Styletubation in Bariatric Surgery: A Case Report.

Direct laryngoscopes and videolaryngoscopes are the dominant endotracheal intubation tools. The styletubation technique (using a video-assisted intubating stylet) has shown its advantages in terms of short intubation time, high success rate, less required stimulation, and operator satisfaction. The learning curve can be steep but is easily overcome if technical pitfalls are avoided. Conditions that make styletubation challenging include secretions/blood, short/stiff neck, restricted mouth opening and cervical spine mobility, anatomical abnormalities over head and neck regions, obesity, etc. In this clinical report, we present the effectiveness and efficiency of the routine use of the styletubation for tracheal intubation in a super-super-obese patient (BMI 103 kg/m2) undergoing bariatric surgery with laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

An Approach to Improve the Effectiveness of the Video-Assisted Intubating Stylet Technique for Tracheal Intubation: A Case Series Report.

Direct laryngoscopy and videolaryngoscopy are currently the dominant tools for endotracheal intubation. However, the video-assisted intubating stylet, a type of videolaryngoscopy, has been shown to offer some advantages over these tools, such as rapid intubation time, high first-attempt success rates, less airway stimulation, and high subjective satisfaction. On the other hand, this optical intubating technique also has some technical limitations that need to be addressed, including camera lens fogging, airway path disorientation, and obscured visibility due to secretions. In this clinical report, we describe an approach that improves the visibility of the glottis by introducing a suctioning catheter into the nasopharyngeal airway to enhance the efficiency and accuracy of using the intubating stylet technique for tracheal intubation.

Video-Twin Technique for Airway Management, Combining Video-Intubating Stylet with Videolaryngoscope: A Case Series Report and Review of the Literature.

Direct laryngoscopy (DL) and videolaryngoscopy (VL) have been the most commonly used airway management modalities in the last several decades. Meanwhile, various optional airway tools (e.g., supraglottic devices, fiberoptic bronchoscopes) have been used for alternative rescue modalities when anticipated or unexpected difficulties in airway management has occurred. In recent decades, optical stylets and video-assisted intubating stylets have become another option for difficult airway scenarios. In contrast to other approaches, we have adopted the Shikani video-assisted intubating stylet technique (VS) for both routine and difficult airway management scenarios. In this case series report, we present the video-twin technique, combining a videolaryngoscope with a video-assisted intubating stylet in various clinical case scenarios. We propose that such a combination is easy to learn and employ and is particularly beneficial in situations where an expected difficult airway (EDA) is encountered.

The Use of the Shikani Video-Assisted Intubating Stylet Technique in Patients with Restricted Neck Mobility.

Among all the proposed predictors of difficult intubation defined by the intubation difficulty scale, head and neck movement (motility) stands out and plays as a crucial factor in determining the success rate and the degree of ease on endotracheal intubation. Aside from other airway tools (e.g., supraglottic airway devices), optical devices have been developed and applied for more than two decades and have shown their superiority to conventional direct laryngoscopes in many clinical scenarios and settings. Although awake/asleep flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is still the gold standard in patients with unstable cervical spines immobilized with a rigid cervical collar or a halo neck brace, videolaryngoscopy has been repeatedly demonstrated to be advantageous. In this brief report, for the first time, we present our clinical experience on the routine use of the Shikani video-assisted intubating stylet technique in patients with traumatic cervical spine injuries immobilized with a cervical stabilizer and in a patient with a stereotactic headframe for neurosurgery. Some trouble-shooting strategies for this technique are discussed. This paper demonstrates that the video-assisted intubating stylet technique is an acceptable alternative airway management method in patients with restricted or confined neck motility.

Video-Assisted Stylet Intubation with a Plastic Sheet Barrier, a Safe and Simple Technique for Tracheal Intubation of COVID-19 Patients.

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, infection with the Omicron variants has become a serious risk to global public health. Anesthesia providers are often called upon for endotracheal intubations for COVID patients. Expedite and safe intubation can save patient's life, while minimizing the virus exposure to the anesthesia provider and personnel involved during airway intervention is very important to protect healthcare workers and conserve the medical work force. In this paper, we share clinical experience of using a video-assisted intubating stylet technique combined with a simple plastic sheet barrier placed over the patients' mouth for tracheal intubation during the Omicron crisis in Taiwan. We demonstrated that the use of an intubating stylet combined with plastic sheet barrier is swift, safe, and accurate in securing the airway in patients with COVID-19.

Video-Assisted Intubating Stylet Technique for Difficult Intubation: A Case Series Report.

Induction of anesthesia can be challenging for patients with difficult airways and head or neck tumors. Factors that could complicate airway management include poor dentition, limited mouth opening, restricted neck motility, narrowing of oral airway space, restricted laryngeal and pharyngeal space, and obstruction of glottic regions from the tumor. Current difficult airway management guidelines include awake tracheal intubation, anesthetized tracheal intubation, or combined awake and anesthetized intubation. Video laryngoscopy is often chosen over direct laryngoscopy in patients with difficult airways because of an improved laryngeal view, higher frequency of successful intubations, higher frequency of first-attempt intubation, and fewer intubation attempts. In this case series report, we describe the video-assisted intubating stylet technique in five patients with difficult airways. We believe that the intubating stylet is a feasible and safe airway technique for anesthetized tracheal intubation in patients with an anticipated difficult airway.

The impact of age in acute type A aortic dissection: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Acute type A aortic dissection (aTAAD) is a lethal disease and age is an important risk factor for outcomes. This retrospective study was to analyze the impact of age stratification in aTAAD, and to provide clues for surgeons when they make choices of therapy strategies. METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2019, 1092 aTAAD patients from Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital received surgical therapy. Patients were divided into 7 groups according to every ten-year interval (20-80 s). The differences between the groups were analyzed in terms of the baseline preoperative conditions, surgical methods and postoperative outcomes of patients of different age groups. During a median follow-up term of 17 months, the survival rates were compared among 7 groups through Kaplan-Meier analysis. RESULTS: The median age was 52.0 years old in whole cohort. The multiple comorbidities were more common in old age groups (60 s, 70 s, 80 s), while the 20 s group patients had the highest proportion of Marfan syndrome (28.1%). Preoperative hypotension was highest in 80 s (16.7%, P = 0.038). Young age groups (20-60 s) had a higher rate of root replacement and total arch replacement, which led to a longer duration of operation and hypothermic circulation arrest. The overall mortality was 14.1%, the tendency of mortality was increased with age except 20 s group (33.3% in 80 s, P = 0.016). The postoperative morbidity of gastrointestinal bleeding and bowel ischemia were 16.7% and 11.1% in 80 s group. CONCLUSIONS: Age is a major impact factor for aTAAD surgery. Old patients presented more comorbidities before surgery, the mortality and complications rate were significantly higher even with less invasive and conservative surgical therapy. But the favorable long-term survival indicated that the simple or less extensive arch repair is the preferred surgery for patients over 70 years old.

The Use of a Video-Assisted Intubating Stylet Technique in a Critically Ill and Contagious COVID-19 Patient.

Tracheal intubation and ventilatory support are among the important treatments in patients infected with COVID-19 with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and severe hypoxia. The intubating team often uses video-assisted intubation equipment to ensure a safe and successful tracheal intubation. In this case report, we demonstrate for the first time, the use of the Shikani video-assisted intubating stylet and the Shikani intubating technique as a safe, speedy, and effective way to intubate a critically ill and highly contagious COVID-19 patient. In addition to the conventional consensus guidelines that are currently available for good practice (such as the proper use of personal protection equipment, etc.), we demonstrated that using the Shikani video-assisted intubating stylet is a reliable and proficient technique that is easy to learn while minimizing the risk of COVID-19 exposure of the airway personnel.

Improved accuracy of cerebral blood flow quantification in the presence of systemic physiology cross-talk using multi-layer Monte Carlo modeling.

Significance: Contamination of diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF) due to systemic physiology remains a significant challenge in the clinical translation of DCS for neuromonitoring. Tunable, multi-layer Monte Carlo-based (MC) light transport models have the potential to remove extracerebral flow cross-talk in cerebral blood flow index ( CBF i ) estimates. Aim: We explore the effectiveness of MC DCS models in recovering accurate CBF i changes in the presence of strong systemic physiology variations during a hypercapnia maneuver. Approach: Multi-layer slab and head-like realistic (curved) geometries were used to run MC simulations of photon propagation through the head. The simulation data were post-processed into models with variable extracerebral thicknesses and used to fit DCS multi-distance intensity autocorrelation measurements to estimate CBF i timecourses. The results of the MC CBF i values from a set of human subject hypercapnia sessions were compared with CBF i values estimated using a semi-infinite analytical model, as commonly used in the field. Results: Group averages indicate a gradual systemic increase in blood flow following a different temporal profile versus the expected rapid CBF response. Optimized MC models, guided by several intrinsic criteria and a pressure modulation maneuver, were able to more effectively separate CBF i changes from scalp blood flow influence than the analytical fitting, which assumed a homogeneous medium. Three-layer models performed better than two-layer ones; slab and curved models achieved largely similar results, though curved geometries were closer to physiological layer thicknesses. Conclusion: Three-layer, adjustable MC models can be useful in separating distinct changes in scalp and brain blood flow. Pressure modulation, along with reasonable estimates of physiological parameters, can help direct the choice of appropriate layer thicknesses in MC models.

Effects of medium-chain triglycerides, long-chain triglycerides, or 2-monododecanoin on fatty acid composition in the portal vein, intestinal lymph, and systemic circulation in rats.

BACKGROUND: Fatty acid absorption patterns can have a major impact on the fatty acid composition in the portal, intestinal lymph, and systemic circulation. This study sought to determine the effects of long-chain triglycerides (LCT), medium-chain triglycerides (MCT), and 2-monododecanoin (2mono) on intestinal fatty acid composition during continuous feeding over a brief period. METHODS: The lipid sources were 100% LCT, 100% MCT, a 50:50 mixture of LCT and MCT (LCT/MCT), and a 50:50 mixture of LCT and 2mono (LCT/2mono). A total of 27 rats were randomly given 1 of the 4 diets at 200 kcal/kg/d, with 30% of total calories from lipids over 3 hours. RESULTS: MCT significantly increased each of the medium-chain fatty acids (C6:0, C8:0, and C10:0) as free fatty acids in the portal vein and about 10%/mol of C10:0 as triglycerides in the lymph compared with the other groups. There was significantly less C10:0 in lymphatic triglycerides with LCT/MCT than with MCT, but more than in the LCT and LCT/2mono diets. MCT also significantly increased the contents of C16:0, C18:0, C18:1, and C20:4 in the lymphatic triglycerides compared with all other groups including LCT/MCT. The amount of linoleic acid (C18:2) in lymphatic triglycerides followed the relative amounts of this fatty acid in the diet, with the greatest in LCT followed by LCT/MCT and LCT/2mono and least in MCT. A so-called structured lipid composed of the medium-chain fatty acid dodecanoic acid on the 2 position and long-chain fatty acids on the 1 and 3 positions appeared to be endogenously synthesized in response to the LCT/2mono diet. CONCLUSIONS: The original differences in MCT and LCT content in the diets were preserved in the fatty acid composition in the intestinal free fatty acids and triglycerides during feeding. In addition, the duration of lipid administration can play a role in altering fatty acid composition in the intestine.