Search

Background and Objectives: The intercostobrachial nerve (ICBN) has significant anatomical variation. Localization of the ICBN requires an operator's skill. This cadaveric study aims to describe two simple ultrasound-guided plane blocks of the ICBN when it emerges at the chest wall (proximal approach) and passes through the axillary fossa (distal approach)., Methods: The anatomical relation of the ICBN and adjacent structures was investigated in six fresh cadavers. Thereafter, we described two potential techniques of the ICBN block. The proximal approach was an injection medial to the medial border of the serratus anterior muscle at the inferior border of the second rib. The distal approach was an injection on the surface of the latissimus dorsi muscle at 3-4 cm caudal to the axillary artery. The ultrasound-guided proximal and distal ICBN blocks were performed in seven hemithoraxes and axillary fossae. We recorded dye staining on the ICBN, its branches and clinically correlated structures., Results: All ICBNs originated from the second intercostal nerve and 34.6% received a contribution from the first or third intercostal nerve. All ICBNs gave off axillary branches in the axillary fossa and ran towards the posteromedial aspect of the arm. Following the proximal ICBN block, dye stained on 90% of all ICBN's origins. After the distal ICBN block, all terminal branches and 43% of the axillary branches of the ICBN were stained., Conclusions: The proximal and distal ICBN blocks, using easily recognized sonoanatomical landmarks, provided consistent dye spread to the ICBN. We encourage further validation of these two techniques in clinical studies., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© American Society of Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine 2020. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Inflammation after cardiopulmonary bypass may contribute to postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction. The authors evaluated the effect of high-dose methylprednisolone to suppress inflammation on the incidence of delirium and postoperative quality of recovery after cardiac surgery., Methods: Five hundred fifty-five adults from three hospitals enrolled in the randomized, double-blind Steroids in Cardiac Surgery trial were randomly allocated to placebo or 250 mg methylprednisolone at induction and 250 mg methylprednisolone before cardiopulmonary bypass. Each completed the Postoperative Quality of Recovery Scale before surgery and on days 1, 2, and 3 and 1 and 6 months after surgery and the Confusion Assessment Method scale for delirium on days 1, 2, and 3. Recovery was defined as returning to preoperative values or improvement at each time point., Results: Four hundred eighty-two participants for recovery and 498 participants for delirium were available for analysis. The quality of recovery improved over time but without differences between groups in the primary endpoint of overall recovery (odds ratio range over individual time points for methylprednisolone, 0.39 to 1.45; 95% CI, 0.08-2.04 to 0.40-5.27; P = 0.943) or individual recovery domains (all P > 0.05). The incidence of delirium was 10% (control) versus 8% (methylprednisolone; P = 0.357), with no differences in delirium subdomains (all P > 0.05). In participants with normal (51%) and low baseline cognition (49%), there were no significant differences favoring methylprednisolone in any domain (all P > 0.05). Recovery was worse in patients with postoperative delirium in the cognitive (P = 0.004) and physiologic (P < 0.001) domains., Conclusions: High-dose intraoperative methylprednisolone neither reduces delirium nor improves the quality of recovery in high-risk cardiac surgical patients.

Objectives: When physicians become patients, they may expect special privileges, extra attention from caregivers, and non-routine treatments. Consequently, physician patients may not be treated per routine-which possibly worsens care rather than improving it. We thus tested the primary hypothesis that in-hospital mortality and major complications after non-cardiac surgery are more common in physician patients than in non-physician patients., Patients and Methods: Perioperative data were extracted for patients who had non-cardiac surgery at the Cleveland Clinic between 2005 and 2013. We used propensity score matching to identify comparable groups of physician and non-physician patients. Matched physician and non-physician patients were compared on a composite of in-hospital mortality and major postoperative complications using a generalized equation average relative effects model. Secondly, the matched patients were also compared on reoperation using logistic regression and on duration of hospitalization using Kaplan-Meier analysis with the log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression., Results: Among 21,173 qualifying patients, we matched 522 physician patients to 2448 non-physician controls. There were no significant differences between physician and non-physician patients in the composite of in-hospital mortality and major complications, with an estimated odds ratio across the outcome components (average relative effect) of 1.20 (95% confidence interval 0.77-1.87) for physicians vs. non-physicians, P = 0.41. There was also no difference in the risk of re-operation or duration of hospitalization., Conclusions: A variety of important outcomes were similar in physician patients and matched non-physician patients after non-cardiac surgery.

Background: Intraoperative hypotension is associated with complications that might be ameliorated by earlier intervention. We therefore tested the primary hypothesis that a supplemental decision support alert for critically low systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreases the duration of intraoperative hypotension., Methods: We enrolled adults having surgery and anesthetized by attending anesthesiologists or nurse anesthetists under attending supervision. When invasive SBP <80 mmHg was detected for 3 consecutive minutes or any oscillometric SBP <80 mmHg, patients were randomly assigned to routine management or a visual alert and pager notification. Clinicians who received alerts were free to act on the alert or not. The primary outcome was time to return to SBP ≥ 80 mmHg. Secondary outcomes were time until SBP remained ≥ 80 mmHg for at least 10 minutes and the duration of hospitalization., Results: One thousand five hundred ninety-eight patients were randomly assigned to the hypotension alerts and 1567 to no alerts. Randomized groups did not differ on time to return to SBP ≥ 80 mmHg after the first alert, with estimated adjusted hazard ratio of 0.99 (95% confidence interval, 0.92-1.06; P = 0.69). The median time [quartiles] to return to SBP ≥ 80 mmHg was 1 [0, 3] minutes in each group and 1 [0, 3] minutes in the nonalert group (P = 0.69). Hospital length of stay was also similar, with the median [quartiles] lengths of stay being 2 [1, 4] days in the alert group and 2 [1,5] in the nonalert group (P = 0.35)., Conclusions: An additional warning for severe hypotension did not reduce the duration of hypotension or hospitalization. Decision support alerts may be more useful for more complicated situations.

Background: Core temperature patterns in patients warmed with forced air remain poorly characterized. Also unknown is the extent to which transient and mild intraoperative hypothermia contributes to adverse outcomes in broad populations., Methods: We evaluated esophageal (core) temperatures in 58,814 adults having surgery lasting >60 min who were warmed with forced air. Independent associations between hypothermic exposure and transfusion requirement and duration of hospitalization were evaluated., Results: In every percentile subgroup, core temperature decreased during the first hour and subsequently increased. The mean lowest core temperature during the first hour was 35.7 ± 0.6°C. Sixty-four percent of the patients reached a core temperature threshold of <36°C 45 min after induction; 29% reached a core temperature threshold of <35.5°C. Nearly half the patients had continuous core temperatures <36°C for more than an hour, and 20% of the patients were <35.5°C for more than an hour. Twenty percent of patients had continuous core temperatures <36°C for more than 2 h, and 8% of the patients were below 35.5°C for more than 2 h. Hypothermia was independently associated with both transfusions and duration of hospitalization, although the prolongation of hospitalization was small., Conclusions: Even in actively warmed patients, hypothermia is routine during the first hour of anesthesia. Thereafter, average core temperatures progressively increase. Nonetheless, intraoperative hypothermia was common, and often prolonged. Hypothermia was associated with increased transfusion requirement, which is consistent with numerous randomized trials.

Background: Myocardial injury after noncardiac surgery (MINS) was defined as prognostically relevant myocardial injury due to ischemia that occurs during or within 30 days after noncardiac surgery. The study's four objectives were to determine the diagnostic criteria, characteristics, predictors, and 30-day outcomes of MINS., Methods: In this international, prospective cohort study of 15,065 patients aged 45 yr or older who underwent in-patient noncardiac surgery, troponin T was measured during the first 3 postoperative days. Patients with a troponin T level of 0.04 ng/ml or greater (elevated "abnormal" laboratory threshold) were assessed for ischemic features (i.e., ischemic symptoms and electrocardiography findings). Patients adjudicated as having a nonischemic troponin elevation (e.g., sepsis) were excluded. To establish diagnostic criteria for MINS, the authors used Cox regression analyses in which the dependent variable was 30-day mortality (260 deaths) and independent variables included preoperative variables, perioperative complications, and potential MINS diagnostic criteria., Results: An elevated troponin after noncardiac surgery, irrespective of the presence of an ischemic feature, independently predicted 30-day mortality. Therefore, the authors' diagnostic criterion for MINS was a peak troponin T level of 0.03 ng/ml or greater judged due to myocardial ischemia. MINS was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 3.87; 95% CI, 2.96-5.08) and had the highest population-attributable risk (34.0%, 95% CI, 26.6-41.5) of the perioperative complications. Twelve hundred patients (8.0%) suffered MINS, and 58.2% of these patients would not have fulfilled the universal definition of myocardial infarction. Only 15.8% of patients with MINS experienced an ischemic symptom., Conclusion: Among adults undergoing noncardiac surgery, MINS is common and associated with substantial mortality.