The usefulness of plasma levels of mature and total adrenomedullin as biomarkers indicating the magnitude of surgical stress responses: A single-center, prospective, observational study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Adrenomedullin (AM), a vasodilatory peptide, is known for its pleiotropic actions. AM levels are increased under inflammatory conditions such as sepsis and can be useful as a prognostic biomarker. However, there are only a few reports on the physiological actions of AM in the perioperative period. The aim of this single-center, prospective, and observational study was to investigate the changes in the plasma levels of mature AM (mAM) and total AM (tAM) observed during the perioperative period. In addition, we aimed to determine the association between each AM level and immune-inflammatory parameters to explore the usefulness of AM as a biomarker of the magnitude of surgical stress responses. METHODS: The levels of both mAM and tAM, in addition to the levels of presepsin, interleukin-6, procalcitonin, white blood cell, and C-reactive protein, were measured in blood samples obtained during the perioperative period. Other laboratory data, including sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) and acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II scores, were obtained from individual clinical records. Correlations between each AM and clinical parameters were determined using Spearman's rank correlation. P<0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-three perioperative patients scheduled for three types of surgical procedures, including cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, abdominal surgery, and cervical laminoplasty, were included in this study. There was a moderate to strong correlation between each AM and immune-inflammatory parameters, SOFA score, and APACHE II score, as related to surgical trauma. Specifically, the strongest correlation was observed between each AM and SOFA score. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that plasma AM levels may represent the most important inflammatory mediators that are evident in surgical stress responses. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: Since the levels of both tAM and mAM show the same trend, mAM and tAM may be equally used as biomarkers for the evaluation of the physiological status of surgical patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This observational study was retrospectively registered with Japanese Clinical Trial Registry "UMIN-CTR" on March 19, 2018, and was given a trial ID number UMIN000031792.

Comparison of opioid local anesthetic combination regimens using the number of self-administrated boluses in patient-controlled epidural analgesia after cesarean section: A retrospective single-center study.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of combined opioids by comparing four regimens of patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) after cesarean section.Parturient patients who underwent elective or emergent cesarean section under combined spinal and epidural anesthesia from April 2013 to March 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. Based on PCEA, they were assigned to one of 4 groups: local anesthetic alone (LA), epidural single morphine administration during surgery followed by local anesthetic alone (M), local anesthetic combined with fentanyl 10 µg/h (F10), or local anesthetic combined with fentanyl 20 µg/h (F20). The primary outcome was the number of PCEA boluses used. Secondary outcomes included the use of rescue analgesia, postoperative nausea and vomiting, and postoperative pruritus.A total of 250 parturients were analyzed. Whereas the number of PCEA boluses in the LA group was significantly higher than in the other combined opioid groups on the day of surgery and postoperative day 1 (LA: 3 [1-6] and 7 [4-9] vs M: 2 [0-4] and 4 [0-7] vs F10: 1 [0-4] and 3 [0-6] vs F20: 1 [0-3] and 2 [0-8], P = .012 and 0.010, respectively), within the combined opioid groups, the number was not significantly different. Significantly fewer patients in the F20 group required rescue analgesia on postoperative day 1 and 2 (25 and 55%) than those in the M (66 and 81%) and F10 (62 and 66%) groups (P < .001 and P = .007, respectively). Postoperative nausea and vomiting and pruritus were significantly higher in the M group (P < .008 and P = .024, respectively).The results of the present study suggest that local anesthetic alone after a single administration of morphine, or local anesthetic combined with fentanyl 10 µg/h would generally be adequate for PCEA, whereas local anesthetic combined with fentanyl 20 µg/h would be suitable for conventional epidural analgesia.

The diagnostic and prognostic value of mature and total adrenomedullin for sepsis: a prospective observational study.

INTRODUCTION: Information about biologically active adrenomedullin (mature AM), a potential new biomarker for sepsis and septic shock, is limited. Here, we investigated the value of mature AM for diagnosis and outcome prediction in sepsis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) were retrospectively cate-gorised into non-sepsis or sepsis groups, according to the Sepsis-3 definitions. Plasma levels of mature and total (the sum of the levels of intermediate and mature forms) AM were measured, and their usefulness was compared with that of other sepsis biomarkers, such as procalcitonin and presepsin. RESULTS: Of the 98 patients analysed, 42 were assigned to the non-sepsis and 56 to the sepsis group. Mature and total AM levels on admission were significantly higher in patients with than in those without sepsis. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of mature and total AM for diagnosing sepsis were 0.85 and 0.88, whereas those of procalcitonin and presepsin were 0.83 and 0.68, respectively. AUCs of mature and total AM for predicting 28-day mortality in patients with sepsis became significant on day 3 after admission. A good correlation between the AM forms was found, indicating that changes in their plasma levels may directly reflect each other. CONCLUSIONS: Because mature and total AM levels increased significantly in patients with sepsis on admission, both forms may be used as reliable and early biomarkers for diagnosing sepsis according to the Sepsis-3 definitions. However, prediction of 28-day mortality in such patients would require several days of ICU stay.

Effects of intravenous low-dose recombinant human atrial natriuretic peptide on renal function in the perioperative management for gastrointestinal perforation or ileus: a retrospective single-center study.

PURPOSE: We studied the effectiveness of human atrial natriuretic peptide (hANP) on management of acute kidney injury. METHODS: This retrospective single-center study included 43 patients from January 2007 to February 2010 who had undergone non-elective abdominal surgery for gastrointestinal perforation and ileus. Patients were separated into 2 groups according to whether hANP was administered or not, and 4 subgroups according to whether or not baseline serum creatinine <1.2 mg/dL; normal cre/hANP (-) (n = 22), high cre/hANP (-) (n = 10), normal cre/hANP (+) (n = 4), and high cre/hANP (+) (n = 7). The administration of hANP was started during operation. RESULTS: The administration rate of hANP ranged between 0.02 and 0.05 µg/kg per minute, except for one patient and the average postoperative administration time of hANP was 167 ± 237 h (range, 8-888 h). There were no significant differences in characteristics of patients within four subgroups, except for patient's weight. Serum creatinine in high cre/hANP (+) got to decrease more than high cre/hANP (-). Outcomes such as 28-day mortality were not significantly different among four subgroups. No patients required renal replacement therapy in each subgroup. CONCLUSION: Intravenous low dose of hANP was useful as acute kidney injury management in gastrointestinal perforation and ileus patients undergoing non-elective surgery.