Approach to the vascular complications of lumbar disc surgery.

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the role of major surgery on patients presenting with vascular complications after lumbar disc surgery. A retrospective analysis of seven cases treated surgically in two tertiary care centers between August 2001 and June 2010 was carried out. The average age of patients (three women and four men) was 35.8 ± 7.2. The most common vessel injured was the left common iliac artery occurring in five patients (71.4%), followed by the left common iliac vein injury detected in two patients (28.5%). Transperitoneal approach was preferred in all cases and primary suturing, graft interposition and end-to-end anastomoses were the surgical methods used for the repair of vascular injury. No mortality was seen in our series during the follow-up period of two years; however, the most noteworthy complication was paraplegia occurring in one patient. Vascular injury occurring at lumbar discus surgery has a considerable potential for morbidity and mortality. A high index of suspicion is necessary for early diagnosis. In hemodynamically instable patients, the transperitoneal approach provides better exposure and more effective control of hemorrhage, while minimal angiography and endovascular intervention should be preserved for hemodynamically stable cases.

The clinical utility of vascular mapping with Doppler ultrasound prior to arteriovenous fistula construction for hemodialysis access.

PURPOSE: To compare the outcomes of vascular access (VA) procedures performed using physical examination (PE) alone to PE and ultrasound vein mapping for assessment of patients needing hemodialysis access. METHODS: Comparative analysis of data obtained by retrospective review of records of 63 patients who underwent PE and vascular mapping (VM) using colored Doppler ultrasonography (CDUS) and 76 patients assessed by physical examination alone to schedule vascular access surgery. The parameters assessed to study the impact of these two different pre-operative assessment approaches included selection of surgical site, procedure, construction of arteriovenous fistulas (AVF) and grafts (AVG), negative surgical exploration rates and surgical outcomes (maturation and patency rates). RESULTS: The rate of successfully constructed AVF increased significantly from 75% to 97% (P=.001) with pre-operative ultrasonographic vascular mapping. In 22 patients (34.9%) the access planned with physical examination was modified based on CDUS examination. In 12 patients, the surgical site for AVF creation and type of surgical procedure were modified based on the CDUS results. Permanent access placement rates were significantly higher in patients assessed with CDUS (P=.001). All patients who underwent vascular mapping had successful VA construction while the PE group had a 18.4% negative surgical exploration rate. When fistulas were assessed at six months, the patency rate was 80.7% for the physical examination (PE) group and 93.4% for the vascular mapping (VM) group. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-operative vascular mapping using CDUS significantly increases the success of AVF construction and patency.

Pentoxifylline affects cytokine reaction in cardiopulmonary bypass.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac surgery is associated with an inflammatory response that may cause myocardial dysfunction after cardiopulmonary bypass. We examined the efficacy of pentoxifylline to attenuate the cardiopulmonary bypass-induced inflammatory response during heart operations. METHODS: In a prospective, randomized study, 30 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery received either pentoxifylline (group P, n = 15) (continuous infusion of 1.5 mg/kg per hour during operation) or not (group C [control], n = 15). Blood samples for measurements of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-10 were taken from the arterial line in both groups at 5 different time points. RESULTS: TNF-alpha, IL-6, and IL-8 plasma levels increased in both groups after cardiopulmonary bypass, with a higher increase in the control group (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicate that pentoxifylline infusion during cardiac surgery inhibits the proinflammatory cytokine release caused by cardiopulmonary bypass.