Introduction: Significant concerns raise for the healthcare workers involved in airway management of patients diagnosed with coronavirus 2019 disease (COVID-19). Due to shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), barrier enclosure systems such as aerosol box (AB) have been proposed worldwide. The aim of this study was to evaluate our experience using AB as protective equipment in patients with COVID-19 in a third-level center in Mexico.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNumerous entities, both structural and pathologic, can manifest as a contrast material- or blood-filled cardiac outpouching at imaging. These outpouchings often resemble one another and are frequently unfamiliar to imagers and clinicians, creating uncertainty when detected. Furthermore, the diagnostic criteria for conditions such as hernia, aneurysm, pseudoaneurysm, and diverticulum have not been consistently applied in studies and reports cited in the literature describing these outpouchings, adding to the confusion among general and cardiothoracic imagers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic heavily impacted healthcare workers, increasing their physical and psychological workload. Specifically, COVID-19 patients' airway management is definitely a challenging task regarding both severe and acute respiratory failure and the risk of contagion while performing aerosol-generating procedures. The category of anesthesiologists and intensivists, the main actors of airway management, showed a poor psychological well-being and a high stress and burnout risk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose Of Review: Nonoperating room anesthesia (NORA) procedures have expanded in number, variety, and complexity. NORA involves all age groups, including frail older adults and patients often considered too sick to tolerate traditional surgical interventions. Postoperative pulmonary complications are a significant source of adverse events in the perioperative setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCompared with direct laryngoscopy (DL), video laryngoscopy (VL) offers clinical benefits in routine and difficult airways. The health economic benefit of VL versus DL for routine tracheal intubation remains unknown. This analysis compared VL and DL health economic outcomes, including total inpatient costs, length of hospital stay (LOS), postoperative intensive care unit (ICU) admission and incidence of procedurally associated complications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPatients with burns to the head and neck may be difficult to intubate or ventilate via facemask. Furthermore, post-burn scarring and microstomia may reduce the success of rescue supraglottic airway placement. While awake tracheal intubation using a flexible intubation scope is considered the optimal technique for these patients, it may not always be feasible in the pediatric population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), often results in severe hypoxemia requiring airway management. Because SARS-CoV-2 virus is spread via respiratory droplets, bag-mask ventilation, intubation, and extubation may place health care workers (HCW) at risk. While existing recommendations address airway management in patients with COVID-19, no guidance exists specifically for difficult airway management.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExposure of healthcare providers to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a significant safety concern during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, requiring contact/droplet/airborne precautions. Because of global shortages, limited availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) has motivated the development of barrier-enclosure systems, such as aerosol boxes, plastic drapes, and similar protective systems. We examined the available evidence and scientific publications about barrier-enclosure systems for airway management in suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTracheal intubation via laryngeal exposure has evolved over the past 150 years and has greatly expanded in the last decade with the introduction and development of newer, more sophisticated optical airway devices. The introduction of indirect and video-assisted laryngoscopes has significantly impacted airway management as evidenced by the presence of these devices in the majority of published difficult airway algorithms. However, it is quite possible that many airway managers do not have a thorough comprehension of how these devices actually function, an understanding that is vital not only for their use but also for assessing the devices' limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Glidescope® is one of the most widely used video laryngoscopes in the market. It is often used with a purpose-built, reusable, "nonmalleable" stainless steel stylet, the GlideRite®. In this study, we investigated whether this stylet retains its original curvature with repeated use and sterilization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPropofol and isoflurane may be used during fast track anesthesia for off-pump bypass, where transient ischemia is common. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of propofol vs isoflurane in a porcine model of acute coronary occlusion. Twenty five pigs were randomized to receive general anesthesia with either isoflurane, 1 MAC (n = 13), or propofol, 3 mg/kg bolus followed by 200 microg/ kg/min infusion (n = 12).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFProcedures using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and aortic cross-clamping are associated with a variable degree of ischemia/reperfusion of the lungs, leading to acute pulmonary hypertension (PHT). The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of the sildenafil analog (UK343-664), a phosphodiesterase type V(PDEV) inhibitor, with milrinone, a PDE type III inhibitor, in a porcine model of acute PHT following CPB. After the pigs were anesthetized, pressure-tipped catheters were placed in the right ventricle and carotid and pulmonary arteries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn patients at risk for sudden ethanol (ETOH) intravascular absorption, prompt treatment of pulmonary hypertension (PHTN) will minimise the risk of cardiovascular decompensation. We investigated the haemodynamic effects of intravenous ETOH and the pulmonary vasodilatory effects of a sildenafil analogue (UK343-664) and nitroglycerin (NTG) during ETOH-induced PHTN in pigs. We studied pulmonary and systemic haemodynamics, and right ventricular rate or time derivate of pressure rise during ventricular contraction ( =dP/dT), as an index of contractility, in 23 pigs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the left ventricular lusitropic effects of epinephrine versus milrinone after cardiopulmonary bypass.
Design: Prospective randomized study.
Setting: Single institution, university teaching hospital.