Intraoperative volume restriction in esophageal cancer surgery: an exploratory randomized clinical trial.

Aim: To investigate whether the fluid volume administered during esophageal cancer surgery affects pulmonary gas exchange and tissue perfusion.

Methods: An exploratory single-center randomized clinical trial was performed. Patients with esophageal cancer who underwent Lewis-Tanner procedure between June 2011 and August 2012 at the Department of Thoracic surgery "Jordanovac", Zagreb were analyzed.

Postintubation tracheal injuries--case series and literature review.

SUMMARY - Post-intubation tracheal injury is a rare and potentially fatal complication. The most common causes are overinflation ofendotracheal tube cuffs and multiple intubation attempts in emergency cases. The diagnosis is based on clinical and radiological suspicion of tracheal injury confirmed by fiberoptic bronchoscopy.

The analgesic effect of magnesium sulfate in patients undergoing thoracotomy.

Magnesium can act as an adjuvant in analgesia due to its properties of calcium channel blocker and N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist. The aim of our study was to determine if magnesium sulfate reduces perioperative analgesic requirements in patients undergoing thoracotomy procedure. Our study included 68 patients undergoing elective thoracotomy that received a bolus of 30-50 mg/kg MgSO4 followed by continuous infusion of 500 mg/h intraoperatively and 500 mg/h during the first 24 hours after the operation, or the same volume of isotonic solution (control group).

[Unsuspected posterior mediastinal paraganglioma--anesthetic risk].

A 70-year old female patient was admitted to the hospital because of scheduled thoracotomy and biopsy of posterior mediastinal retrocardiac tumor of unrecognized etiology. The patient had no complaints regarding the tumor. Routine anesthesiological preoperative examination revealed status ASA III.

[Role of transthoracic echocardiography in evaluation of cardiac risk in thoracic surgery].

Background And Objective: It is not precisely defined which group of non-cardiac surgery patients should undergo transthoracic echocardiography in preoperative preparation. This study was prospectively performed to find out whether the routine use of echocardiography is justified in patients scheduled for lung resection, and to assess its role in cardiac risk evaluation.

Methods: Patients classified as ASA III who were identified as having minor or intermediate predictors of cardiac risk were included in the study.