Cholecystectomy with Thoracic Epidural Anesthesia in Geriatric Patients.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the outcome of thoracic epidural anaesthesia in open cholecystectomy procedures of comorbid advanced elderly patients. STUDY DESIGN: Observational study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey during 2014-2019. METHODOLOGY: This study included 103 geriatric patients of over 65 years, who underwent open cholecystectomy under thoracic epidural anaesthesia during the study period. Patient files, anaesthesia registration forms, early postoperative follow-up, and discharge process were retrospective. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients included in the study was 79.42 ± 9.03 years, while the mean operation time was 68.02 ± 17.44 minutes. While only 7 (6.8%) patients had a chronic disease, the number of patients with two or three comorbid diseases was 67 (65%). The number of patients with 4 or more comorbidities was 29 (28.2%). The most common intraoperative complications were hypotension (n = 22, 21.4%) and bradycardia (n = 19, 18.4%). Intraoperative desaturation was observed in 7 (6.8%) patients; and oxygen and bronchodilator therapy was effective. The median discharge time was 6.5 (5.0-8.25) days; whereas, 5 (4.9%) patients died postoperatively. CONCLUSION: In open cholecystectomy operations on comorbid advanced elderly patients, thoracic epidural anaesthesia can be preferred to general anaesthesia. Key Words: Geriatrics, Cholecystectomy, Anesthesia, Thoracic epidural, Comorbidity.

The Importance of Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter in Post-dural Puncture Headache Diagnosis and Follow-up.

INTRODUCTION: Intracranial hypotension-induced headache is caused by reduction in the volume or pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid. Headache might develop secondary to lumbar puncture. In the detection of intracranial hypotension, when compared with invasive methods, there is a good correlation between ultrasound-guided optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) and invasive methods. The aim of the study is to investigate the effectiveness of alteration in ultrasound-guided ONSD in diagnosis and treatment of post-dural puncture headache (PDPH) induced by intracranial hypotension. METHODS: Our study involved 40 adult patients aged 18-65 scheduled to have surgery under spinal anesthesia. Patients were randomized into two groups consisting of PDPH (Group H, n=20), and control (Group C, n=20) during their post-operative period. The ONSDs of patients were measured via ultrasound, pain severity with Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) pre-operatively, at 24th, 26th and 48th hours post-operatively. Conservative treatment was started on the 24th hour in PDPH group. RESULTS: There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of demographic data. In Group H, the reduction in ONSD from 3.8±0.2 to 3.2±0.3 mm in postoperative 24th hours (p=0.001) and an increase to 4.4±0.3 mm in postoperative 48th hours (p=0.03) were significant. When compared to postoperative 24th hours, ONSD in postoperative 26th (3.9±0.3 mm) and 48th hours (4.4±0.3 mm) were significantly higher (p=0.007 and p=0.01; respectively) in Group H. NRS values in Group H at postoperative 26th and 48th hours were significantly lower compared to postoperative 24th hours (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: We believe that serial measurement of ultrasound-guided ONSD, which is considered a simple and non-invasive procedure in the determination of intracranial pressure changes, is a more objective method in the follow-up of intracranial hypotension-induced headache compared to NRS evaluation.

Conduta no perioperatório de paciente pediátrico com trombastenia de glanzmann durante adenoidectomia / Perioperative management of a pediatric patient with glanzmann's thrombasthenia during adenoidectomy / Conducta en el perioperatorio de paciente pediátrico con trombastenia de glanzmann durante la adenoidectomía

JUSTIFICATIVA E OBJETIVOS: Trombastenia de Glanzmann (TG) é uma doença autossômica recessivamente hereditária das plaquetas. Não há nenhum tratamento específico. A transfusão de plaquetas é atualmente o tratamento padrão quando o sangramento não responde a medidas locais e/ou a medicamentos antifibrinolíticos, podendo, entretanto, resultar em aloimunização. O fator VII recombinante ativado (rFVIIa) pode ser usado para evitar a transfusão recorrente de plaquetas. RELATO DE CASO: Apresentamos um tratamento precoce com dose baixa de rFVIIa associada à transfusão de plaquetas em um caso pediátrico (cinco anos de idade), com diagnóstico de TG e apresentando sangramento prolongado durante adenoidectomia eletiva. Uma dose total de 1.200 mg (60 µg.kg-1) de rFVIIa obteve sucesso em estancar o sangramento, o que pode ser aceito como uma dose baixa. CONCLUSÕES: Relatos de casos podem encorajar o uso de tratamento precoce com baixas doses de rFVIIa em hemorragias graves que não estacam a despeito da transfusão de plaquetas e na prevenção de sangramento em procedimentos cirúrgicos em pacientes com TG. Estudos adicionais são necessários para definir a dose mínima eficaz. Portanto, as tentativas para determinar a dose eficaz mais baixa desse composto devem ser incentivadas consideando o resultado deste caso em face de restrições financeiras no sistema de saúde.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) is an autosomal recessively inherited platelet disorder. There is not any specific treatment. Platelet transfusion is currently the standard treatment when bleeding does not respond to local measures and/or antifibrinolytic treatment, although it may result in alloimmunization. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) might be used to avoid recurrent platelet transfusion. CASE REPORT: We present early treatment with low-dose rFVIIa additional to platelet transfusion in a 5-year-old pediatric case with diagnosis of GT who developed prolonged bleeding under an elective adenoidectomy surgery. A total dose of 1,200 µg (60 µg.kg-1) rFVIIa could successfully stop bleeding, what can be accepted as low dose usage. CONCLUSIONS: Such case reports may encourage the use of early treatment with low doses of rFVIIa in severe bleeds that did not stop despite of platelet transfusion, as well as in preventing bleeding in surgical procedures in patients with GT. Actually, additional studies are needed to define the minimal effective dose and attempts to determine the lowest effective dose may be encouraged by the result of this case, considering financial restrictions in the health care system.

JUSTIFICATIVA Y OBJETIVOS: La Trombastenia de Glanzmann (TG) es una enfermedad autosómica recesivamente hereditaria de las plaquetas. No hay ningún tratamiento específico. La transfusión de plaquetas es hoy por hoy, el tratamiento estándar cuando el sangramiento no responde a medidas locales y/o a medicamentos antifibrinolíticos, pudiendo sin embargo, resultar en una aloinmunización. El factor VII recombinante activado (rFVIIa) puede ser usado para evitar la transfusión recurrente de plaquetas. RELATO DE CASO: Presentamos aquí un rápido tratamiento con una dosis baja de rFVIIa asociada a la transfusión de plaquetas en un caso pediátrico (5 años de edad), con diagnóstico de TG y presentando un sangramiento prolongado durante la adenoidectomía electiva. Una dosis total de 1.200 mg (60 µg.kg-1) de rFVIIa tuvo éxito al estancar el sangramiento, lo que puede aceptarse como una dosis baja. CONCLUSIONES: Relatos de casos pueden estimular el uso de tratamiento rápido con bajas dosis de rFVIIa en las hemorragias graves que no estancan, pese a la transfusión de plaquetas y a la prevención de sangramiento en los procedimientos quirúrgicos en pacientes con TG. Sin embargo, estudios adicionales se hacen necesarios para definir la dosis mínima eficaz. Por tanto, los intentos para determinar la dosis eficaz más baja de un compuesto tan caro deben ser incentivados debido al resultado de este caso cuando existan restricciones financieras en el sistema de Sanidad.

Perioperative management of a pediatric patient with Glanzmann's thrombasthenia during adenoidectomy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Glanzmann's thrombasthenia (GT) is an autosomal recessively inherited platelet disorder. There is not any specific treatment. Platelet transfusion is currently the standard treatment when bleeding does not respond to local measures and/or antifibrinolytic treatment, although it may result in alloimmunization. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) might be used to avoid recurrent platelet transfusion. CASE REPORT: We present early treatment with low-dose rFVIIa additional to platelet transfusion in a 5-year-old pediatric case with diagnosis of GT who developed prolonged bleeding under an elective adenoidectomy surgery. A total dose of 1,200µg (60µg.kg(-1)) rFVIIa could successfully stop bleeding, what can be accepted as low dose usage. CONCLUSIONS: Such case reports may encourage the use of early treatment with low doses of rFVIIa in severe bleeds that did not stop despite of platelet transfusion, as well as in preventing bleeding in surgical procedures in patients with GT. Actually, additional studies are needed to define the minimal effective dose and attempts to determine the lowest effective dose may be encouraged by the result of this case, considering financial restrictions in the health care system.

The effect of home healthcare on quality of life in patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer.

This study was undertaken to determine the effect of home healthcare on the quality of life (QOL) in patients diagnosed with gastrointestinal cancer. A total of 42 patients, who met eligibility criteria, were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to either a control group or an experimental group. Control group patients received "usual care" defined as pain control and management through the pain clinic. Experimental group patients received pain control through the clinic plus three home visits. During the home visits, their nursing care was guided by an evidence-based protocol developed by the research team. Data were collected on pain, performance, symptoms, and QOL by using previously developed and validated instruments.Significant differences were found between the two groups on physiological function, psychological concerns, and total stress. In the experimental group, there was a significant decrease in pain and increase in performance from baseline to the final data collection period. For the control group, a significant decrease in QOL over the study period was observed. There were no significant differences between the two groups on pain, performance, QOL, and QOL subscales at the final visit.