Teams and cardiac surgery

Motivation\ud Our study is designed to identify human factors that are a threat to the safety of children with heart disease.\ud \ud Research approach\ud After an initial observation period, we will apply a major safety intervention. We will then re-measure the occurrence and types of human factors in the operating room, and the incidence of adverse events, near misses and hospital death, to evaluate if there was a significant post-intervention reduction. \ud \ud Findings/design\ud We focus on challenges encountered during the training of the observers. Research Limitations\ud Because of the complexity of the OR, observations are necessarily subjective. \ud \ud Originality/Value\ud This work is original because of the systematic evaluation of a safety intevention and the training protocol for the observers.\ud \ud Take Away Message\ud Systematic and periodic assessment of observers is required when teamwork is observed in complex, dynamic settings

Pregabalin effect on acute and chronic pain after cardiac surgery

Introduction. Pain after cardiac surgery affects long-term patient wellness. This study investigated the effect of preoperative pregabalin on acute and chronic pain after elective cardiac surgery with median sternotomy. Methods. Prospective double blind study. 93 cardiac surgery patients were randomly assigned into three groups: Group 1 received placebo, Group 2 received oral pregabalin 75 mg, and Group 3 received oral pregabalin 150 mg. Data were collected 8 hours, 24 hours, and 3 months postoperatively. Results. Patients receiving pregabalin required fewer morphine boluses (10 in controls versus 6 in Group 1 versus 4 in Group 2, p=0.000) and had lower pain scores at 8 hours (4 versus 3 versus 3, p=0.001) and 3 months (3 versus 2 versus 2, p=0.000) and lower morphine consumption at 8 hours (14 versus 13 versus 12 mg, p=0.000) and 24 hours (19.5 versus 16 versus 15 mg, p=0.000). Percentage of patients with sleep disturbances or requiring analgesics was lower in the pregabalin group and even lower with higher pregabalin dose (16/31 versus 5/31 versus 3/31, p=0.000, and 26/31 versus 16/31 versus 10/31, p=0.000, resp.) 3 months after surgery. Conclusion. Preoperative oral pregabalin 75 or 150 mg reduces postoperative morphine requirements and acute and chronic pain after cardiac surgery

Early cardiac surgery in Malta

Cardiac surgery in Malta started in 1918 with the removal of a bullet from the left ventricle. The second operation took place almost thirty years later with the ligation of a persistent ductus arteriosus. During the next thirty five years close ties with the UK were fostered and Maltese patients were sent there for specialist treatment and surgery. By the early 1980's patients were being investigated in Malta and visiting teams from the UK performed surgery both here and abroad. This expanding service was a prelude to the setting up of a permanent local service, which began operations in 1995.peer-reviewe

Aprotinin may increase mortality in low and intermediate risk but not in high risk cardiac surgical patients compared to tranexamic acid and ε-aminocaproic acid - a meta-analysis of randomised and observational trials of over 30.000 patients

Background: To compare the effect of aprotinin with the effect of lysine analogues (tranexamic acid and ε-aminocaproic acid) on early mortality in three subgroups of patients: low, intermediate and high risk of cardiac surgery. Methods and Findings: We performed a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials and observational with the following data sources: Medline, Cochrane Library, and reference lists of identified articles. The primary outcome measure was early (in-hospital/30-day) mortality. The secondary outcome measures were any transfusion of packed red blood cells within 24 hours after surgery, any re-operation for bleeding or massive bleeding, and acute renal dysfunction or failure within the selected cited publications, respectively. Out of 328 search results, 31 studies (15 trials and 16 observational studies) included 33,501 patients. Early mortality was significantly increased after aprotinin vs. lysine analogues with a pooled risk ratio (95% CI) of 1.58 (1.13–2.21), p<0.001 in the low (n = 14,297) and in the intermediate risk subgroup (1.42 (1.09–1.84), p<0.001; n = 14,427), respectively. Contrarily, in the subgroup of high risk patients (n = 4,777), the risk for mortality did not differ significantly between aprotinin and lysine analogues (1.03 (0.67–1.58), p = 0.90). Conclusion: Aprotinin may be associated with an increased risk of mortality in low and intermediate risk cardiac surgery, but presumably may has no effect on early mortality in a subgroup of high risk cardiac surgery compared to lysine analogues. Thus, decisions to re-license aprotinin in lower risk patients should critically be debated. In contrast, aprotinin might probably be beneficial in high risk cardiac surgery as it reduces risk of transfusion and bleeding complications

Clinical outcomes of remote ischemic preconditioning prior to cardiac surgery: A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

Background Multiple randomized controlled trials of remote ischemic preconditioning ( RIPC ) prior to cardiac surgery have failed to demonstrate clinical benefit. The aim of this updated meta‐analysis was to evaluate the effect of RIPC on outcomes following cardiac surgery. Methods and Results Searches of PubMed, Cochrane, EMBASE , and Web of Science databases were performed for 1970 to December 13, 2015. Randomized controlled trials comparing RIPC with a sham procedure prior to cardiac surgery performed with cardiopulmonary bypass were assessed. All‐cause mortality, acute kidney injury ( AKI ), and myocardial infarction were the primary outcomes of interest. We identified 21 trials that randomized 5262 patients to RIPC or a sham procedure prior to undergoing cardiac surgery. The majority of patients were men (72.6%) and the mean or median age ranged from 42.3 to 76.3 years. Of the 9 trials that evaluated mortality, 188 deaths occurred out of a total of 4210 randomized patients, with 96 deaths occurring in 2098 patients (4.6%) randomized to RIPC and 92 deaths occurring in 2112 patients (4.4%) randomized to a sham control procedure, demonstrating no significant reduction in all‐cause mortality (risk ratio [RR], 0.987; 95% CI , 0.653–1.492, P =0.95). Twelve studies evaluated AKI in 4209 randomized patients. In these studies, AKI was observed in 516 of 2091 patients (24.7%) undergoing RIPC and in 577 of 2118 patients (27.2%) randomized to a sham procedure. RIPC did not result in a significant reduction in AKI ( RR , 0.839; 95% CI , 0.703–1.001 [ P =0.052]). In 6 studies consisting of 3799 randomized participants, myocardial infarction occurred in 237 of 1891 patients (12.5%) randomized to RIPC and in 282 of 1908 patients (14.8%) randomized to a sham procedure, resulting in no significant reduction in postoperative myocardial infarction ( RR , 0.809; 95% CI , 0.615–1.064 [ P =0.13]). A subgroup analysis was performed a priori based on previous studies suggesting that propofol may mitigate the protective benefits of RIPC . Three studies randomized patients undergoing cardiac surgery to RIPC or sham procedure in the absence of propofol anesthesia. Most of these patients were men (60.3%) and the mean or median age ranged from 57.0 to 70.6 years. In this propofol‐free subgroup of 434 randomized patients, 71 of 217 patients (32.7%) who underwent RIPC developed AKI compared with 103 of 217 patients (47.5%) treated with a sham procedure. In this cohort, RIPC resulted in a significant reduction in AKI ( RR , 0.700; 95% CI , 0.527–0.930 [ P =0.014]). In studies of patients who received propofol anesthesia, 445 of 1874 (23.7%) patients randomized to RIPC developed AKI compared with 474 of 1901 (24.9%) who underwent a sham procedure. The RR for AKI was 0.928 (95% CI , 0.781–1.102; P =0.39) for RIPC versus sham. There was no significant interaction between the two subgroups ( P =0.098). Conclusions RIPC does not reduce morbidity or mortality in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. In the subgroup of studies in which propofol was not used, a reduction in AKI was seen, suggesting that propofol may interact with the protective effects of RIPC . Future studies should evaluate RIPC in the absence of propofol anesthesia. </jats:sec

Benzodiazepine-Free Cardiac Anesthesia for Reduction of Postoperative Delirium (B-Free): A protocol for a multi-centre randomized cluster crossover trial

Delirium is common after cardiac surgery and is associated with adverse outcomes. Administration of benzodiazepines before and after cardiac surgery is associated with delirium; guidelines recommend minimizing their use. Benzodiazepine administration during cardiac surgery remains common because of its recognized benefits. Th

Patient experiences of cardiac surgery and nursing care: a narrative review

Aim: The aim of the Narrative Review was to explore the patient experience following cardiac surgery and nursing care. Methodology: A Narrative Review was used to integrate the findings of different types of evidence in order to gain an understanding of the patient's experience of cardiac surgery and nursing care. Three key databases were searched; Cumulative Index to Nursing Allied Health Literature (CINHAL), British Nursing Index (BNI) and Medline. The review involved critiquing the methodological quality of included studies, thematic analysis and synthesis of findings. Conclusions: Patients experience physical discomfort and pain following cardiac surgery. The psychological experience of cardiac surgery is associated with negative emotions which are mostly related to weaning from mechanical ventilation and communication difficulties. Support from family is of high importance but patients value the support from other cardiac surgery patients. No studies intended to explore the experience of nursing care following cardiac surgery. However, patient experiences of nursing care were reported across the studies. Recommendations: Future research should specifically explore the experience of nursing care following cardiac surgery. Current PREMs Questionnaires are a step forward in patient experience measurement for cardiac surgery; however they are limited by their feedback method. Service improvement initiatives should utilise both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods to obtain a multidimensional view of the patient experience

Early changes in diaphragmatic function evaluated using ultrasound in cardiac surgery patients: a cohort study.

Little is known about the evolution of diaphragmatic function in the early post-cardiac surgery period. The main purpose of this work is to describe its evolution using ultrasound measurements of muscular excursion and thickening fraction (TF). Single-center prospective study of 79 consecutive uncomplicated elective cardiac surgery patients, using motion-mode during quiet unassisted breathing. Excursion and TF were measured sequentially for each patient [pre-operative (D1), 1 day (D2) and 5 days (D3) after surgery]. Pre-operative median for right and left hemidiaphragmatic excursions were 1.8 (IQR 1.6 to 2.1) cm and 1.7 (1.4 to 2.0) cm, respectively. Pre-operative median right and left thickening fractions were 28 (19 to 36) % and 33 (22 to 51) %, respectively. At D2, there was a reduction in both excursion (right: 1.5 (1.1 to 1.8) cm, p &lt; 0.001, left: 1.5 (1.1 to 1.8), p = 0.003) and thickening fractions (right: 20 (15 to 34) %, p = 0.021, left: 24 (17 to 39) %, p = 0.002), followed by a return to pre-operative values at D3. A positive moderate correlation was found between excursion and thickening fraction (Spearman's rho 0.518 for right and 0.548 for left hemidiaphragm, p &lt; 0.001). Interobserver reliability yielded a bias below 0.1 cm with limits of agreement (LOA) of ± 0.3 cm for excursion and - 2% with LOA of ± 21% for thickening fractions. After cardiac surgery, the evolution of diaphragmatic function is characterized by a transient impairment followed by a quick recovery. Although ultrasound diaphragmatic excursion and thickening fraction are correlated, excursion seems to be a more feasible and reproducible method in this population

Statistical and Clinical Aspects of Hospital Outcomes Profiling

Hospital profiling involves a comparison of a health care provider's structure, processes of care, or outcomes to a standard, often in the form of a report card. Given the ubiquity of report cards and similar consumer ratings in contemporary American culture, it is notable that these are a relatively recent phenomenon in health care. Prior to the 1986 release of Medicare hospital outcome data, little such information was publicly available. We review the historical evolution of hospital profiling with special emphasis on outcomes; present a detailed history of cardiac surgery report cards, the paradigm for modern provider profiling; discuss the potential unintended negative consequences of public report cards; and describe various statistical methodologies for quantifying the relative performance of cardiac surgery programs. Outstanding statistical issues are also described.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/088342307000000096 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org