ABSTRACT
In recent years, low-dose, short-acting anesthetic agents, which replaced the former high-dose opioid regimens, offer a faster postoperative recovery and decrease the need for mechanical ventilatory support. In this study, the aim was to determine the success rate of fast-track approach in surgical procedures for congenital heart disease. There is some evidence, mostly from retrospective analyses, that fast tracking can be beneficial. Ninety-one cases with moderate complex cardiac malformations were operated with fast-track protocol during cardiothoracic charitable missions. The essential aspects of early extubation in our cohort included: selected patients with good preoperative status, good surgical result with hemodynamic stability in low dose of inotropic drugs at the end of bypass, no active bleeding. In this setting a carefull choice and dosing of anesthetic agents, alongside a good postoperative analgesia are mandatory. The authors found that an early extubation (< 4 hours) can be both effective and safe as it reduces intubation and ventilator times without increasing post-operative complications in pediatric congenital heart disease. This study supports a wider use of fast-track extubation protocols in paediatric patients submitted for congenital cardiac surgery in developing countries.
Subject(s)
Airway Extubation/methods , Anesthetics/administration & dosage , Cardiac Surgical Procedures/methods , Heart Defects, Congenital/surgery , Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Cohort Studies , Developing Countries , Female , Humans , Infant , Intubation, Intratracheal/methods , Male , Medical Missions , Patient Selection , Postoperative Complications/epidemiology , Time FactorsABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Minimally invasive mitral valve repair may be associated with prolonged cardioplegic arrest times and ischemic reperfusion injury. Intravenous (propofol) and volatile (sevoflurane) anesthesia are used routinely during cardiac surgery and are thought to provide cardioprotection; however, the individual contribution of each regimen to cardioprotection is unknown. Therefore, the authors sought to compare the cardioprotective effects of propofol and sevoflurane anesthesia in patients undergoing minimally invasive mitral valve repair. DESIGN: A single-center single-blind randomized controlled trial. SETTING: A specialized regional cardiac surgery center in Italy. PARTICIPANTS: The study enrolled 62 adults undergoing elective isolated minimally invasive mitral valve repair for degenerative disease. Exclusion criteria included secondary mitral regurgitation, previously treated coronary artery disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic renal failure requiring dialysis, atrial fibrillation, and documented allergy to either propofol or sevoflurane. INTERVENTIONS: All patients received video-assisted minimally invasive right minithoracotomy. Patients were randomized to receive propofol or sevoflurane anesthesia in a 1:1 ratio. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Cardiac troponin I release was measured over the first 72 hours postoperatively. Operative, cross-clamp, and total bypass times were similar between groups. Cardiac troponin I release was reduced nonsignificantly in the propofol group (p = 0.62), and peak troponin I release was correlated with cross-clamp time in both groups. There were no differences in terms of intraoperative lactate release and blood pH between groups. CONCLUSION: Propofol and sevoflurane anesthesia were associated with similar degrees of myocardial injury, indicating comparable cardioprotection. Myocardial injury was related directly to the duration of cardioplegic arrest.
