Endotracheal intubation skill acquisition by medical students

During the course of their training, medical students may receive introductory experience with advanced resuscitation skills. Endotracheal intubation (ETI – the insertion of a breathing tube into the trachea) is an example of an important advanced resuscitation intervention. Only limited data characterize clinical ETI skill acquisition by medical students. We sought to characterize medical student acquisition of ETI procedural skill.11Presented as a poster discussion on 17 October 2007 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in San Francisco, CA.The study included third-year medical students participating in a required anesthesiology clerkship. Students performed ETI on operating room patients under the supervision of attending anesthesiologists. Students reported clinical details of each ETI effort, including patient age, sex, Mallampati score, number of direct laryngoscopies and ETI success. Using mixed-effects regression, we characterized the adjusted association between ETI success and cumulative ETI experience.ETI was attempted by 178 students on 1,646 patients (range 1–23 patients per student; median 9 patients per student, IQR 6–12). Overall ETI success was 75.0% (95% CI 72.9–77.1%). Adjusted for patient age, sex, Mallampati score and number of laryngoscopies, the odds of ETI success improved with cumulative ETI encounters (odds ratio 1.09 per additional ETI encounter; 95% CI 1.04–1.14). Students required at least 17 ETI encounters to achieve 90% predicted ETI success.In this series medical student ETI proficiency was associated with cumulative clinical procedural experience. Clinical experience may provide a viable strategy for fostering medical student procedural skills

Incidence of and factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest within 24 hours of anesthesia for emergency surgery

Visith Siriphuwanun,1 Yodying Punjasawadwong,1 Worawut Lapisatepun,1 Somrat Charuluxananan,2 Ketchada Uerpairojkit2 1Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Mueang District, Chiang Mai, Thailand; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand Purpose: To determine the incidence of and factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest within 24 hours of receiving anesthesia for emergency surgery. Patients and methods: This retrospective cohort study was approved by the ethical committee of Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Thailand. We reviewed the data of 44,339 patients receiving anesthesia for emergency surgery during the period from January 1, 2003 to March 31, 2011. The data included patient characteristics, surgical procedures, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status classification, anesthesia information, location of anesthesia performed, and outcomes. Data of patients who had received topical anesthesia or monitoring anesthesia care were excluded. Factors associated with cardiac arrest were identified by univariate analyses. Multiple regressions for the risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to determine the strength of factors associated with cardiac arrest. A forward stepwise algorithm was chosen at a P-value <0.05. Results: The incidence (within 24 hours) of perioperative cardiac arrest in patients receiving anesthesia for emergency surgery was 163 per 10,000. Factors associated with 24-hour perioperative cardiac arrest in emergency surgery were age of 2 years or younger (RR =1.46, CI =1.03–2.08, P=0.036), ASA physical status classification of 3–4 (RR =5.84, CI =4.20–8.12, P<0.001) and 5–6 (RR =33.98, CI =23.09–49.98, P<0.001), the anatomic site of surgery (upper intra-abdominal, RR =2.67, CI =2.14–3.33, P<0.001; intracranial, RR =1.74, CI =1.35–2.25, P<0.001; intrathoracic, RR =2.35, CI =1.70–3.24, P<0.001; cardiac, RR =3.61, CI =2.60–4.99, P<0.001; and major vascular; RR =3.05, CI =2.22–4.18, P<0.001), respiratory or cardiovascular comorbidities (RR =1.95, CI =1.60–2.38, P<0.001 and RR =1.38, CI =1.11–1.72, P=0.004, respectively), and patients in shock prior to receiving anesthesia (RR =2.62, CI =2.07–3.33, P<0.001). Conclusion: The perioperative incidence of cardiac arrest within 24 hours of anesthesia for emergency surgery was high and associated with multiple factors such as young age (≤2 years old), cardiovascular and respiratory comorbidities, increasing ASA physical status classification, preoperative shock, and surgery site. Perioperative care providers, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses, should be prepared to manage promptly this high risk group of surgical patients. Keywords: risk factors, retrospective cohort, anesthetic care, perioperative cardiac arrest, emergency surger

Association of positive fluid balance and cardiovascular complications after thoracotomy for noncancer lesions

Tanyong Pipanmekaporn,1,2 Yodying Punjasawadwong,2 Somrat Charuluxananan,3 Worawut Lapisatepun,2 Pavena Bunburaphong,3 Somchareon Saeteng41Clinical Epidemiology Program, 2Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; 3Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; 4Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, ThailandObjective: The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of positive fluid balance on cardiovascular complications after thoracotomy for noncancer lesions.Methods: After approval from an institutional review board, a retrospective cohort study was conducted. All consecutive patients undergoing thoracotomy between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2011 in a single medical center were recruited. The primary outcome of the study was the incidence of cardiovascular complications, which were defined as cardiac arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, heart failure, myocardial ischemia, and pulmonary embolism. Univariable and multivariable risk regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between positive fluid balance and cardiovascular complications.Results: A total of 720 patients were included in this study. The incidence of cardiovascular complications after thoracotomy for noncancer lesions was 6.7% (48 of 720). Patients with positive fluid balance >2,000 mL had a significantly higher incidence of cardiovascular complications than those with positive fluid balance ≤2,000 mL (22.2% versus 7.0%, P=0.005). Cardiac arrhythmias were the most common complication. Univariable risk regression showed that positive fluid balance >2,000 mL was a significant risk factor (risk ratio =3.15, 95% confident interval [CI] =1.44–6.90, P-value =0.004). After adjustment for all potential confounding variables during multivariable risk regression analysis, positive fluid balance >2,000 mL remained a strong risk factor for cardiovascular complications (risk ratio =2.18, 95% CI =1.36–3.51, P-value =0.001). Causes of positive fluid balance >2,000 mL included excessive hemorrhage (48%), hypotension without excessive hemorrhage (29.6%), and liberal fluid administration (22.4%).Conclusion: Positive fluid balance was a significant risk factor for cardiovascular complications. Strategies to minimize positive fluid balance during surgery for patients at high risk of cardiovascular complications include preparing adequate blood and blood products, considering appropriate hemoglobin level as a transfusion trigger, and adjusting the optimal dose of local anesthetic for intraoperative thoracic epidural analgesia.Keywords: cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrest, heart failure, myocardial ischemia, hemorrhag

The initial success rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and its associated factors in patients with cardiac arrest within 24 hours after anesthesia for an emergency surgery

Visith Siriphuwanun,1 Yodying Punjasawadwong,1 Worawut Lapisatepun,1 Somrat Charuluxananan,2 Ketchada Uerpairojkit,2 Jayanton Patumanond3 1Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand; 2Department of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand; 3Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Purpose: To determine the initial success rate and its associated factors on cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in patients with cardiac arrest within 24 hours after receiving anesthesia for an emergency surgery. Patients and methods: After the hospital ethical committee gave approval for this study, the anesthesia providers recorded all relevant data regarding CPR in patients with cardiac arrest within 24 hours after anesthesia for emergency surgery at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, a university hospital in Northern Thailand. Only data from the cardiac arrest patients who received the first CPR attempt were included in the analysis. The end point of the initial success of CPR was return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC). Factors related to ROSC were determined by univariate analyses and multiple logistic regression analysis. The odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to calculate the strength of the factors associated with the ROSC. Results: Of the 96 cardiac arrest patients, 44 patients (45.8%) achieved ROSC. Factors associated with ROSC were electrocardiogram monitoring for detected cardiac arrest (OR =4.03; 95% CI =1.16–14.01; P=0.029), non-shock patients before arrest (OR =8.54; 95% CI =2.13–34.32; P=0.003), timing to response of activated CPR team within 1 minute (OR =9.37; 95% CI =2.55–34.39; P<0.001), having trained CPR teams (OR =8.76; 95% CI =2.50–30.72; P<0.001), and administration of more than one dose of epinephrine (OR =5.62; 95% CI =1.32–23.88; P<0.019). Conclusion: Patients undergoing anesthesia for an emergency surgery are at risk for perioperative cardiac arrest with high mortality which requires immediate CPR. Our results have confirmed that early detection of cardiac arrest by vigilant electrocardiogram monitoring and prompt management with a qualified team are important factors in improving the success of CPR. Emergency surgical patients at risk for cardiac arrest should be promptly managed, with facilities available not only during the operation but also during the pre- to postoperative period. Keywords: initial successful CPR, CPR, ROSC, general anesthesi