Obstetric admissions to the intensive care unit in a tertiary referral hospital.

PURPOSE: The present study was conducted to evaluate the obstetric admissions to the intensive care unit (ICU) in the setting of a tertiary referral hospital in an attempt to identify the risk factors influencing maternal outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All of the obstetric patients who seeked care for delivery at the emergency department and who were admitted to the ICU between January 2006 to July 2009 were retrospectively identified. The Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS II) was calculated and the maternal mortality rate was estimated for each patient. The mean SAPS II scores and the mean estimated maternal mortality rates for the surviving patients and the nonsurviving patients were compared. RESULTS: Seventy-three obstetric patients were admitted to the ICU. There were 9 maternal deaths and 24 fetal deaths. For the surviving group of patients, the mean SAPS II score was 34 and estimated maternal mortality rate was 20%, whereas for the nonsurviving group of patients, the SAPS II score was 64 and estimated maternal mortality rate was 73%. The difference between the surviving group of patients and the nonsurviving group of patients was statistically significant regarding both the mean SAPS II scores and the mean estimated maternal mortality rates. CONCLUSIONS: Pregnancy-induced hypertensive disorders and hemorrhage appear as the major risk factors influencing maternal outcome in obstetric patients. Considering that the use of the SAPS II scores have enabled the reliable estimation of the mortality rates in the present study, the attempts at defining the focus of care for the obstetric patients who bear the major risk factors and who are admitted to the ICU should be carried out under the guidance of the ICU scoring systems such as the SAPS II.

Comparison of the antibacterial activity of lidocaine 1% versus alkalinized lidocaine in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Infections after epidural and spinal blocks are rare. The topical anesthetic liclocaine used in these procedures has been found to have antibacterial effects on various microorganisms. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the antibacterial effects of alkalinized liclocaine on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. METHODS: Lidocaine 2%, alkalinized lidocaine, and physiologic saline (as a control solution) were added to standard bacterial preparations. The final concentration of the lidocaine was 10 mg/mL (1%). At baseline and 3 and 6 hours after incubation at 37°C, 3-mL aliquots were vortexed and pipetted into sterile polystyrene spectrophotometer cuvettes. Baseline referred to the end of the period of preparation of the solution (≤20 minutes). Growth was measured as the optical density at a wavelength of 540 nm. RESULTS: Compared with the control, lidocaine significantly inhibited the growth of S aureus, E coli, and P aeruginosa at baseline and 3 and 6 hours after incubation (all, P < 0.05). Alkalinized lidocaine significantly inhibited the growth of S aureus at baseline and 3 and 6 hours (all, P < 0.05), while it significantly inhibited the growth of E coli and P aeruginosa only at 6 hours (both, P < 0.05). The growth of E coli was significantly less in lidocaine than in alkalinized lidocaine at 0 and 3 hours (both, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The antibacterial effect of lidocaine 1% on S aureus was not changed after alkalinization. The effect of alkalinized lidocaine on E coli and P aeruginosa was significant only at 6 hours. Lidocaine significantly inhibited the growth of these 3 microorganisms at all study periods.

Hemodynamic, hepatorenal, and postoperative effects of desflurane-fentanyl and midazolam-fentanyl anesthesia in coronary artery bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the hemodynamic, hepatorenal, and postoperative effects of desflurane-fentanyl and midazolam-fentanyl anesthesia during coronary artery bypass surgery. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: University hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting surgery with ejection fraction more than 45%. INTERVENTIONS: Anesthesia was induced with etomidate, 0.2 mg/kg, and fentanyl, 5 microg/kg, in group D (n = 30) and with midazolam, 0.1 to 0.3 mg/kg, and fentanyl, 5 microg/kg, in group M (n = 30). Anesthesia was maintained with desflurane, 2% to 6%, and fentanyl, 15 to 25 microg/kg, in group D and midazolam infusion, 0.1 to 0.5 mg/kg/h, and fentanyl, 15 to 25 microg/kg, in group M. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Hemodynamic monitoring included a 5-lead electrocardiogram, a radial artery catheter, and a pulmonary artery catheter. Data were obtained before induction of anesthesia (t0), after induction of anesthesia (t1), after intubation (t2), after surgical incision (t3), after sternotomy (t4), before cardiopulmonary bypass (t5), after protamine infusion (t6), and at the end of the surgery (t7). Blood samples were obtained to measure total bilirubin, aspartate aminotransferase, gamma glutamyl transferase, lactate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen just before induction of anesthesia and at the first, fourth, and 14th days postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative hemodynamic responses were similar in both groups, and transient hepatic and renal dysfunctions were observed in the postoperative period in both groups. The extubation and intensive care unit discharge times were found to be shorter in the desflurane-fentanyl group.