Infectious complications of invasive blood pressure monitoring in open heart surgery patients

To analyze the incidence of infectious complications of invasive blood pressure monitoring. Study was conducted at the Anaesthesia Department of Punjab Institute of Cardiology, Lahore. Design: Arterial catheter tip of 100 adult patient was sent for culture. Both right and left radial arteries were used for cannulation. Outcome Studied: Mean duration of arterial cannulation, any evidence of local or systemic infection, incidence of positive catheter tip culture and types of organism grown were noted. Positive arterial tip culture was seen in 31 patients. Staph epidermidis was the most common organism being seen in 17 patients. Mean duration of cannulation was 34.24 +/- 09.54 hours post operatively. None of these developed any local or systemic evidence of infection. Adherence to the aseptic technique during insertion and maintenance of arterial connulas is very important to prevent the infectious complications related to the procedure. Minimum handling of the whole monitoring system and limiting the duration of cannulation will certainly be helpful in this regard

Complications of endotracheal intubation in open heart surgery patients

Open-heart surgery is associated with prolonged intubation and hypothermia. This prospective study was performed at intensive care unit. 100 adult patients were intubated with BAXTER endotracheal tubes. Body temperature was decreased to 28.5 °C during cardiopulmonary bypass. Patients were electively ventilated for a mean period of 15.2 hours. All patients were extubated successfully. They were followed on first postoperative day for any intubation related complication. 53 out of 100 patients reported one or more complications. Hoarseness was the major problem. Sore throat and dysphagia were other complaints