Fat Embolism Syndrome Mimicking a COVID-19 Infection.

Fat embolism syndrome (FES) is a multiple organ disorder that can appear after pelvic and long bone fractures. The most common clinical finding is hypoxia, accompanied by diffuse petechiae, alveolar infiltrates, altered mental status, fever, polypnea, and tachycardia. We present a mild FES case on a 32-year-old man with no medical history admitted for an orthopedic procedure, following both tibia and fibulae fractures. Thirty hours postoperatively, he developed respiratory failure with altered mental status and needed admission in the intensive care unit. The chest radiography and later chest tomography raised the suspicion of a COVID-19 disease, even if our first suspicion was FES. After being carefully investigated in a dedicated COVID-19 ward and three negative RT-PCR SARS-CoV-2 tests, he returned to continue supportive treatment in the orthopedic intensive care ward. His evolution was favorable with discharge at ten days, without sequelae. In the context of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic, differential diagnosis has become an increasingly challenging process. Added to the variety of preexisting respiratory diseases and disorders, the COVID-19 infection, with its symptomatology so similar to multiple other pulmonary diseases, must not cloud our clinical judgement.

A modified ultrasound-guided supraclavicular brachial plexus block for the operative fixation of the humerus head and shaft fractures.

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The public perception of the anaesthesiologist in Romania: a survey.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that the public perception of anaesthesiologists' duties regarding perioperative management lacks a good understanding. The aim of this study was to assess the public perception of the anaesthesiologist's role before, during and after surgery, in Romania. METHOD: The prospective cross-sectional study was undertaken between January 2015 and August 2016. A questionnaire that comprised 23 questions was uploaded on Google at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1KxC8jSYydhEu3pn0Hr0LHEsuCEQLSEHQqUo_HzrHuw8/viewform. The link was forwarded on-line randomly (mail, social media). The questions were structured based on current literature. Inclusion criteria were people aged >15 years and not directly related to any medical activity. The answers were anonymously registered, in real time, in an Excel format, used later to process the statistics. RESULTS: 1153 people completed the questionnaire, 61% female and 39% male, 80.8% being from the urban area and 19.2% from the countryside. 62.7% were hospitalized in the past, and 49.8% had undergone at least one surgery. From the questioned group 65.2% had graduated university, and 64.3% were aged between 20 and 40 years. A majority of 1089 respondents (94.6%) knew that the anaesthesiologist was responsible for providing anaesthesia in the operating room. 26.6% considered that the surgeon and the anaesthesiologist played different roles in OR, but 54.4% understood that there is a collaboration between them during surgery. Only 36.2% were aware that the anaesthesiologist replaces blood losses and provides patients hemodynamic stability and proper oxygenation during surgery. 54.6% believe that the surgeon decides upon the postoperative pain management and only 32% know the anaesthesiologist is the physician in charge of intensive care patients. 79.5% of respondents are willing to receive from their anaesthesiologist detailed information, regarding anaesthesia and postoperative care, before surgery, and consider that more publicity should be made regarding this profession. CONCLUSION: The public perception of the anaesthesiologist's role in Romania is inaccurate in spite of the fact that a large group in our study comprised highly educated people living in urban areas. We consider that further strengthening of the anaesthesiologist/patient relationship and an increased media exposure of our specialty would help to improve its social perception.

Basic Features and Clinical Applicability of 'Preliminary Universal Surgical Invasiveness Score' (pUSIS): A Multi-Centre Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVE: There is still a lack of a universally applicable and comprehensive scoring system for documenting the invasiveness of surgical procedures. The proposed preliminary 'Universal Surgical Invasiveness Score' (pUSIS) is intended to fill this gap. METHODS: We used the recently developed pUSIS to obtain values from 8 types of surgery and 80 individual interventions. The results were analysed using descriptive statistical methods. The degree of difficulty on a scale from 0 (very easy) to 10 (extremely difficult) and time expenditures for assessing pUSIS were documented. RESULTS: Individual pUSIS values ranged from 8 in a laparoscopic cholecystectomy case to 36 in a total hip replacement case. The lowest median pUSIS value of 11.5 was found for laparoscopic cholecystectomy and the highest value of 24.5 was found for open thoracic surgery. The correlation between pUSIS values and the duration of surgery resulted in a tight linear regression (R2=0.6419). The lowest mean (±SD) difficulty level to obtain pUSIS values was 1.6±0.6 for sleeve gastrectomy and the highest one was 2.9±0.6 for knee replacement. The duration to finalise the calculations was 4.1±1.1 min for video-assisted thoracoscopy (VATS) and 9.4±1.3 min for sleeve gastrectomy. CONCLUSION: We concluded that pUSIS has the potential to be a useful, simply obtainable and universal assessment tool for quantification of the magnitude and invasiveness of individual surgical operations and can serve as a means to quantify surgical interventions for outcome research and evaluate surgical performance.

Pain level after ACL reconstruction: A comparative study between free quadriceps tendon and hamstring tendons autografts.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the pain levels and analgesic consumption after single bundle ACL reconstruction with free quadriceps tendon autograft versus hamstring tendon autograft. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 48 patients scheduled for anatomic single-bundle ACL reconstruction were randomized into two groups: the free quadriceps tendon autograft group (24 patients) and the hamstring tendons autograft group (24 patients). A basic multimodal analgesic postoperative program was used for all patients and rescue analgesia was provided with tramadol, at pain scores over 30 on the Visual Analog Scale. The time to the first rescue analgesic, the number of doses of tramadol and pain scores were recorded. The results within the same group were compared with the Wilcoxon signed test. RESULTS: Supplementary analgesic drug administration proved significantly higher in the group of subjects with hamstring grafts, with a median (interquartile range) of 1 (1.3) dose, compared to the group of subjects treated with a quadriceps graft, median = 0.5 (0.1.25) (p = 0.009). A significantly higher number of subjects with a quadriceps graft did not require any supplementary analgesic drug (50%) as compared with subjects with hamstring graft (13%; Z-statistics = 3.01, p = 0.002). The percentage of subjects who required a supplementary analgesic drug was 38% higher in the HT group compared with the FQT group. CONCLUSION: The use of the free quadriceps tendon autograft for ACL reconstruction leads to less pain and analgesic consumption in the immediate postoperative period compared with the use of hamstrings autograft. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level I Therapeutic study.

Duloxetine, an antidepressant with analgesic properties - a preliminary analysis.

Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors are second-line antidepressants largely used because of their good tolerance and their reduced side effects. Two of these drugs, duloxetine and venlafaxine, are used also in chronic pain management. In this review we present recent data regarding duloxetine's effects on the central nervous system, linked to acute pain management, and their efficiency in reducing postoperative chronic pain. The drug's efficacy results from its modulating effect on the descending inhibitory pain pathways and the inhibition of the nociceptive input. There are already several studies in favor of the analgesic properties of duloxetine. However, further and larger randomized studies are necessary in order to clarify duloxetine efficiency in acute postoperative settings, and thereafter on persistent chronic postoperative pain.