The effect of early extubation on postoperative delirium in patients with liver transplantation: a propensity score matching analysis

BACKGROUND: Maintenance of tracheal intubation is associated with use of sedatives, stress due to mechanical ventilation, or respiratory complications. The aim of this study is to compare the incidence of delirium between early and late extubation groups after liver transplantation (LT). METHODS: Medical records from 247 patients who received LT from January 2010 to July 2017 in a single university hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were divided with 2 groups: Those who underwent early extubation after LT (E group, n = 52) and those who underwent extubation within few hours of intensive care unit (ICU) admission after surgery (C group, n = 195). The patients’ demographic data, perioperative managements and postoperative complications were collected. Early extubation was defined as performing extubation in the operating room after LT. A propensity score matching analysis was performed to reduce the effects of selection bias. RESULTS: Among them, 4/52 (7.69%) in E group and 30/195 (15.38%) in C group occurred postoperative delirium after LT, respectively (P = 0.180). After propensity score matching, there was no difference of the period of hospitalization in ICU (P = 0.961), time to discharge after surgery (P = 0.117) and incidence of delirium between groups (P = 1.000). CONCLUSIONS: Although this study is a retrospective study and limited by the small number of subjects, early extubation does not affect the incidence of delirium after LT. Therefore, further prospective studies on this were needed.

Evaluation of suitability of fluid management using stroke volume variation in patients with prone position during lumbar spinal surgery

BACKGROUND: Static parameters such as central venous pressure and pulmonary artery occlusion pressure, have limitation in evaluation of patients' volume status. Dynamic parameters such as stroke volume variation (SVV), have been used to evaluate intraoperative hemodynamic volume status, in various operations. We examined if SVV is also effective for patients undergoing operation with prone position for fluid management. METHODS: Eighteen patients that received spinal surgery under prone position November 2015 to May 2016, were enrolled. Patients were kept at an SVV value less than 14% during surgery. Changes of pre-, post-operative volume status were evaluated, using transthoracic echocardiography. RESULTS: Mean fluid administered was 1,731.97 ± 792.38 ml. Left ventricular end-diastolic volume was 72.85 ± 13.50 ml before surgery, and 70.84 ± 15.00 ml after surgery (P value = 0.594). Right ventricular end-diastolic area was 15.56 ± 1.71 cm² before surgery, and 13.52 ± 2.65 cm² after surgery (P value = 0.110). Inferior vena cava diameter was 14.99 ± 1.74 mm before surgery, and 13.57 ± 2.83 mm after surgery (P value = 0.080). CONCLUSIONS: We can confirm that fluid management based on SVV is effective, even in prone position surgery. So, SVV, that can be measured by continuous arterial pressure, can be considered a guideline for effective fluid management in spinal surgery.