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Study Objective: Postoperative sore throat (POST) and hoarseness are common complications of tracheal intubation. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of flurbiprofen administered through the subglottic port of tracheal tubes to prevent POST after cardiac surgery., Design: Single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial., Setting: Tertiary Care Referral University Hospital (Fondazione Policlinico Universitario A. Gemelli IRCCS, Rome)., Patients: Included 71 patients undergoing for elective cardiac surgery. Inclusion criteria were (a) age between 50 and 75 years, (b) NYHA class I or II, (c) surgery for myocardial revascularization or valve repair or replacement under cardiopulmonary bypass., Intervention: Patients were double blind randomized to receive flurbiprofen or saline in the subglottic port of the endotracheal tube (groups F and P). The solution was injected ten minutes after tracheal tube placement, ten minutes after ICU admission and ten minutes before tracheal tube removal., Measurements: The primary outcome was to assess the effect of topical flurbiprofen administered through the subglottic port of the tracheal tube to prevent post-operative sore throat (POST). The secondary outcomes were the presence of hoarseness safety and patient's subjective satisfaction with their recovery. We did not report any exploratory outcomes., Main Results: We analyzed 68 patients, 34 patients in each group. In group F, two patients complained of POST and hoarseness (5.9%), while all controls did. The two groups significantly differed in the severity scores (VAS and TPS for sore throat and HOAR for hoarseness) at all time points. In group P, patients reported mild to moderate symptoms that significantly improved or disappeared 36 h after tracheal tube removal. According to the multivariable model, hoarseness affected women less than men, in the control group (p = 0.002). None of the patients in either group reported any adverse effects., Conclusions: Repeated administration of flurbiprofen through the subglottic port of tracheal tubes reduced the incidence of sore throat and hoarseness after cardiac surgery without evidence of complications., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: There is no consensus on which lung-protective strategies should be used in cardiac surgery patients. Sparse and small randomized clinical and animal trials suggest that maintaining mechanical ventilation during cardiopulmonary bypass is protective on the lungs. Unfortunately, such evidence is weak as it comes from surrogate and minor clinical endpoints mainly limited to elective coronary surgery. According to the available data in the academic literature, an unquestionable standardized strategy of lung protection during cardiopulmonary bypass cannot be recommended. The purpose of the CPBVENT study is to investigate the effectiveness of different strategies of mechanical ventilation during cardiopulmonary bypass on postoperative pulmonary function and complications., Methods/design: The CPBVENT study is a single-blind, multicenter, randomized controlled trial. We are going to enroll 870 patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery with planned use of cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients will be randomized into three groups: (1) no mechanical ventilation during cardiopulmonary bypass, (2) continuous positive airway pressure of 5 cmH 2 O during cardiopulmonary bypass, (3) respiratory rate of 5 acts/min with a tidal volume of 2-3 ml/Kg of ideal body weight and positive end-expiratory pressure of 3-5 cmH 2 O during cardiopulmonary bypass. The primary endpoint will be the incidence of a PaO 2 /FiO 2 ratio <200 until the time of discharge from the intensive care unit. The secondary endpoints will be the incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications and 30-day mortality. Patients will be followed-up for 12 months after the date of randomization., Discussion: The CPBVENT trial will establish whether, and how, different ventilator strategies during cardiopulmonary bypass will have an impact on postoperative pulmonary complications and outcomes of patients undergoing cardiac surgery., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, ID: NCT02090205 . Registered on 8 March 2014.

Objectives: To clarify the reliability of the one-shot histidine-tryptophane-ketoglutarate (HTK) cardioplegia for right ventricular (RV) myocardial protection during mitral surgery, in patients with or without pre-operative RV dysfunction., Design: Sixty patients undergoing isolated mitral surgery were randomized to myocardial protection with either one-shot HTK or intermittent warm blood cardioplegia (WBC). The RV function was assessed by echocardiography and hemodynamic assessment. Pre-operative tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (TAPSE), an index of RV systolic function was used to dichotomize groups into patients having impaired (TAPSE < 15) or preserved (TAPSE ≥ 15) RV function., Results: There were no significant intergroup differences in the post-operative indexes of RV function in cases with TAPSE ≥ 15. In patients having TAPSE < 15 we observed statistically worse RV ejection fraction (RVEF, 15% ± 2% vs. 24% ± 3%), end-diastolic volume (RVEDV, 188 mL ± 20 vs. 179 mL ± 14) and fractional area change (RVFAC, 21% ± 6% vs. 30% ± 3%) after use of the HTK solution versus patients who received the WBC. These differences were associated with longer mechanical ventilation and ICU times in patients with impaired RV function and receiving HTK cardioplegia. In a substudy ten patients with TAPSE < 15 received intra-operative topical myocardial cooling in addition to HTK. The addition of topical cooling to HTK cardioplegia yielded statistically significant amelioration in post-operative RV function compared with patients who received the HTK solution without topical cooling (RVEF: 23% ± 3% vs. 15% ± 2%; RVEDV: 180 mL ± 9 vs. 188 mL ± 18; RVFAC: 8.5% ± 1% vs. 6% ± 2%)., Conclusions: The one shot HTK solution offers inferior RV protection compared with WBC, mainly in patients with depressed pre-operative RV function. When adopting HTK cardioplegia the addition of topical cooling is strongly advised.