Evaluation of Venous Congestion by Point-of-Care Ultrasound: State of the Art

The assessment of venous congestion is one of the grea-test medical challenges of this century: from more invasive procedures to the arising of ultrasound evaluation, there has been a constant quest for reliable and non-invasive bedside tools to determine and monitor hemodynamic status. Venous hypertension is an important pathophysiological mechanism of organ congestion, leading to its injury in various clinical settings. A practical bedside assessment of venous congestion is often challenging due to the limitations of tradi-tional methods.Point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) provides a real time picture of the patients' anatomy and physiology (inclu-ding analysis of dynamic flows), allowing a diagnosis and mo-nitoring of venous congestion with a higher sensitivity than standard physical examination.In this brief summary, the authors summarize the physio-logy of venous congestion and the most recent tools for con-gestion assessment by POCUS.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ropivacaine: An Unusual Cause of Neuroleptic Malignant-Like Syndrome

Ropivacaine is commonly used for post-operative pain management. We describe a case of neuroleptic malignant-like syndrome in a woman administered ropivacaine delivered using a drug infusion balloon. The presenting symptoms were confusion, agitation and fever. Blood analysis showed elevated C-reactive protein, leucocytosis and increased creatine phosphokinase. As intoxication was suspected, ropivacaine was suspended and the patient gradually improved. Possible leakage of ropivacaine into the intrathecal space may have resulted in central nervous system toxicity