patient selection and psychological preparation, the proposed excision of the left parietal lobe lesion in the waking state was clarified and accepted. Continuous infusion of propofol and remifentanil was administered to maintain a Ramsay score of 2-3. The bilateral scalp blockade was performed with ropivacaine. The Mayfield head fixation device was installed and drapes adjusted to maintain the airway and eyes accessible for mapping with electrical stimulation and tumor excision. For dura mater incision, a pad with 2% lidocaine was applied for 3 minutes. The surgery was uneventful. The patient was discharged on the seventh day of hospitalization without presenting complication. CONCLUSION: Although the maintenance of analgesia and hemodynamic stability was a challenge with the patient awake, the target-controlled infusion of propofol provided the desired level of consciousness, remifentanil titrated analgesia and sedation without drug accumulation, and the blockade with ropivacaine provided satisfactory analgesia. We conclude that the anesthetic technique was satisfactory for our patient.

JUSTIFICATIVA Y OBJETIVOS: Algunos procedimientos intracraneales se pueden hacer con pacientes despiertos y los retos van desde la cooperación del paciente hasta la homeostasia. El objetivo aquí, es presentar un caso de cirugía intracraneal para la exéresis de tumor en el lobo parietal izquierdo con el paciente en estado de vigilia. RELATO DE CASO: Después de la selección del paciente y dela preparación psicológica, se aclaró y aceptó la propuesta de exéresis de lesión parietal izquierda en estado de vigilia. Se administraron propofol y remifentanilo en perfusión continua para mantener la puntuación de Ramsay entre 2-3. Se hizo un bloqueo bilateral del escalpo con ropivacaína. Se instaló el fijador de Mayfield y los campos quirúrgicos se ajustaron para mantener las vías aéreas y los ojos accesibles para el mapeo con la electroestimulación y la exéresis de la lesión. Para la incisión de la dura madre se aplicó una compresa con lidocaína al 2% durante tres minutos. La cirugía transcurrió sin intercurrencias. El paciente recibió alta hospitalaria al séptimo día del ingreso sin presentar complicaciones. CONCLUSIONES: A pesar de ser un reto mantener la analgesia y la estabilidad hemodinámica con el paciente despierto, la infusión objeto controlada del propofol estableció el nivel de consciencia deseado; la del remifentanilo tituló la analgesia y la sedación sin la acumulación de la droga y el bloqueo con la ropivacaína, una analgesia satisfactoria. Concluimos por tanto, que la técnica anestésica fue satisfactoria para nuestro paciente.

Empirical mode decomposition to assess cardiovascular autonomic control in rats.

Heart beat rate and blood pressure, together with baroreflex sensitivity, have become important tools in assessing cardiac autonomic system control and in studying sympathovagal balance. These analyses are usually performed thanks to spectral indices computed from standard spectral analysis techniques. However, standard spectral analysis and its corresponding rigid band-pass filter formulation suffer from two major drawbacks. It can be significantly distorted by non-stationarity issues and it proves unable to adjust to natural intra- and inter-individual variability. Empirical mode decomposition (EMD), a tool recently introduced in the literature, provides us with a signal-adaptive decomposition that proves useful for the analysis of non-stationary data and shows a strong capability to precisely adjust to the spectral content of the analyzed data. It is based on the concept that any complicated set of data can be decomposed into a finite number of components, called intrinsic mode functions, associated with different spectral contributions. The aims of this study were twofold. First, we studied the changes in the sympathovagal balance induced by various pharmacological blockades (phentolamine, atropine and atenolol) of the autonomic nervous system in normotensive rats. Secondly, we assessed the use of EMD for the analysis of the cardiac sympathovagal balance after pharmacological injections. For this, we developed a new (EMD-based) low frequency vs. high frequency spectral decomposition of heart beat variability and systolic blood pressure, we define the corresponding EMD spectral indices and study their relevance to detect and analyze changes accurately in the sympathovagal balance without having recourse to any a priori fixed high-pass/low-pass filters.

Cough-induced intercostal lung herniation requiring surgery: Report of a case.

Lung herniation is a rare event defined by protrusion of the lung through an abnormal weakness in the thoracic wall. We report a case of spontaneous intercostal pulmonary herniation, which occurred as a result of vigorous coughing. We repaired the herniation by approximating the ribs with heavy stitches. The mechanism of intercostal muscle disruption, and the etiology and treatment of lung herniations, are discussed.

Instant centre frequency at anaesthetic induction--a new way to analyse sympathovagal balance.

The instant centre frequency (ICF) of RR interval has been proposed as a global index to analyse the sympathovagal interaction in the heart. The aim of this study was to assess the ICF during anaesthesia to test if it can reliably capture the neural control of the cardiovascular system. Twenty-four ASA II or III patients scheduled for cardiac surgery were included in the study. They were allocated in two groups: control, no treatment (group 1, n = 12), and beta-adrenergic blockade by atenolol (group 2, n = 12). Spectra of pulse interval series were computed with a time-frequency method and they were divided into: very low frequency (VLF, 0.000-0.040 Hz), low frequency (LF, 0.050-0.150 Hz) and high frequency (HF, 0.160-0.500 Hz). Normalized power was obtained by dividing the cumulative power within each frequency band (LF or HF) by the sum of LF and HF; the ratio of LF/HF was also calculated. Instant centre frequency is a time-varying parameter that the evolution along time of the gravity centrum of a local spectrum. All spectral indexes were recorded at the following time points: before induction, after induction and before intubation, during intubation, and after intubation. The atenolol group had lower normalized LF and the LF/HF ratio (P < 0.05) higher HF before induction; and lower LF/HF ratio after induction and before intubation (P < 0.05). The ICF was higher in atenolol group at all times. The ICF shifted towards HF frequency after induction and before intubation and shifted towards LF during intubation in both groups. The autonomic nervous system control on the heart through the interaction of sympathetic and parasympathetic reflex mechanisms could be studied by the ICF. The ICF may assess the autonomic cardiac modulation and may provide useful information for anaesthetic management.

Orthostatic tolerance and spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity in men versus women after 7 days of head-down bed rest.

Many factors are involved in the development of orthostatic intolerance after real or simulated weightlessness. The aim of our study was to compare the effects of 7-day head-down bed rest (HDBR) in eight women and eight men on the spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (standard spectral method and new time-frequency algorithm) during lower body negative pressure (LBNP) tests. Results obtained before HDBR have shown in women, compared to men, higher heart rate, lower blood pressure, higher parasympathetic modulation at rest and greater decrease in baroreflex sensitivity with greater increase in sympathetic activity during LBNP. After HDBR, we observed in both men and women a dramatic decrease in orthostatic tolerance (7.0 min at R + 1 vs. 10.0 min, p<0.05, at BDC-1 in men; 5.4 vs. 9.0 min, p<0.05, in women) together with a decrease in plasma volume (-9.1 +/- 0.9% in men, -9.5 +/- 1.4% in women) and in spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity without gender effect. After HDBR, at the highest level of LBNP, diastolic blood pressure increased in men (+5.6 +/- 1.3 mm Hg) and decreased in women (-1.0 +/- 2.7 mm Hg) with a gender difference (p<0.05). This result suggests impaired vasoconstriction in women after HDBR. Neither endocrine response nor alterations to the cardiac baroreflex can explain gender differences in orthostatic tolerance after HDBR as reported by previous studies. Further studies need to be conducted in order to obtain a more precise analysis of gender difference in arteriolar vasoconstriction after HDBR. The time frequency method we developed to study changes in spontaneous baroreflex might be applied to the analysis of LBNP tests.

Comparaçäo entre a medida do débito cardíaco contínuo com a termodiluiçäo clássica em bolus após cirurgia cardíaca / Comparison of continuous versus bolus cardiac output measurement following valvular surgery

Justificativa e objetivos - a avaliaçäo do débito cardíaco na prática clínica é realizada de forma corrente pelo método de termodiluiçäo. Esta informaçäo é importante, principalmente em pacientes hemodinamicamente instáveis ou em pacientes com doenças cardíacas que väo se submeter a cateterismo cardíaco ou a cirurgia cardíaca. Um novo cateter, com um filamento térmico, permite medir continuamente o débito cardíaco. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar a medida do débito cardíaco contínuo (DCC) utilizando um cateter na artéria pulmonar, acoplado a um filamento térmico, com o método de medida do débito cardíaco por bolus (DCB) de uma soluçäo fria, no pós-operatório imediato de cirurgia cardíaca para troca valvular. Método - Em vinte e dois pacientes que se submeteram a cirurgia valvular mitral ou aórtica, com circulaçäo extracorpórea hipotérmica, o DCC e DBC, em associaçäo com outros parâmetros hemodinâmicos, foram medidos a cada vinte minutos durante três horas no pós-operatório imediato. Resultados - 198 pares de medidas foram obtidos e comparados. O coeficiente de correlaçä foi de 0,89 (p<0,05). A diferença média do DCB - DCC ñ 0,6 L.min elevado a menos um, e näo foi afetada pela presença de fibrilaçäo atrial. Conclusöes - a comparaçäo destes dois métodos foi satisfatória nestes tipos de pacientes. O DCC aprsenta-se como um método interessante na detecçäo de baixo débito cardíaco imediatamente após cirurgia cardíaca para troca valvular