Leipziger „Fast-track“-Protokoll in der Kardioanästhesie

Background

In November 2005 a complex, multimodal anesthesia fast-track protocol (FTP) was introduced for elective cardiac surgery patients in the Cardiac Center of the University of Leipzig which included changing from an opioid regime to remifentanil and postoperative treatment in a special post-anesthesia recovery and care unit. The goal was to speed up recovery times while maintaining safety and improving costs.

Method

A total of 421 patients who underwent the FTP and were treated in the special recovery room were analyzed retrospectively. These patients were compared with patients who had been treated by a standard protocol (SP) prior to instituting the FTP. Primary outcomes were time to extubation, length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and treatment costs.

Results

The times to extubation were significantly shorter in the FTP group with 75 min (range 45–110 min) compared to 900 min (range 600–1140 min) in the SP group. Intensive care unit stay and hospital length of stay were also significantly shorter in the FTP group (p<0.01). The reduction of treatment costs of intensive care for FTP patients was 53.5% corresponding to savings of EUR 738 per patient in the FTP group compared with the SP group.

Conclusions

The Leipzig fast-track protocol for cardio-anesthesia including the central elements of switching opiate therapy to remifentanil and switching patient recovery to a special post-anesthesia recovery and care unit, shortened therapy times, is safe and economically effective.     

„Fast-track“ bei laparoskopisch radikaler Prostatektomie

BACKGROUND: Fast-track surgery describes perioperative treatment concepts ensuring a faster postoperative convalescence phase. By using a multimodal fast-track concept in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical prostatectomy, we aimed to investigate the feasibility of this procedure after elective surgery and a possible discharge 3 days postoperatively. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients per group were randomized for conventional or fast-track treatment, respectively. Perioperative data, early complications, possible hospital discharge, and readmission rate were analyzed. Before hospital discharge, all patients were interviewed about their evaluation of the received regimen and their overall satisfaction perioperatively. RESULTS: The mean postoperative hospital stay was 3.6 days in the fast-track group vs. 6.7 days in the conventional group (p<0.01). Overall complications were low but were significant between the two groups, with the fast-track procedure being more favorable. Readmission rate was also low but was not significant. Overall satisfaction was significantly higher in the fast-track group, whereas the subjective evaluation did not differ between the two regimens. CONCLUSIONS: Fast-track concepts are well transferable in laparoscopic radical prostatectomy settings. Patients receiving this procedure, as well as clinics offering it, may benefit from a suitable fast-track concept.     

„Briefing-Check“ Anästhesie

Adverse events are not unusual in a more and more complex anesthesiological environment. The main reasons for this are an increasing workload, economic pressure, growing expectations of patients and deficits in planning and communication. However, these incidents mostly do not refer to medical deficits but to flaws in non-technical skills (team organisation, task orientation, decision making and communication). The introduction of the WHO Safe Surgery Checklist depicted that a structural approach can improve the situation. However, it is still questionable if this measure is strong enough and recent publications revealed initial criticisms. Furthermore, remaining security gaps could be found even though the checklist was implemented in the anesthesiological practice of a big teaching hospital. Therefore, an additional checklist was developed to implement an anesthesia briefing in the daily routine. The main objective was to establish a security check before induction similar to the aeronautical pre-flight check. Additionally, this measure should improve coordination of the anesthesiology team. Working through the checklist, doctors and nurses are guided to focus on conjoint patient care prior to induction of anesthesia. In a web-based survey the general attitude of coworkers towards patient safety, as well as the acceptability of the new briefing check was scrutinised at two times: directly before implementation of the checklist and 1 year after. The results (84 % of medical and 97 % of healthcare staff answered the questionnaires) showed improvements with high relevance to parameters associated with awareness concerning safety issues and team coordination. In conclusion, it appears that patient safety can be significantly improved with little time effort of 3–5 min per patient. A prospective trial will be conducted to confirm the impact of this measure on improvements in patient safety.     

„Fast-track“-Chirurgie

Zusammenfassung Die fast-track-Chirurgie ist ein multimodales Behandlungskonzept zur Beeinflussung pathophysiologischer funktioneller Veränderungen nach elektiven Eingriffen mit dem Resultat der verminderten Morbidität und beschleunigten Rekonvaleszenz. Erreicht wird dies durch eine optimierte interdisziplinäre (Chirurg, Anästhesist, Pflegepersonal, Physiotherapeut) und perioperative Fürsorge, welche zu einer verminderten operativen Stressreaktion des Patienten führt. Hierdurch konnten z. B. nach elektiven Kolonresektionen die Rate allgemeiner postoperativer Komplikationen und die Krankenhausliegezeiten deutlich gesenkt werden. Voraussetzung bei der Einführung der fast-track-Chirurgie ist der Wille der verantwortlichen Chirurgen zur Veränderung konventioneller Konzepte. Das Grundprinzip des fast-track-Managements wird zunehmend mit Erfolg auch auf andere abdominalchirurgische Operationen und andere operative Fächer wie z. B. die Urologie ausgeweitet.     

Thrombozytenaggregationshemmer bei Spinalanästhesie

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Anästhesie bei Leberinsuffizienz

Liver failure can be categorized into acute liver failure, chronic liver failure and acute decompensation of chronic liver failure, the so-called acute-on-chronic liver failure, the incidence of which has increased over the last few years. Liver failure leads to a variety of pathophysiological changes where the extent is dependent on the nature and duration of the liver disease. This includes restriction of synthesis and metabolism, such as coagulation defects. Especially chronic liver failure is associated with malfunction of extrahepatic organs, such as the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system and the kidneys. In addition to these pathophysiological alterations the Child-Turcotte-Pugh classification (CTP) and the model of end stage liver disease (MELD) are used for perioperative risk stratification.     

Anästhesie bei ambulanten Patienten

The share of ambulatory procedures is increasing with advances in operative and anesthesiological methods and pressured by economical necessities. Following legal regulations procedures with and without hospital stay underlie the same quality measures. Multimodal concepts comprising anesthesiological and operative procedures, pain therapy as well as postoperative care allow for quality improvements in respect to operative outcome and patient satisfaction.     

Tumeszenzlokalanästhesie bei dermatologischen Eingriffen

Background

Tumescent anaesthesia is currently used for several dermatological procedures. The objective of this study was to determine the plasma concentrations of local anaesthetics under real operating conditions with this anaesthetic technique.

Methods

A total of 31 patients received 3 different anaesthetic solutions with prilocaine and lidocaine for several surgical procedures. The concentrations of local anaesthetics, methemoglobin, epinephrine as well as the occurrence of adverse reactions were determined 30 min, 1 h, 3 h, 6 h, 12 h and 24 h after administration

Results

Maximum plasma concentrations of prilocaine were measured predominantly after 3 and 6 h, for lidocaine after 6 h. In two patients maximum plasma levels occurred 24 h after infiltration. Although toxic concentrations were not exceeded, side-effects could be observed in four patients.

Conclusions

Even if the measured concentrations of local anaesthetics appeared to be safe, slight and moderate side-effects could be observed in 12.9% of cases. Maximum plasma levels of local anaesthetics may still occur 24 h after administration.     

Infektionsreduktion bei peripherer Katheterregionalanästhesie

In the present study the efficacy of subcutaneous tunneling and a 10 min disinfection time with a 70% alcoholic solution to reduce the infection rate in continuous interscalene plexus anesthesia were examined. In a prospective study 1,134 continuous interscalene plexus anesthesias were included. In group 1 (473 catheters) a cotton swab was soaked with the alcoholic solution and swabbed 3 times at the puncture site in the classical manner. In group 2 (661 catheters) disinfection was carried out by spray and swab application with a disinfection time of at least 10 min. In group 1, 19% of the catheters were tunneled subcutaneously, whereas in group 2 this occurred in 89%. In group 1 inflammation occurred in 25 cases (5.3%) and an infection in 32 cases (6.8%). In group 2 there were 37 cases of inflammation (5.5%) and 13 infections (2.0%). The difference between the groups in the infection rate is statistically significant (p<0.002). The practicability of the 10 min disinfection time in the clinical routine was excellent. A 10 min disinfection time with a 70% alcoholic solution combined with subcutaneous tunneling led to a significantly lower infection rate in continuous peripheral regional anesthesia in the neck of the patient.     

Spinalanästhesie bei vorhandenem Neurostimulator

Die Anaesthesiologie - Präsentiert wird der Fall eines 82-jährigen Mannes mit einem implantierten Rückenmarkstimulator, welcher sich in unserer Prämedikationsambulanz zur...     

Komplikationen bei peripherer Katheterregionalanästhesie

INTRODUCTION: Over a period of 36 months we prospectively documented infectious, neurological and other complications or adverse events occurring during 3,491 peripheral regional anesthesias via a catheter using computer-based data recording. METHODS: The investigation included 936 axillar plexus catheters, 473 interscalene plexus catheters, 125 vertical infraclavicular plexus catheters, 74 catheters with psoas compartment blocks, 900 femoral nerve catheters, 964 sciatic nerve catheters and 19 catheters in other localizations. The regional anesthesia catheters were inserted under sterile circumstances (hood, facemask, sterile gloves and coat, surgical disinfection and sterile covering of the placement site) and under peripheral nerve stimulation. RESULTS: 3,070 (87.9%) of the regional anesthesias via catheter, were carried out without any complications. Inflammation (two out of three criteria: redness at insertion site, pain on palpation or swelling) was found in 146 patients (4.2% of all cases). Infections (two out of the criteria: CRP elevation, pus on the insertion site, fever, leucocytosis, necessary antibiotic treatment with exclusion of other possible causes) appeared in 2.4% of all cases (83 patients). In 29 patients (0.8%) we observed severe infections (surgical intervention necessary e.g. abscess incision). Risk factors for inflammation or infections included duration of catheter therapy, cervical localization of the catheter and the experience of the anesthesiologist (p<0.05). Bacterial species most frequently found were Staphylococcus aureus (54%) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (38%). In 0.3% (9 patients) we found short lasting neurological deficits and in 6 patients (0.2%) we recorded a nerve lesion that lasted more than 6 weeks. Other complications occurred in 4.2% of all cases. DISCUSSION: Special complications such as infections in peripheral catheter regional anesthesia are rare but can pose severe problems. A close postoperative supervision of all regional catheters has to be ensured under careful consideration of the risk factors for infections and the accompanying symptoms.     

Regionalanästhesie bei ambulanten Operationen

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Anästhesie bei neuromuskulären Erkrankungen

Among the neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) over 800 individual entities have been identified. The vast majority of these diseases occur very seldom but all NMDs together add up to a prevalence of 1:1,500. Accordingly the conclusion “seldom diseases are common” seems to be appropriate. The scope of NMDs is very wide varying from the affection of single muscle groups to the complete musculature, from slowly progressive to fulminant progressive forms, from perinatal to the adult manifestation as well as number, course and character of associated comorbidities. Due to the wide heterogeneity concerning NMDs it is of great importance for anesthesiologists to be knowledgeable on relevant comorbidities as well as indications and contraindications for the various anesthetics.     

Anästhesie bei neuromuskulären Erkrankungen

Die Anaesthesiologie - Neuromuskuläre Erkrankungen (NME) sind eine heterogene Gruppe von Störungen der motorischen Einheit. Allen gemeinsam ist das Leitsymptom der Muskelschwäche. In...     

„Hot topics“ aus der geburtshilflichen Anästhesie

Die Anaesthesiologie - Im Jahr 2019 fand in gewohnter Weise die Jahrestagung des wissenschaftlichen Arbeitskreises Geburtshilfliche Anästhesie der Deutschen Gesellschaft für...     

Periduralanästhesie mit Ropivacain bei Friedreich-Ataxie

Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is a hereditary disease, which leads to degenerative changes in the spinal cord and cerebellum (incidence 1:50,000). These changes are caused by a defect in the gene that encodes a mitochondrial gene called frataxin and causes muscle weakness, scoliosis, cardiomyopathy and impaired glucose tolerance. Therefore, these patients require special care during anaesthesia. We report the case of a 25-year-old primigravida with a history of FA and dorsal stabilisation of the vertebral column, who was admitted to our hospital for elective caesarean section. Due to increased sensitivity to muscle relaxants, peridural anaesthesia with 8 ml 0.75% ropivacaine and 10 µg sufentanil was used in this case. The perioperative neurological consultation revealed no undue exacerbation of symptoms.