Preoperative Fasting of More Than 14 Hours Increases the Risk of Time-to-Death after Cardiothoracic Surgery in Children:A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background:Prolonged preoperative fasting can cause hypoglycemia,hyperglycemia,and intravascular volume depletion in children.We aimed to examine whether prolonged preoperative fasting is associated with in-hospital mortality and other morbidities in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery.Methods:This retrospective cohort study included children aged 0–3 years who underwent cardiac surgery between July 2014 and October 2020.The patient demographic data,surgery-related and anesthesia-related factors,and postoperative outcomes,including hypoglycemia,hyperglycemia,sepsis,length of intensive care unit stay,and in-hospital mortality,were recorded.The main exposure and outcome variables were prolonged fasting and time-to-death after surgery,respectively.The associations between prolonged fasting and perioperative death were analyzed using multivariate Cox regression analysis.Results:In total,402 patients were recruited.The incidence of perioperative mortality was 21%(85/402).The proportion of perioperative deaths was significantly higher in the prolonged fasting group than that in the normal fasting group.The proportion of postoperative bacteremia and hypoglycemia was significantly higher in the very prolonged fasting group than that in the prolonged fasting group.After adjusting for preoperative conditions and anesthesia-and surgery-related factors,preoperative prolonged fasting>14.4 h was significantly associated with time-to-death(HR[95%CI]:2.2[1.2,3.9],p=0.036).The 30-day survival rates of fasting time>14.4 h,9.25–14.4 h,and<9.25 h were 0.67(0.55,0.81),0.79(0.72,0.87),and 0.85(0.79,0.91),respectively.Conclusions:Preoperative fasting of more than 14.4 h was associated with a two-fold increase in the hazard rate of time-to-death in children who underwent cardiac surgery.

A Pictorial Review on the Role of 64-Slice HD MDCT in Detecting Post CABG Cardiothoracic Complications

Aims: The aim of this study is to have a pictorial review on the role of 64-slice multi-detector computerized tomography (MDCT) in detecting post coronary artery graft (GABG) cardiothoracic complications. Materials & Methods: During the period from November 2012 to December 2013, a prospective evaluation of 40 patients with suspected post-operative cardiothoracic complications underwent MDCT coronary angiography in our clinical radiology department. Informed consent was obtained from all patients and the study had institutional review board approval. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: There were 35 males and 5 females, their mean age ± (SD) of 57 ± 3.9 years. A total of 60 grafts were available for evaluation. Two patients could not be evaluated due to clip-artifacts and advanced atherosclerotic disease. Eleven patients showed occluded graft (9) at proximal and distal (2) anastomosis. Seven patients showed pericardial effusion and pleural effusion (8). Two patients had chest wall infection with retrosternal extension and associated mediastinal involvement. One patient showed aneurysm at the re-implanted coronary artery after Bentall procedure, another patient had postoperative myocardial infarction, one patient showed dissection of the ascending aorta, one patient pseudoaneurysm of left ventricle, two patients localized pericardial hematoma, two patients pulmonary embolism, and two patients showed pneumonia. All these complications occurred from 1-60 days from surgery. Conclusion: HD MDCT is an easy non-invasive technique which showed to be effective in diagnosis of most postoperative CABG cardiothoracic complications and is gaining more ground in difficult clinical situations.

End-tidal carbon dioxide monitoring revealed severe complications during cardiothoracic surgery

Introduction:With the continuous progress being made in medicine and surgery,increasingly more advanced technology and monitoring equipment are being used in anesthesia,end-tidal carbon dioxide(PETCO_(2))monitoring revealed serious complications of cardiothoracic surgery.Case presentation:A 3-year-old boy with a body weight of 15 kg presented with a>1-month history of a heart murmur.At the moment of arterial catheter ligation,the PETCO_(2) decreased from 37 to 15 mmHg,while the blood pressure,heart rate,and airway resistance did not change significantly.After re-separation of the ligation catheter,the surgeons carefully exposed the ductus and left pulmonary artery again and ligated the ductus arteriosus.Conclusion:This case suggests that PETCO_(2) monitoring reflects the circulatory status and pulmonary blood flow.

Advantage of surgical intensive care unit(SICU)predominant by cardiothoracic surgeons in multiple trauma management in a primary hospital

Purpose It is a challenge for the primary hospitals to manage multiple trauma patients.In this article,we explored the advantage of establishing a surgical intensive care unit(SICU)predominant by cardiothoracic surgeons in the early management of multiple trauma.Methods This was a retrospective study and patients with multiple trauma in our hospital were collected and divided into two groups,based on time period and treat modes:group A(retrospective observation group)where patients were treated with the traditional treatment mode from January 2017 to December 2017 and group B(study group)where patients were treated in the SICU predominant by cardiothoracic surgeons from January 2018 to December 2018.Clinical data including demographics,injury severity score(ISS),causes of injury,time intervals from reception to entering SICU or operating room and mortality three days after injuries were collected.Data were analyzed by SPSS 20.0 software.Categorical variables were presented as number and/or frequency and continuous variables as mean±SD.Results Altogether 406 patients were included in this study,including 217 patients in group A and 189 patients in group B.General data between the two groups revealed no significant difference:mean age(years)(35.51±12.97 vs.33.62±13.61,p=0.631),gender distribution(mean/female,130/87 vs.116/73,p=0.589)and ISS(15.92±7.95 vs.16.16±6.89,p=0.698).Fall from height were the dominant mechanism of injury,with 135 cases in group A(71.4%)and 121 cases in group B(55.8%),followed by traffic accidents.Injury mechanism showed no significant differences between two groups(p=1.256).Introduction of the SICU significantly improved the care of trauma patients,regarding speed and mortality.Time intervals between reception and entering SICU or operating room was(108.23±6.72)min and(45.67±7.96)min in group A and B,respectively(p=0.001).Mortality three days after injuries was 13.89%and 5.53%in group A and B,respectively(p=0.005).Conclusion Establishing a SICU predominant by cardiothoracic surgeons can reduce the early mortality rates in multiple trauma patients.

Veno-Venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Acute Lung Injury after Surgery for Aortic Dissection: A Case Report

Acute respiratory failure after surgery for aortic dissection is a serious complication that has been associated with increased mortality and morbidity. Veno-venous (VV) extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is reported as one of the treatments for this life-threatening complication. A 78-year-old male patient was admitted to our hospital for Stanford type A acute aortic dissection. He underwent emergency replacement of the ascending aorta, after which he developed acute lung injury. It was difficult to maintain oxygenation with a respirator mask. Therefore, VV-ECMO was initiated on postoperative day 1. The oxygenation gradually improved, and VV-ECMO was continued until postoperative day 13. On postoperative day 25, mechanical ventilation was withdrawn. The patient was discharged from the hospital on postoperative day 149. We report a case of successful treatment of acute lung injury with VV-ECMO initiated after surgery for aortic dissection. VV-ECMO can be considered as a treatment option for severe acute lung injury after surgery for aortic dissection.