Use of hydroxocobalamin to treat intraoperative vasoplegic syndrome refractory to vasopressors and methylene blue during liver transplantation.

Introduction: For patients with catecholamine-resistant vasoplegic syndrome (VS) during liver transplantation (LT), treatment with methylene blue (MB) and/or hydroxocobalamin (B12) has been an acceptable therapy. However, data on the effectiveness of B12 is limited to case reports and case series.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of patients undergoing LT from January 2016 through March 2022.

Preemptive Venoarterial Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Liver Transplantation-Judicious Candidate Selection.

Portopulmonary hypertension is a relatively common pathologic condition in patients with end-stage liver disease. Traditionally, severe pulmonary hypertension is regarded as a contraindication to liver transplantation (LT) due to a high perioperative mortality rate. Recently, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) has been utilized for intraoperative management of LT.

The Practice of Fast-Track Liver Transplant Anesthesia.

Prior to the 1990s, prolonged postoperative intubation and admission to the intensive care unit was considered the standard of care following liver transplantation. Advocates of this practice speculated that this time allowed patients to recover from the stress of major surgery and allowed their clinicians to optimize the recipients' hemodynamics. As evidence in the cardiac surgical literature on the feasibility of early extubation grew, clinicians began applying these principles to liver transplant recipients.

Preoperative echocardiography as a prognostic tool for liver transplant in patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) presents with a hypertrophied left ventricle (LV). It is often associated with LV outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) and a risk for sudden death. This study aimed to describe outcomes of patients with HCM who underwent liver transplant (LT).

Adult liver transplant anesthesiology practice patterns and resource utilization in the United States: Survey results from the society for the advancement of transplant anesthesia.

Introduction: Liver transplant anesthesiology is an evolving and expanding subspecialty, and programs have, in the past, exhibited significant variations of practice at transplant centers across the United States. In order to explore current practice patterns, the Quality & Standards Committee from the Society for the Advancement of Transplant Anesthesia (SATA) undertook a survey of liver transplant anesthesiology program directors.

Methods: Program directors were invited to participate in an online questionnaire.

Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A New Surgical Patient Flow Utilizing the Preoperative Evaluation Clinic.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the study institution recognized the importance of providing preoperative COVID-19 testing and symptom screening to ensure patient safety. A multidisciplinary quality improvement team used Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control methodology to understand the issues, identify solutions, and streamline patient flow. The existing preoperative evaluation (POE) clinic was utilized as a centralized entity to provide COVID-19 testing, symptom screening, and infection prevention education in addition to routine preoperative medical optimization.

Nonopioid Modalities for Acute Postoperative Pain in Abdominal Transplant Recipients.

The field of abdominal organ transplantation is multifaceted, with the clinician balancing recipient comorbidities, risks of the surgical procedure, and the pathophysiology of immunosuppression to ensure optimal outcomes. An underappreciated element throughout this process is acute pain management related to the surgical procedure. As the opioid epidemic continues to grow with increasing numbers of transplant candidates on opioids as well the increase in the development of enhanced recovery after surgery protocols, there is a need for greater focus on optimal postoperative pain control to minimize opioid use and improve outcomes.

Intraoperative Events in Liver Transplantation Using Donation After Circulatory Death Donors.

Liver grafts from donation after circulatory death (DCD) are a source of organs to decrease wait-list mortality. While there have been lower rates of graft loss, there are concerns of an increased incidence of intraoperative events in recipients of DCD grafts. We aim to look at the incidence of intraoperative events between recipients of livers from DCD and donation after brain death (DBD) donors.

Upper Extremity Compartment Syndrome Following Radial Artery Puncture in a Patient Undergoing Orthotopic Liver Transplant.

Acute compartment syndrome is the physiologic consequence of increasing pressures within an enclosed anatomic space; if left untreated, it can subsequently cause irreversible necrosis, nerve injury, and tissue damage. A number of iatrogenic causes have been reported in the literature; however, to the best of our knowledge, there are no prior reports of upper extremity compartment syndrome in orthotopic liver transplant following arterial line placement. Here, we report a 52-year-old male with a history of end-stage liver disease secondary to primary sclerosing cho-langitis who presented for orthotopic liver transplant.

[Fulminant hepatic failure after simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplantation: a case report].

We describe an unusual case of hyperacute hepatic failure following general anesthesia in a patient receiving a simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplant. Despite an aggressive evaluation of structural, immunological, viral, and toxicological causes, a definitive cause could not be elucidated. The patient required a liver transplant and suffered a protracted hospital course.

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy in Liver Transplantation Patients.

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an autosomal dominant disorder that presents with a hypertrophied nondilated left ventricle. In the absence of other known causes of cardiomyopathy, it is often associated with left ventricular outflow tract obstruction during systole, systolic anterior motion of the mitral valve, mitral regurgitation, and increased risk of sudden cardiac death. When HCM coexists with end-stage liver disease, it can be further complicated by cirrhosis-associated cardiovascular abnormalities, including hyperdynamic circulation, systolic and diastolic dysfunction, and electrophysiologic abnormalities.

Cardiac diseases among liver transplant candidates.

Improvements in early survival after liver transplant (LT) have allowed for the selection of LT candidates with multiple comorbidities. Cardiovascular disease is a major contributor to post-LT complications. We performed a literature search to identify the causes of cardiac disease in the LT population and to describe techniques for diagnosis and perioperative management.

Pharmacology and Perioperative Considerations of Pain Medications.

Background: Pain continues to be the most common medical concern, and perioperative health care providers are encountering increasing numbers of patients with chronic pain conditions. It is important to have a clear understanding of how long-term use of pain medications impacts anesthesia during the intraoperative and postoperative periods.

Objective: To review common medications used to treat chronic pain and summarize current recommendations regarding perioperative care.

Perioperative Pulmonary Medication Management.

Background: Pulmonary conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common conditions that warrant special consideration in the perioperative period. When these patients undergo surgical interventions, they have risk of complications such as bronchospasm, hypoxia, and even postoperative respiratory failure that warrant unplanned intensive care unit admission. Thus, clinicians must be familiar with pulmonary medication regimens that are critical for maintaining stable homeostasis of these chronic conditions.

Pharmacologic and Perioperative Considerations for Antihypertensive Medications.

Background: As the prevalence of hypertension continues to increase, physicians routinely encounter patients preoperatively receiving one or more cardiovascular medications to manage hypertension. Thus, the physician's knowledge of perioperative antihypertensive medication management is crucial to ensure patient safety.

Objective: We discuss the decisions to continue or stop antihypertensive medications to reduce the risk of perioperative complications.

Perioperative stroke: incidence, etiologic factors, and prevention.

Stroke is a devastating complication that is difficult to diagnose in the perioperative setting because of the effects of anesthetic and analgesic agents. Lingering anesthesia effects hinder clinicians in identifying stroke symptoms, frequently resulting in a delay in diagnosis and treatment and in unfavorable outcomes. The authors performed a systematic search in PubMed and the Cochrane Central Register.

Intra-operative predictors of postoperative Takotsubo syndrome in liver transplant recipients-An exploratory case-control study.

Introduction: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS), also known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy or stress-induced cardiomyopathy, has been described following a variety of surgeries and disease states. The relationship between intra-operative anesthesia management and the development of this syndrome has never been fully elucidated.

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to determine the relationship of multiple intra-operative factors on the pathogenesis of TTS.

Pharmacology and Perioperative Considerations for Diabetes Mellitus Medications.

Background: Given the prevalence of diabetes mellitus in modern society, health care providers are frequently tasked with managing glucose control in the perioperative period. When determining perioperative diabetes management, the clinician must balance the need to maintain relative euglycemia at the time of surgery with preventing hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia in a fasting surgical patient. This balance requires an understanding of the pharmacology of these medications, the type of surgery, and the patient's degree of diabetic control.

Preoperative Clinical Characteristics That Identify Potential Low-Volume Transfusion Candidates Among Orthotopic Liver Transplant Patients.

Objectives: The primary aim of this study was to determine whether specific preoperative clinical characteristics were associated with low-volume transfusion in liver transplant recipients. Low-volume transfusion was defined as transfusion of < 2100 mL of packed red blood cells intraoperatively during liver transplant. The ability to accurately predict low-volume transfusion could increase patient safety, decrease complications associated with transfusion, improve blood management, and decrease transplant case cost.

Atrioventricular Sequential Pacing for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy During Liver Transplantation.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a myocardial disorder that carries an increased risk of morbidity and mortality during liver transplantation. We describe the use of atrioventricular sequential pacing, placed preoperatively, to assist with intraoperative management of a patient with severe refractory hypertrophic cardiomyopathy undergoing orthotopic piggyback liver transplantation. We discuss the pathogenesis and treatment of this infrequent but serious comorbidity.

Fast track anesthesia for liver transplantation: Review of the current practice.

Historically, patients undergoing liver transplantation were left intubated and extubated in the intensive care unit (ICU) after a period of recovery. Proponents of this practice argued that these patients were critically ill and need time to be properly optimized from a physiological and pain standpoint prior to extubation. Recently, there has been a growing movement toward early extubation in transplant centers worldwide.

Complications related to intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography in liver transplantation.

Purpose: Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) has commonly been used for evaluating cardiac function and monitoring hemodynamic parameters during complex surgical cases. Anesthesiologists may be dissuaded from using TEE in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) out of concern about rupture of esophageal varices. Complications associated with TEE in OLT were evaluated.

Intracardiac thrombosis during liver transplant: A 17-year single-institution study.

Intracardiac thrombosis (ICT) during orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is an uncommon event. However, it is a devastating complication with high mortality when it occurs. This study aimed to identify possible predisposing factors for ICT during OLT.