Is there any benefit in associating neuraxial anesthesia to general anesthesia for coronary artery bypass graft surgery?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The use of neuraxial anesthesia in cardiac surgery is recent, but the hemodynamic effects of local anesthetics and anticoagulation can result in risk to patients. OBJECTIVE: To review the benefits of neuraxial anesthesia in cardiac surgery for CABG through a systematic review of systematic reviews. CONTENT: The search was performed in Pubmed (January 1966 to December 2012), Embase (1974 to December 2012), The Cochrane Library (volume 10, 2012) and Lilacs (1982 to December 2012) databases, in search of articles of systematic reviews. The following variables: mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, in-hospital length of stay, arrhythmias and epidural hematoma were analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: The use of neuraxial anesthesia in cardiac surgery remains controversial. The greatest benefit found by this review was the possibility of reducing postoperative arrhythmias, but this result was contradictory among the identified findings. The results of findings regarding mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke and in-hospital length of stay did not show greater efficacy of neuraxial anesthesia.

Effectiveness of combined regional-general anesthesia for reducing mortality in coronary artery bypass: meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Neuraxial anesthesia (NA) has been used in association with general anesthesia (GA) for coronary artery bypass; however, anticoagulation during surgery makes us question the viability of benefits by the risk of epidural hematoma. The aim of this study was to perform a meta-analyzes examining the efficacy of NA associated with GA compared to GA alone for coronary artery bypass on mortality reduction. METHODS: Mortality, arrhythmias, cerebrovascular accident (CVA), myocardial infarction (MI), length of hospital stay (LHS), length of ICU stay (ICUS), reoperations, blood transfusion (BT), quality of life, satisfaction degree, and postoperative cognitive dysfunction were analyzed. The weighted mean difference (MD) was estimated for continuous variables, and relative risk (RR) and risk difference (RD) for categorical variables. RESULTS: 17 original articles analyzed. Meta-analysis of mortality (RD=-0.01, 95% CI=-0.03 to 0.01), CVA (RR=0.79, 95% CI=0.32-1.95), MI (RR=0.96, 95% CI=0.52-1.79) and LHS (MD=-1.94, 95% CI=-3.99 to 0.12) were not statistically significant. Arrhythmia was less frequent with NA (RR=0.68, 95% CI=0.50-0.93). ICUS was lower in NA (MD=-2.09, 95% CI=-2.92 to -1.26). CONCLUSION: There was no significant difference in mortality. Combined NA and GA showed lower incidence of arrhythmias and lower ICUS.

Use of neuromuscular blockers in Brazil.

The objective of this study was to evaluate how Brazilian anesthesiologists are using neuromuscular blockers, focusing on how they establish the diagnosis of postoperative residual curarization and the incidence of complications associated with the use of neuromuscular blockers. A questionnaire was sent to anesthesiologists inviting them to participate in the study. The online data collection remained open from March 2012 to June 2013. During the study period, 1296 responses were collected. Rocuronium, atracurium, and cisatracurium were the main neuromuscular blockers used in cases of elective surgery. Succinylcholine and rocuronium were the main neuromuscular blockers used in cases of emergency surgery. Less than 15% of anesthesiologists reported the frequent use of neuromuscular function monitors. Only 18% of those involved in the study reported that all workplaces have such a monitor. Most respondents reported using only the clinical criteria to assess whether the patient is recovered from the muscle relaxant. Most respondents also reported always using some form of neuromuscular blockade reversal. The major complications attributed to neuromuscular blockers were residual curarization and prolonged blockade. Eighteen anesthesiologists reported death attributed to neuromuscular blockers. Residual or prolonged blockade is possibly recorded as a result of the high rate of using clinical criteria to diagnose whether the patient has recovered or not from motor block and, as a corollary, the poor use of neuromuscular transmission monitors in daily practice.

Anatomical basis for sciatic nerve block at the knee level.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recently, administration of sciatic nerve block has been revised due to the potential benefit for postoperative analgesia and patient satisfaction after the advent of ultrasound. The aim of this study was to describe the anatomical relations of the sciatic nerve in the popliteal fossa to determine the optimal distance the needle must be positioned in order to realize the sciatic nerve block anterior to its bifurcation into the tibial and common fibular nerve. METHOD: The study was conducted by dissection of human cadavers' popliteal fossa, fixed in 10% formalin, from the Laboratory of Human Anatomy and Morphology Departments of the Universidade Federal de Alagoas and Universidade de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas. Access to the sciatic nerve was obtained. RESULTS: 44 popliteal fossa were analyzed. The bifurcation of the sciatic nerve in relation to the apex of the fossa was observed. There was bifurcation in: 67.96% below the apex, 15.90% above the apex, 11.36% near the apex, and 4.78% in the gluteal region. CONCLUSIONS: The sciatic nerve bifurcation to its branches occurs at various levels, and the chance to succeed when the needle is placed between 5 and 7 cm above the popliteal is 95.22%.

Case of anaphylaxis induced by rocuronium treated with sugammadex.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Anaphylaxis during anesthesia is a rare event that may occur in up to 1:20,000 cases and approximately 60% to 70% of these cases are secondary to the use of muscle relaxants, particularly succinylcholine and rocuronium. The aim of this report is to describe the treatment of a case of rocuronium-induced anaphylaxis with inadequate response to traditional therapy, and the case resolution after using sugammadex. CASE REPORT: A female patient, 62 years old, 72kg, was referred to the surgical center for treatment of epidural hematoma following an accident at home. She was monitored with pulse oximetry, cardioscope, and blood pressure meter for non-invasive blood pressure (BP) measurement. The baseline data were: BP 138/80 mm Hg, heart rate (HR) 80 bpm, and oxygen saturation (SaO(2)) 100% on room air. Anesthesia was induced with propofol 70 mg, fentanyl 200mg, and rocuronium 45 mg. After tracheal intubation, anaphylaxis non-responsive to conventional treatment was diagnosed. We chose the use of sugammadex 700 mg intravenously as an adjuvant agent. The patient had reversal of the anaphylactic reactions with improvement of hemodynamic profile and was operated and conducted to the intensive care unit. CONCLUSION: In this case, sugammadex was used to reverse the hemodynamic picture caused by rocuronium-induced anaphylaxis. However, it was not possible to identify the exact mechanism for the reversal.

Reversal of profound neuromuscular blockade with sugammadex after failure of rapid sequence endotracheal intubation: a case report.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Sugammadex is a reversal agent that acts as a selective antagonist of neuromuscular blockade induced by rocuronium and vecuronium. This is a case report of an elderly female patient who had sugammadex just after rocuronium induction. CASE REPORT: An 88-year-old female patient, 34 kg, presented a femoral fracture and had to undergo general anesthesia after spinal anesthesia failure. Induction was performed with propofol 1.5mg.kg(-1), rocuronium 1.2mg.kg(-1), fentanyl 100 mcg, and lidocaine 2mg.kg(-1). There was no success in either tracheal intubation or laryngeal mask positioning maneuvers. The use of sugammadex at a dose of 16 mg.kg(-1) was required and respiratory function returned to normal. CONCLUSION: Literature recommends sugammadex at a dose of 16 mg.kg(-1) for patients with profound blockade. It was used in our patient with rapid and effective reversal of neuromuscular blockade allowing the patient to undergo another procedure to ensure the airway patency without clinical impairment of her general condition.

Postoperative delirium in the elderly.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Postoperative delirium is a common complication in the elderly whose pathophysiology is not well known. It seems to be related to central cholinergic activity. A literature review was undertaken to describe the etiology, diagnosis, prophylactic strategies, and treatment of postoperative delirium. CONTENTS: Probable etiologies, diagnosis, prophylaxis, and treatment of postoperative delirium in the elderly were described. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of postoperative delirium is higher in the elderly, and prophylactic measures should be taken to reduce the mortality associated with this complication.

Spinal block for urgency orthopedic surgery in Von Recklinghausen's disease patient. Case report.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Von Recklinghausen's disease is a neurogenetic disease due to chromosome 17 abnormality. This report aimed at describing the anesthetic approach for Von Recklinghausen's disease patient submitted to urgency orthopedic surgery. CASE REPORT: Female patient, 28 years old, with Von Recklinghausen's disease, submitted to emergency orthopedic surgery under spinal block. There have been no complications both in the intraoperative period and in the post-anesthetic care unit. Patient was discharged 4 days later. CONCLUSIONS: Spinal block was possible in this case with no need for airway handling.