Anesthetic management of neurosurgical emergencies.

Purpose Of Review: Neuroanesthesia presents unique challenges that require up-to-date knowledge in identification and management and multidisciplinary collaboration for optimal patient outcomes. This review paper aims to enhance the reader's understanding and preparedness for intraoperative emergencies based on current literature updates and consensus recommendations.

Recent Findings: Recent findings in traumatic brain injury (TBI) emphasize the importance of controlling intracranial pressure (ICP) and maintaining cerebral perfusion.

Volatile anesthetic and outcome in acute trauma care: planned secondary analysis of the PROPPR study.

Background: This retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data from the PROPPR study describes volatile anesthetic use in severely injured trauma patients undergoing anesthesia.

Methods: After exclusions, 402 subjects were reviewed of the original 680, and 292 had complete data available for analysis. Anesthesia was not protocolized, so analysis was of contemporary practice.

Perioperative Acute Kidney Injury.

Perioperative organ injury is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality of surgical patients. Among different types of perioperative organ injury, acute kidney injury occurs particularly frequently and has an exceptionally detrimental effect on surgical outcomes. Currently, acute kidney injury is most commonly diagnosed by assessing increases in serum creatinine concentration or decreased urine output.

Comparison of temporal artery temperature and bladder temperature in the postanesthesia care unit.

To verify that temporal artery (TA) temperature measured in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) in noncardiac surgical patients is a valid reflection of core temperature, a prospective, observational, institutional review board-approved study was conducted in a large, academic tertiary care hospital. The study developed from an initial quality improvement project. A total of 276 patients who had an indwelling bladder catheter as standard of care were enrolled when a research student was available over a 6-month period in 2015.

Evaluation and control of waste anesthetic gas in the postanesthesia care unit within patient and caregiver breathing zones.

This study (NCT02428413) evaluated waste anesthetic gas (WAG) in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) and assessed the utility of the ISO-Gard mask in reducing nursing exposure to WAG. We hypothesized that WAG levels in the patient's breathing zone upon recovery would exceed the recommended levels, leading to increased exposure of the PACU nurses, with use of the ISO-Gard mask limiting this exposure. A total of 125 adult patients were recruited to participate.

Whole Blood for Resuscitation in Adult Civilian Trauma in 2017: A Narrative Review.

After a hiatus of several decades, the concept of cold whole blood (WB) is being reintroduced into acute clinical trauma care in the United States. Initial implementation experience and data grew from military medical applications, followed by more recent development and data acquisition in civilian institutions. Anesthesiologists, especially those who work in acute trauma facilities, are likely to be presented with patients either receiving WB from the emergency department or may have WB as a therapeutic option in massive transfusion situations.

Scheduled Intravenous Acetaminophen Improves Patient Satisfaction With Postcraniotomy Pain Management: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Study.

Background: Postcraniotomy pain can be difficult to manage with opioids due to opioid-related side effects, including drowsiness, nausea/vomiting, confusion, and pupillary changes, potentially masking the signs of postoperative neurological deterioration. Intravenous (IV) acetaminophen, a nonopioid analgesic, has been reported to have opioid-sparing effects after abdominal and orthopedic surgeries. This study investigates whether IV acetaminophen has similar effects after craniotomy.

The New Kidney Donor Allocation System and Implications for Anesthesiologists.

Given potential disparity and limited allocation of deceased donor kidneys for transplantation, a new federal kidney allocation system was implemented in 2014. Donor organ function and estimated recipient survival in this system has implications for perioperative management of kidney transplant recipients. Early analysis suggests that many of the anticipated goals are being attained.

Resuscitative Endovascular Balloon Occlusion of the Aorta: Principles, Initial Clinical Experience, and Considerations for the Anesthesiologist.

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) is an endovascular technique that allows for temporary occlusion of the aorta in patients with severe, life-threatening, trauma-induced noncompressible hemorrhage arising below the diaphragm. REBOA utilizes a transfemoral balloon catheter inserted in a retrograde fashion into the aorta to provide inflow control and support blood pressure until definitive hemostasis can be achieved. Initial retrospective and registry clinical data in the trauma surgical literature demonstrate improvement in systolic blood pressure with balloon inflation and improved survival compared to open aortic cross-clamping via resuscitative thoracotomy.

Respiratory volume monitoring in an obese surgical population and the prediction of postoperative respiratory depression by the STOP-bang OSA risk score.

Study Objective: To evaluate use of a respiratory volume monitor (RVM; ExSpiron, Respiratory Motion, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) that provides minute ventilation (MV), tidal volume (TV) and respiratory rate (RR) measurements in obese surgical patients, hitherto undescribed.

Design: Prospective, IRB-approved observational study of RVM parameter accuracy in obese surgical patients, designed to test the ability of the RVM to detect predefined postoperative respiratory depression (PORD) and apneic events (POA) and to correlate STOP-Bang scores with PORD and POA.

Reliability of a faculty evaluated scoring system for anesthesiology resident applicants (Original Investigation).

Study Objective: To assess reliability and reproducibility of a recently instituted anesthesiology resident applicant interview scoring system at our own institution.

Design: Retrospective evaluation of 2 years of interview data with a newly implemented scoring system using randomly assigned interviewing faculty.

Setting: Interview scoring evaluations were completed as standard practice in a large academic anesthesiology department.

Trauma-associated bleeding: management of massive transfusion.

Purpose Of Review: Early treatment goals in the bleeding trauma patient have changed based on recent research findings. Trauma patients requiring a massive transfusion protocol have shown a decreased mortality based on a more aggressive and balanced approach to blood product resuscitation. This chapter will review the recent advances in managing the bleeding trauma patient.

Potential value of protocols in substantially bleeding trauma patients.

Purpose Of Review: Early identification of shock and coagulopathy coupled with damage control resuscitation are central tenets of early trauma management. In traumatic injury, haemorrhage is responsible for almost 50% of deaths occurring within the first 24 h of injury and up to 80% of intraoperative trauma mortalities. Immediate haemorrhagic mortality constitutes the largest group of potentially preventable deaths in the initial 24-h period.