Restricted Albumin Utilization Is Safe and Cost Effective in a Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit.

BACKGROUND: Volume expansion is often necessary after cardiac surgery, and albumin is often administered. Albumin's high cost motivated an attempt to reduce its utilization. This study analyzes the impact limiting albumin infusion in a cardiac surgery intensive care unit. METHODS: This retrospective study analyzed albumin use between April 2014 and April 2015 in patients admitted to a cardiac surgery intensive care unit. During the first 9 months, there were no restrictions. In January 2015, institutional guidelines limited albumin use to patients requiring more than 3 L crystalloid in the early postoperative period, hypoalbuminemic patients, and to patients considered fluid overloaded. Albumin utilization was obtained from pharmacy records and compared with outcome quality metrics. RESULTS: In all, 1,401 patients were admitted over 13 months. Albumin use, mortality, ventilator days, patients receiving transfusions, and length of stay were compared for 961 patients before and 440 patients after guidelines were initiated. After restrictive guidelines were instituted, albumin utilization was reduced from a mean of 280 monthly doses to a mean of 101 monthly doses (p < 0.001). There was also a trend toward reduced ventilator days. Mortality, length of stay, and transfusion requirements demonstrated no significant change. Based on an average wholesale price and an average monthly reduction of 180 albumin doses, the cardiac surgery intensive care unit demonstrated more than $45,000 of wholesale savings per month after restrictions were implemented. CONCLUSIONS: Albumin restriction in the cardiac surgery intensive care unit was feasible and safe. Significant reductions in utilization and cost with no changes in morbidity or mortality were demonstrated. These findings may provide a strategy for reducing cost while maintaining quality of care.

Impact on postoperative bleeding and cost of recombinant activated factor VII in patients undergoing heart transplantation.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac transplantation can be complicated by refractory hemorrhage particularly in cases where explantation of a ventricular assist device is necessary. Recombinant activated factor VII (rFVIIa) has been used to treat refractory bleeding in cardiac surgery patients, but little information is available on its efficacy or cost in heart transplant patients. METHODS: Patients who had orthotopic heart transplantation between January 2009 and December 2014 at a single center were reviewed. Postoperative bleeding and the total costs of hemostatic therapies were compared between patients who received rFVIIa and those who did not. Propensity scores were created and used to control for the likelihood of receiving rFVIIa in order to reduce bias in our risk estimates. RESULTS: Seventy-six patients underwent heart transplantation during the study period. Twenty-one patients (27.6%) received rFVIIa for refractory intraoperative bleeding. There was no difference in postoperative red blood cell transfusion, chest tube output, or surgical re-exploration between patients who received rFVIIa and those who did not, even after adjusting with the propensity score (P = 0.94, P = 0.60, and P = 0.10, respectively). The total cost for hemostatic therapies was significantly higher in the rFVIIa group (median $10,819 vs. $1,985; P < 0.0001). Subgroup analysis of patients who underwent redo-sternotomy with left ventricular assist device explantation did not show any benefit for rFVIIa either. CONCLUSIONS: In this relatively small cohort, rFVIIa use was not associated with decreased postoperative bleeding in patients undergoing heart transplantation; however, it led to significantly higher cost.

Treatment of multidrug-resistant pseudomonas aeruginosa using extended-infusion antimicrobial regimens.

In the management of multidrug-resistant infections in critically ill patients with multiorgan dysfunction, consideration must be given to the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of an antimicrobial agent to optimize dosing. We describe a 25-year-old woman who was undergoing thrice-weekly hemodialysis and developed multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia secondary to infected left and right ventricular assist devices. After multiple courses of antibiotics, her blood cultures revealed that the infecting organism was becoming progressively more resistant to antibiotic options. Cefepime 2 g administered over 3 hours/day (in combination with colistimethate) provided adequate drug levels for multidrug-resistant, cefepime-intermediate P. aeruginosa bacteremia in this patient. We present the clinical case of this patient, followed by a discussion of possible therapeutic approaches to be considered, including illustration of the principles of using extended-infusion antimicrobial regimens, and present the patient's resulting clinical course.