Non-surgical bleeding in cardiac surgery.

Bleeding is an occurrence stemming from complex interactions encountered in cardiac surgery and is often attributed to the perioperative administration of anti-thrombotic products if inadequate surgical haemostasis is excluded. Very occasionally, bleeding does not fit the norm and the aetiology is not a lack of surgical prolene or an iatrogenic-induced coagulopathy. Patients who present for cardiac surgery should be questioned carefully for a history of bleeding; however, patients at risk are not always identified.

A novel approach: how an intracoronary shunt proved to be lifesaving.

Outcomes and complications following internal massage in cardiac surgery are unknown due to the lack of cumulative effort to capture those events and subsequently developing a registry. Therefore, under the circumstances there are no algorithms defined in the literature. This case report outlines the importance of sound decision-making under pressure in order to achieve a favourable outcome.

A meta-analysis comparing muscle-sparing and posterolateral thoracotomy.

We compared outcomes of posterolateral thoracotomy vs muscle-sparing thoracotomy after open thoracic operations. Twelve trials were included, comprising 571 patients in the muscle-sparing thoracotomy group and 512 patients in the posterolateral thoracotomy group. There was significantly improved shoulder internal rotation (weighted mean difference, -1.

A meta-analysis assessing the benefits of concomitant pleural tent procedure after upper lobectomy.

A meta-analysis comparing outcomes of upper lobectomies with or without pleural tenting was performed. Five trials comprising 396 patients were selected. There was significantly reduced duration of hospital stay, chest drain use, and air leak in the pleural tenting group compared with the group without the pleural tent.