Tranexamic acid as a means of reducing the need for blood and blood component therapy in children undergoing open heart surgery for congenital cyanotic heart disease.

Children undergoing cardiac operations using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) are at risk of significant postoperative bleeding and the need for transfusion. The antifibrinolytic drug, tranexamic acid, decreases blood loss in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery. However, its efficacy has not been extensively studied in patients with cyanotic congenital heart defects (CHD). Using a prospective, randomized, double-blind study design, we examined 67 children undergoing repair of cyanotic CHD. After induction of anesthesia and prior to skin incision, patients received 15 mg/kg of tranexamic acid intravenously. At the end of CPB, a second bolus of tranexamic acid (15 mg/kg) or saline placebo was administered. Postoperative blood loss and transfusion requirements from the period after protamine administration until 24 hours after admission to the intensive care unit were recorded. In addition, the hematocrit, platelet count and other indices of coagulation were recorded every 6 hours. There was no significant difference in postoperative blood loss between the treated and the placebo group (12.51 +/- 13.20 ml/kg per 24 hours, in the tranexamic acid group, vs 10.68 + 6.38 ml/kg per 24 hours, in the placebo group). Also there was no significant difference in the amounts of blood and blood products administered between the two groups. No adverse effects of tranexamic acid were found in this study. In conclusion, there was no significant difference in postoperative blood loss or blood and blood product requirement between those children with cyanotic CHD undergoing open heart surgery who received a single dose of tranexamic acid compared with those who received two doses.

Awareness under general anesthesia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the occurrence and associated factors of awareness in the patients undergoing elective surgery under general anesthesia. METHODS: A prospective cohort study of 802 patients, scheduled for elective general and gynecological surgery under endotracheal anesthesia was performed at Siriraj Hospital. Balanced general endotracheal anesthesia was performed as routine practice. Standard monitoring and clinical observation for movement, tear, sweat, and eye-lid opening were obtained. They were interviewed during the first 12 hours after a surgical completion. If the patient was suspected to have awareness, then a second interview was performed on postoperative day 3. RESULTS: The ages of the study population were 16-84 years. There were 659 females and 143 males. Awareness was found in 5 patients (3 females, 2 males) as an occurrence of 0.62 per cent. The only positive clinical observation found was hand movement. The cause of awareness should be inadequate anesthesia. Apart from that, data gathered from interviews with the group who had no awareness (797 patients), the last thing they could remember before unconsciousness was auditory perception. Also hearing someone calling was the first thing upon awakening. Most of the patients did not dream during anesthesia. No serious psychological disorder occurred. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of awareness was 0.62 per cent in the patients undergoing surgery under anesthesia. Inadequate anesthesia was the most likely cause of awareness. No postoperative sequelae of awareness occurred.

Perioperative cardiac arrest at Siriraj Hospital between 1999-2001.

Cardiac arrest during the perioperative period is a good indicator of the quality of anesthetic management. The incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest in Siriraj Hospital hasn't been reported before. Our objectives were to determine the incidence of perioperative anesthesia-related cardiac arrest and the results of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in these cases in order to find out how to improve our anesthetic care. This prospective study was undertaken between 1999-2001 by sending a questionnaire to those witnessing a cardiac arrest. The incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest was 8.2:10,000 instances of anesthesia with a mortality of 5.6:10,000 within 48 hours of the arrest. The incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest that was related to anesthesia was 0.7:10,000 instances of anesthesia and the anesthesia related mortality was 0.19: 10,000 within 48 hours of arrest. Failed cardiopulmonary resuscitation occurred in of occasions 41.7 per cent. There was no difference between intraoperative and postoperative cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Twenty-one per cent of patients experiencing a cardiac arrest were discharged from hospital. Seventy-three per cent of events occurred in patients with an ASA rating 3-5 and most often the cause of arrest was massive or uncontrolled bleeding. In those patients with an ASA rating 1-2 there were no outstanding cause of arrest.