Optimization of pulmonary ultrasound in ultra-fast-track anesthesia for congenital heart disease surgery: A randomized controlled trial / 中国胸心血管外科临床杂志

@#Objective    To investigate the effect of pulmonary ultrasound on pulmonary complications in ultra-fast-track anesthesia for congenital heart disease surgery. Methods    In 2019, 60 patients with congenital heart diseases underwent ultra-fast-track anesthesia in Shenzhen Children's Hospital, including 34 males and 26 females with the age ranging from 1 month to 6 years. They were randomly divided into a normal group (group N, n=30) and a lung ultrasound optimization group (group L, n=30). Both groups were used the same anesthesia method and anesthetic compatibility. The group N was anesthetized by ultra-fast-track, the tracheal tube was removed after operation and then the patients were sent to the cardiac intensive care unit (CCU). After operation in the group L, according to the contrast of pre- and post-operational lung ultrasonic examination results, for the patients with fusion of B line, atelectasis and pulmonary bronchus inflating sign which caused the increase of lung ultrasound score (LUS), targeted optimization treatment was performed, including sputum suction in the tracheal tube, bronchoscopy alveolar lavage, manual lung inflation suction, ultrasound-guided lung recruitment and other optimization treatments, and then the patients were extubated after lung ultrasound assessment and sent to CCU. The occurrence of pulmonary complications, LUS, oxygenation index (OI), extubation time, etc were compared between the two groups. Results    Compared with the induction of anesthesia and 1 hour after extubation of the two groups, the incidence of pulmonary complications in the group L (18 patients, 60.0%) was lower than that in the group N (26 patients, 86.7%, χ2= 4.17, P=0.040) and the rate of patients with LUS score reduction was higher in the group L (15 patients, 50.0%) than that in the group N (7 patients, 23.3%, χ2=4.59, P=0.032). The correlation analysis between the LUS and OI value of all patients at each time point showed a good negative correlation (P<0.05). Extubation time in the group L was longer than that in the group N (18.70±5.42 min vs. 13.47±4.73 min, P=0.001). Conclusion    Ultra-fast-track anesthesia for congenital heart disease can be optimized by pulmonary ultrasound examination before extubation, which can significantly reduce postoperative pulmonary complications, improve postoperative lung imaging performance, and help patients recover after surgery, and has clinical application value.

Early Experiences with Ultra-Fast-Track Extubation after Surgery for Congenital Heart Disease at a Single Center

BACKGROUND: Early extubation after cardiovascular surgery has some clinical advantages, including reduced hospitalization costs. Herein, we review the results of ultra-fast-track (UFT) extubation, which refers to extubation performed on the operating table just after the operation, or within 1–2 hours after surgery, in patients with congenital cardiac disease. METHODS: We performed UFT extubation in patients (n=72) with a relatively simple congenital cardiac defect or who underwent a simple operation starting in September 2016. To evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of our recently introduced UFT extubation strategy, we retrospectively reviewed 195 patients who underwent similar operations for similar diseases from September 2015 to September 2017, including the 1-year periods immediately before and after the introduction of the UFT extubation protocol. Propensity scores were used to assess the effects of UFT extubation on length of stay (LOS) in the intensive care unit (ICU), hospital LOS, and medical costs. RESULTS: After propensity-score matching using logistic regression analysis, 47 patients were matched in each group. The mean ICU LOS (16.3±28.6 [UFT] vs. 28.0±16.8 [non-UFT] hours, p=0.018) was significantly shorter in the UFT group. The total medical costs (182.6±3.5 [UFT] vs. 187.1±55.6 [non-UFT] ×100,000 Korean won [KRW], p=0.639) and hospital stay expenses (48.3±13.6 [UFT] vs. 54.8±29.0 [non-UFT] ×100,000 KRW, p=0.164) did not significantly differ between the groups. CONCLUSION: UFT extubation decreased the ICU LOS and mechanical ventilation time, but was not associated with postoperative hospital LOS or medical expenses in patients with simple congenital cardiac disease.

Sevoflurane causes less arrhythmias than desflurane after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting: A pilot study.

Background: Volatile anesthetics provide myocardial protection during cardiac surgery. Sevoflurane and desflurane are both efficient agents that allow immediate extubation after off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG). This study compared the incidence of arrhythmias after OPCABG with the two agents. Materials and Methods: Forty patients undergoing OPCABG with immediate extubation and perioperative high thoracic analgesia were included in this controlled, double-blind study; anesthesia was either provided using 1 MAC of sevoflurane (SEVO-group) or desflurane (DES-group). Monitoring of perioperative arrhythmias was provided by continuous monitoring of the EKG up to 72 hours after surgery, and routine EKG monitoring once every day, until time of discharge. Patient data, perioperative arrhythmias, and myocardial protection (troponin I, CK, CK-MB-ratio, and transesophageal echocardiography examinations) were compared using t-test, Fisher's exact test or two-way analysis of variance for repeated measurements; P < 0.05. Results: Patient data and surgery-related data were similar between the two groups; all the patients were successfully extubated immediately after surgery, with similar emergence times. Supraventricular tachycardia occurred only in the DES-group (5 of 20 patients), atrial fibrillation was significantly more frequent in the DES group versus SEVO-group, at five out of 20 versus one out of 20 patients, respectively. Myocardial protection was equally achieved in both groups. Discussion: Ultra-fast track anesthesia using sevoflurane seems more advantageous than desflurane for anesthesia, for OPCABG, as it is associated with significantly less atrial fibrillation or supraventricular arrhythmias after surgery.