Double trouble: hoarseness and Horner’s after supraclavicular brachial plexus block

Supraclavicular brachial plexus block is a popular procedure for surgeries of the upper limb. Although separate instances of Horner’s syndrome and recurrent laryngeal nerve palsies have been previously reported with this approach and one combined incidence has been reported following an interscalene approach, a combined incidence following a supraclavicular approach has not been previously documented. A 21-year-old male patient, who presented with a laceration and suspected vascular injury over his right palm, had a supraclavicular block placed with a tourniquet inflated to minimise bleeding. He developed Horner’s syndrome and hoarseness of voice in the immediate postoperative period. There was complete resolution of symptoms after eight hours. The presence of an external force in the form of a tourniquet may influence the spread of the local anaesthetic due to compressive effects on the axillary fascial sheath. However, further studies are required to prove this.Keywords: combined incidence, Horner’s syndrome, recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy, supraclavicular brachial plexus bloc

A case of unilateral ptosis following epidural anesthesia for cesarean section

The present case report describes an unreported complication of self limiting unilateral ptosis after uneventful lumbar epidural analgesia followed by anaesthesia for caesarean section

ANSiscope™: Can it be the crystal ball of cardiac anesthesia?

Background: Autonomic dysfunction (AD) is infrequently evaluated preoperatively despite having profound perioperative implications. The ANSiscope™ is a monitoring device that quantifies AD. This study aims to determine the potential of the device to predict hypotension following anesthetic induction, occurrence of arrhythmias, and inotrope requirement for patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB). Study Design: Prospective observational double-blinded study. Materials and Methodology: Seventy-five patients undergoing OPCAB had their autonomic function assessed by ANSiscope™. They were classified into four groups based on their AD and compared to perioperative adverse events. Results: Patients with diabetes had a higher ANSindex (P = 0.0263). They had a greater decrease in systolic blood pressure (P = 0.001) and mean arterial pressure (P = 0.004) postinduction, had an increased incidence of arrhythmias (P = 0.009), required higher inotropic support immediately (P = 0.010) and at 24 h after surgery (P = 0.018), and longer duration of postoperative ventilation (P < 0.001). They also had a higher incidence of emergency conversion of OPCAB to on-pump surgery (P = 0.009). Conclusions: An increased association between AD as quantified by the ANSiscope™ and perioperative adverse outcomes was observed. An increased rate of emergency conversion of OPCAB to on-pump surgery with higher dysfunction was noted. The authors opine that the threshold for conversion must be lower in patients deemed to be at a higher risk. Proper evaluation of the autonomic nervous system empowers the anesthesiologist to anticipate and adequately prepare for complications

Clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in solid organ transplant recipients: A case-control study

Solid organ transplant recipients (SOTr) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are expected to have poorer outcomes compared to nontransplant patients because of immunosuppression and comorbidities. The clinical characteristics of 47 SOTr (38 kidneys and 9 nonkidney organs) were compared to 100 consecutive hospitalized nontransplant controls. Twelve of 47 SOTr managed as outpatients were subsequently excluded from the outcome analyses to avoid potential selection bias. Chronic kidney disease (89% vs 57% P = .0007), diabetes (66% vs 33% P = .0007), and hypertension (94% vs 72% P = .006) were more common in the 35 hospitalized SOTr compared to controls. Diarrhea (54% vs 17%, P \u3c .0001) was more frequent in SOTr. Primary composite outcome (escalation to intensive care unit, mechanical ventilation, or in-hospital all-cause mortality) was comparable between SOTr and controls (40% vs 48%, odds ratio [OR] 0.72 confidence interval [CI] [0.33-1.58] P = .42), despite more comorbidities in SOTr. Acute kidney injury requiring renal replacement therapy occurred in 20% of SOTr compared to 4% of controls (OR 6 CI [1.64-22] P = .007). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that increasing age and clinical severity were associated with mortality. Transplant status itself was not associated with mortality

International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortiu (INICC) report, data summary of 43 countries for 2007-2012. Device-associated module

We report the results of an International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) surveillance study from January 2007-December 2012 in 503 intensive care units (ICUs) in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe. During the 6-year study using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) U.S. National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) definitions for device-associated health care–associated infection (DA-HAI), we collected prospective data from 605,310 patients hospitalized in the INICC's ICUs for an aggregate of 3,338,396 days. Although device utilization in the INICC's ICUs was similar to that reported from ICUs in the U.S. in the CDC's NHSN, rates of device-associated nosocomial infection were higher in the ICUs of the INICC hospitals: the pooled rate of central line–associated bloodstream infection in the INICC's ICUs, 4.9 per 1,000 central line days, is nearly 5-fold higher than the 0.9 per 1,000 central line days reported from comparable U.S. ICUs. The overall rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia was also higher (16.8 vs 1.1 per 1,000 ventilator days) as was the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infection (5.5 vs 1.3 per 1,000 catheter days). Frequencies of resistance of Pseudomonas isolates to amikacin (42.8% vs 10%) and imipenem (42.4% vs 26.1%) and Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates to ceftazidime (71.2% vs 28.8%) and imipenem (19.6% vs 12.8%) were also higher in the INICC's ICUs compared with the ICUs of the CDC's NHSN