The influence of psychological interventions on surgical outcomes: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: An amplified and/or prolonged surgical stress response might overcome the organs' functional reserve, thus leading to postoperative complications. The aim of this systematic literature review is to underline how specific psychological interventions may contribute to improve surgical outcomes through the positive modulation of the surgical stress response in surgical patients. METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive literature search in the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. Only studies published in English from Jan 2000 to Apr 2022 and reporting pain and/or anxiety among outcome measures were included in the review. The following psychological interventions were considered: (1) relaxation techniques, (2) cognitive-behavioral therapies, (3) mindfulness, (4) narrative medicine, (5) hypnosis, and (6) coping strategies. RESULTS: Among 3167 records identified in the literature, 5 papers were considered eligible for inclusion in this review because reporting the effects that psychological features have on neurochemical signaling during perioperative metabolic adaptation and those metabolic and clinical effects that the psychological interventions had on the observed population. CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm that psychological interventions may contribute to improve surgical outcomes via the positive influence on patients' metabolic surgical stress response. A multidisciplinary approach integrating physical and non-physical therapies can be considered a good strategy to successfully improve surgical outcomes in the perioperative period.

[Interregional mapping of continuing medical education experiences during the covid phase and orientation towards future education: a multiphase study.] / Mappatura interregionale esperienze di formazione continua in medicina realizzate in fase di covid e indirizzi per la formazione futura: uno studio multifase.

INTRODUCTION: This study developed and validated three questionnaires addressed to the accrediting bodies of the CME system, the providers and the end-users to investigate facilitating factors, barriers and achieved results. Facilitating factors, barriers and achieved results were then described, and the predictors of the achieved result were identified. METHODS: Multiphase and multi-method study. RESULTS: The developed questionnaires show evidence of validity and reliability. 8098 healthcare professionals, 10 accrediting bodies and 206 providers were enrolled to the study. The facilitating factors show the greater predictive capacity in explaining the variance of the perceptions of achieved results in all three groups. DISCUSSION: The common perspectives of the participants guided the creating of a framework aimed to provide guidance for strengthening facilitating factors regarding the activities of accrediting bodies, providers, and end-users of CME education.

Use of Fluoride as a Marker Solute to Quantify the Current Effective Delivered Dose in Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy: An "in vitro" Study.

BACKGROUND: The current effective delivered dose is a quality indicator for continuous renal replacement therapy. Its periodic assessment might enable physicians to deliver personalised treatments. Yet, its quantification as by extracorporeal urea clearance (Cl) is cumbersome and thus often neglected in routine practice. The aim of this in vitro study is to demonstrate the non-inferior effectiveness of assessing the current effective delivered dose using a simpler, cheaper and faster approach based on measurement of fluoride rather than urea extracorporeal Cl. METHODS: We compared urea and fluoride removal in 3 post-dilution continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVH) and 3 continuous veno-venous haemodialysis (CVVHD) in vitro experimental models. Experiments ran for 180 min, using 3 L of human blood, heparin anticoagulation and a machine dose of 30 mL/kg/h. Urea and fluoride were measured in the inflow, outflow and effluent lines to compare sieving coefficients (SC), saturation coefficients (SA) and transmembrane Cls. RESULTS: In CVVH, the median SC values were 1.06 (1.02-1.07) and 1.02 (1.01-1.04) for fluoride and urea, respectively (discrepancy of 4.3%), while transmembrane convective Cls were 31.28 (30.01-31.31) mL/kg/h and 30.30 (29-31.85) mL/kg/h (discrepancy of 3.13%), respectively. In CVVHD, the median SA values were 1.01 (0.96-1.02) and 1 (0.95-1.01) for fluoride and urea, respectively (discrepancy of 1.6%), while transmembrane dialytic Cls were 30.26 (29.52-31.32) mL/kg/h and 31.16 (30-31.75) mL/kg/h (discrepancy of -2.97%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Fluoride transmembrane removal was close to that observed with urea, in terms of SC, SA and transmembrane Cl. Fluoride seems as much accurate as urea in assessing the current effective delivered dose during both CVVH and CVVHD and might therefore be adopted for dose measurement. Besides accuracy, fluoride bedside assessment could present many advantages over urea, particularly in terms of availability, costs, time requirement and rapidity of assessment.

Minimum anesthetic volume in regional anesthesia by using ultrasound-guidance / Volume mínimo de anestésico em anestesia regional guiada por ultrassom

Abstract The ultrasound guidance in regional anesthesia ensures the visualization of needle placement and the spread of Local Anesthetics. Over the past few years there was a substantial interest in determining the Minimum Effective Anesthetic Volume necessary to accomplish surgical anesthesia. The precise and real-time visualization of Local Anesthetics spread under ultrasound guidance block may represent the best requisite for reducing Local Anesthetics dose and Local Anesthetics-related effects. We will report a series of studies that have demonstrated the efficacy of ultrasound guidance blocks to reduce Local Anesthetics and obtain surgical anesthesia as compared to block performed under blind or electrical nerve stimulation technique. Unfortunately, the results of studies are widely divergent and not seem to indicate a dose considered effective, for each block, in a definitive way; but it is true that, through the use of ultrasound guidance, it is possible to reduce the dose of anesthetic in the performance of anesthetic blocks.

Resumo O uso de ultrassom em anestesia regional permite visualizar a colocação da agulha e a propagação dos anestésicos locais. Nos últimos anos houve um grande interesse em determinar o volume mínimo eficaz de anestésico necessário para fazer a anestesia cirúrgica. A visualização precisa e em tempo real da difusão dos anestésicos locais com o uso de ultrassom pode ser o melhor requisito para reduzir a dose e os efeitos relacionados aos anestésicos locais. Revisamos uma série de estudos que relataram a eficácia de bloqueios guiados por ultrassom para reduzir o uso de anestésicos locais e obter anestesia cirúrgica, em comparação com bloqueios feitos com a técnica às cegas e de estimulação elétrica de nervos. Infelizmente, os resultados dos estudos são muito divergentes e não parecem indicar uma dose considerada eficaz para cada bloqueio de modo definitivo, mas é verdade que, com o auxílio do ultrassom, é possível reduzir a dose dos anestésicos em bloqueios.

Minimum anesthetic volume in regional anesthesia by using ultrasound-guidance.

The ultrasound guidance in regional anesthesia ensures the visualization of needle placement and the spread of Local Anesthetics. Over the past few years there was a substantial interest in determining the Minimum Effective Anesthetic Volume necessary to accomplish surgical anesthesia. The precise and real-time visualization of Local Anesthetics spread under ultrasound guidance block may represent the best requisite for reducing Local Anesthetics dose and Local Anesthetics-related effects. We will report a series of studies that have demonstrated the efficacy of ultrasound guidance blocks to reduce Local Anesthetics and obtain surgical anesthesia as compared to block performed under blind or electrical nerve stimulation technique. Unfortunately, the results of studies are widely divergent and not seem to indicate a dose considered effective, for each block, in a definitive way; but it is true that, through the use of ultrasound guidance, it is possible to reduce the dose of anesthetic in the performance of anesthetic blocks.

Linezolid extracorporeal removal during haemodialysis with high cut-off membrane in critically ill patients.

Continuous venovenous haemodialysis with high cut-off membrane (HCO-CVVHD) is often used in critically ill septic patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) to sustain renal function and to remove circulating inflammatory mediators. The aim of this study was to analyse the extracorporeal removal of linezolid and related alterations in pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) parameters during HCO-CVVHD. Three critically ill septic patients with AKI, treated with linezolid and HCO-CVVHD, were prospectively observed. To calculate the extracorporeal clearance of linezolid and the PK parameters, effluent, pre-filter and post-filter samples were contemporaneously collected before linezolid infusion, just after 1-h infusion (maximum serum concentration; C(max)), at 3 h and 6 h after dosing, and before the next dose (trough serum concentration; C(min)). Linezolid C(max) and C(min) (pre-filter) ranged from 10.4-23.5 mg/L and from 2.9-10.3 mg/L. The dialysate saturation coefficient was 0.66-0.85 and the extracorporeal clearance with a diffusive dose of 35 m L/kg/h ranged from 2.1-2.5 L/h. Total linezolid clearance was between 1.7 L/h and 6.3 L/h. The total area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC0-∞) ranged from 95.1 mgh/L to 352.9 mgh/L, in accordance with the different clinical conditions. AUCfree/MIC ratios were always <85 for an MIC of 4.0 mg/L, and two of three patients did not reach the optimal PK/PD target of ≥85 even when using an MIC of 2.0 mg/L. Although extracorporeal clearance may affect linezolid total clearance, the clinical features of critically ill septic patients appear to be mainly responsible for the high variability of linezolid serum concentrations.

Postoperative analgesia in patients older than 75 years undergoing intervention for per-trochanteric hip fracture: a single centre retrospective cohort study.

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of four analgesia techniques on postoperative pain after per-trochanteric femur fracture. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 131 consecutive patients older than 75 years enrolled in an 18-month period and who underwent per-trochanteric fracture repair under spinal analgesia. Patients received postoperative analgesia from: G1 (n = 36), intravenous analgesia on demand only; G2 (n = 28) administration of acetaminophen at fixed hours; G3 (n = 50) continuous morphine infusion; G4 (n = 17), preoperative echo-graphic guided femoral nerve block. Continuous opioid infusion failed to prevent the onset of pain at the end of the effects of subarachnoid anesthesia (rescue dose of analgesic in 48 % of patients in G3 vs. 22 % in G2 in the first day; p < 0.05). The greater effectiveness was achieved by preventing the onset of pain with drugs administered at time intervals (rescue dose of analgesic in 48 % of patients in G3, 58 % in G1 and 48 % in G4 vs. 22 % in G2 in the first day and rescue dose of analgesic in 32 % of patients in G3, 67 % in G1 and 76 % in G4 vs. 18 % in G2 in the second day; p < 0.05). Our study does not confirm the effectiveness of a single shot femoral nerve block on postoperative pain in per-trochanteric femur fracture (PAIN VAS score > 3 at t1 in 23 % of patients in G1 and 19 % in G4 vs. 10 % in G2 and G3; p < 0.05).

[Which tools should be used to identify educational objectives? The experience of the Tuscany Region]. / Quali strumenti per l'individuazione degli obiettivi formativi? L'esperienza della Regione Toscana.

The tools used by the Tuscany Region to identify its training objectives show the Region's training network. Continuing education is planned, delivered, and evaluated by an "educational networking". This means that people involved in the educational process are not alone but are part of a network constituting a system, which is linked at three interconnected levels: Regional, sub-Regional (consortia of local health units linked together according to their geographical position), and "Area Aziendale". The three levels contribute to outline strategies, to bring into focus the information needs, to match them and to evaluate the effectiveness of the CME.