Establishment of Difficult Caudal Epidural Blockade Prediction Model.

Background: We aimed to develop a predictive difficult caudal epidural blockade (pDCEB) model when ultrasound was not available and verified the role of ultrasound in difficult caudal epidural blockade (CEB). Methods: From October 2018 to March 2019, this study consisted of three phases. First, we prospectively enrolled 202 patients scheduled to undergo caudal epidural anesthesia and assessed risk factors by binary logistic regression to develop the predictive scoring system. Second, we enrolled 87 patients to validate it. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the performance of the prediction model. Youden-index was used to determine the cut-off value. Third, we enrolled 68 patients with a high risk of difficult CEB (pDCEB score ≥3) and randomized them into ultrasound and landmark groups to verify the role of ultrasound. Result: The rate of difficult CEB was 14.98% overall 289 patients. We found a correlation between unclear palpation of the sacral hiatus (OR 9.688) and cornua (OR 4.725), the number of the sacral hiatus by palpation ≥1 (OR 4.451), and history of difficult CEB (OR 39.282) with a higher possibility of difficult CEB. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the pDCEB model involving the aforementioned factors was 0.889 (95% CI, 0.827-0.952) in the development cohort and 0.862 (95% CI, 0.747-0.977) in the validation cohort. For patients with a pDCEB score ≥3, a preprocedure ultrasound scan could reduce the incidence of difficult CEB (55.56% in the Landmark group vs. 9.38% in the ultrasound group, p < 0.001). Conclusion: This novel pDCEB score, which takes into account palpation of the sacral hiatus/cornua, number of the sacral hiatus by palpation ≥1, and history of difficult CEB, showed a good predictive ability of difficult CEB. The findings suggested that performing an ultrasound scan is essential for patients with a pDCEB score ≥3. Trial registration: No: ChiCTR1800018871, Site URL: https://www.chictr.org.cn/edit.aspx?pid=31875&htm=4; Principal investigator: Jialian Zhao, Date of registration: 2018.10.14.

Global research trends in perioperative care for the elderly: a bibliometric and visualized study.

PURPOSE: Aged surgical patients are at a relatively higher risk of morbidity and mortality than younger surgical patients. The present study aimed to investigate the trends and research status of perioperative care for the elderly in the anesthesiology field. METHODS: We screened manuscripts published between May 31, 1991, and May 31, 2020, from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). A clustered network was derived from all references cited in all of the included manuscripts. The top authors, journals, institutions, countries, keywords, co-cited articles, and trends were identified through bibliometric analysis and visualization using CiteSpace 5.8.R3 and VOSviewer 1.6.15. RESULTS: We included a total of 1860 manuscripts published between 1991 and 2020. The number of publications on perioperative care for the elderly sharply increased from 2014 onwards. The United States of America and the University of California, San Francisco were the leading publication country (24.8%, 461/1860) and institution (2.6%, 48/1860), respectively. High-frequency keywords in cluster analysis included the type of anesthesia, postoperative pain management, postoperative cognitive dysfunction, and postoperative delirium, indicating postoperative cognitive dysfunction and postoperative delirium remain the focus areas for research in perioperative care for the elderly. Organ function protection was the new research focus according to the burst detection analysis of top keywords. CONCLUSIONS: The number of studies on perioperative care for the elderly has increased apparently worldwide. Postoperative cognitive dysfunction and postoperative delirium remain primary research focus areas. Organ function protection appears to be the second most highly researched topic in the perioperative care for the elderly.

Oxycodone is superior to morphine for pain relief following peroral oesophageal myotomy: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial.

Introduction: Patients underwent peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM) for treating achalasia suffered with mild to moderate, sometimes even severe postoperative pain. Aim: To evaluate the efficacy of oxycodone on postoperative analgesia of patients undergoing PEOM. Material and methods: In this prospective, double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial, patients with achalasia were recruited and received 0.08 mg/kg oxycodone or morphine 15 min before the end of the POEM procedure. The short-form McGill questionnaire (SF-MPQ) was used to measure the postoperative pain at 0, 2, 6, 24, and 48 h after surgery, which included the visual analogue scale (VAS), the present pain intensity (PPI) scale, and the pain rating index (PRI). Results: A total of 73 patients were included, of whom 36 received oxycodone, and 37 received morphine. Compared with morphine, patients received oxycodone were associated with lower VAS in the first 24 h postoperatively (1.64 ±0.76 vs. 2.14 ±1.23, p = 0.042) as well as PPI at 2 h (1.11 ±0.40 vs. 2.22 ±0.89, p < 0.001), 6 h (1.42 ±0.55 vs. 2.08 ±0.92, p < 0.001) and 24 h (1.06 ±0.23 vs. 1.30 ±0.46, p = 0.006). Patients who received oxycodone experienced lower sensory McGill pain score than those who received morphine at 2, 6, 24, and 48 h after surgery (p < 0.05). Significantly lowered affective McGill pain score was observed in the oxycodone group at 0, 2, and 24 h postoperatively. Regarding the PRI, the sum of both sensory and affective McGill pain scores, patients with oxycodone therapy were associated with better scores postoperatively. Conclusions: Oxycodone appears to be superior to morphine in dealing with post-POEM pain, which has distinct visceral pain characteristics.

Knowledge of and Compliance with Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines among Anesthesiologists: A Nationwide Survey in China.

We aimed to describe anesthesiologists' knowledge of and compliance with the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) guidelines in the perioperative management of patients with sepsis in China. We designed a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional survey. We sent out online questionnaires during 2019 to evaluate whether anesthesiologists in China were familiar with and applied SSC guidelines in perioperative management. We also compared anesthesiologists' knowledge of and compliance with the guidelines among different levels of hospital. In this study, we obtained 971 responses from anesthesiology departments across China. The survey responses showed that 39.0% of anesthesiologists rated their knowledge of the SSC guidelines as being "very familiar" or at least "somewhat familiar." In total, 68.9% of respondents chose "Initial fluid resuscitation followed by frequent hemodynamic reassessment" as their therapy strategy for patients with septic shock; 62.0% of anesthesiologists chose lactate as a marker of initial resuscitation in clinical practice, and 39.1% thought bundle therapy needed to be started within 1 hour of sepsis diagnosis. A total of 37.1% and 27.1% of respondents chose hydroxyethyl starches and gelatins, respectively, as the preferred fluids for septic shock. As the first choice of vasopressors in patients with sepsis, 727 (74.9%) anesthesiologists chose the correct answer (norepinephrine). Anesthesiologists from tertiary hospitals (class A) had greater familiarity and compliance with the SSC guidelines than those from other hospitals (P < 0.001). In summary, anesthesiologists in China have some knowledge of the SSC guidelines and tend to practice in keeping with these guidelines. However, for some items, anesthesiologists are not up to date with the latest version of the SSC guidelines. The popularity of these guidelines is not homogenous among different levels of hospital. Anesthesiologists must strengthen their knowledge of the SSC guidelines and update their practice in a regular and timely manner, especially in other tertiary and primary hospitals.

[Knowledge graph characteristics of sepsis research based on scientometric study].

OBJECTIVE: To illustrate a relatively complete knowledge system (e.g., research outputs, current hotspots, and future trends) in the sepsis field and to help scholars grasp the scientific research direction or clinical focus of treatment. METHODS: The relevant literatures of sepsis during the time from 1985 to 2019 in Web of Science database were collected. Sepsis-related research contents were generated using softwares (CiteSpace 5.6.R2 and VOSviewer 1.6.13), which using data mining, information processing and knowledge map methods, to analyze the historical evolution and predict the development trend. RESULTS: A total of 8 189 papers on sepsis were published. The volume of publications were increasing yearly from 1985 to 2019, and reached the top list of 1 276 in 2019. For research contents of sepsis, it has formed the basic characteristics of sepsis which focusing on epidemiological studies and animal experiments. Through cluster analysis, the researches mainly focused on six aspects: septic rat, necrotizingenterocolitis, sepsis-associated encephalopathy, acute kidney injury (AKI), gut-derived sepsis, and inflammatory mediator. And it presented the literature characteristics that related to the injury or dysfunction of intestines, brain, liver, kidney or other organs, but the heart and lung researches were more marginal. Additionally, based on the top key words with the strongest citation bursts, it reflected that the development trend of the continuous attention hotspots with "endotoxin" or "endotoxin shock", the significant attention hotspots with "inflammation", "immunity" and "multiple organ dysfunction syndrome" (MODS), and the novel burst attention hotspots with sepsis management including "diagnosis" and "chemotherapy". CONCLUSIONS: Through the hotspots and trends visualization of sepsis, the current researches are prefer to animal experiments, epidemiology, or other basic scientific aspects. Meanwhile, the researches are mostly focusing on inflammatory reaction, immune function or organ dysfunctions. Integrating the knowledge maps of hotspots and trends, based on researches of epidemiology, diagnosis, risk factors, pathogenesis, or treatment, we predict that the future scientific topics will concentrating on childhood sepsis, organ injury mechanism or intervention relating to MODS, and integrated management of sepsis by combining traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine.

Confocal laser endomicroscopy under propofol-based sedation for early gastric cancer and pre-cancerous lesions is associated with better diagnostic accuracy: a retrospective cohort study in China.

BACKGROUND: Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) has advantages in detecting gastric neoplastic lesions, meanwhile it requires strict patient cooperation. Sedation could improve patient cooperation and quality of endoscopy. However, sedation is still not very popular in some resource-limited countries and regions. The purpose of this study was to compare propofol-based sedated versus un-sedated CLE in the value of diagnosing early gastric cancer (EGC) and precancerous lesions. METHODS: A retrospective, cohort, single center study of 226 patients who underwent CLE between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017 was performed. Patients enrolled were allocated into the propofol-based sedated group (n = 126) and the un-sedated group (n = 100). The comparison of validity and reliability of CLE for identifying EGC and precancerous lesions between the two groups was performed through analyzing CLE diagnosis and pathological diagnosis. Reporting followed the STROBE guidelines. RESULTS: The area under receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of diagnosing EGC in the sedated group was 0.97 (95 % CI: 0.95 to 0.99), which was higher than that in the un-sedated group (0.88 (95 % CI: 0.80 to 0.97), P = 0.0407). CLE with sedation performed better than without sedation in diagnosing intraepithelial neoplasia and intestinal metaplasia (P = 0.0008 and P = 0.0001, respectively). For patients considered as high-grade intraepithelial neoplasia or EGC by endoscopists, they would not get biopsy during CLE but receive endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) subsequently, and the misdiagnosis rate of CLE was 0 % in the sedated group and 27.59 % (95 % CI: 10.30-44.91 %) in the un-sedated group (P = 0.006). CONCLUSIONS: Propofol based sedation was associated with improved diagnostic value of CLE for detecting EGC as well as precancerous lesions (intraepithelial neoplasia OR intestinal metaplasia).

Postoperative infectious complications in elderly patients after elective surgery in China: results of a 7-day cohort study from the International Surgical Outcomes Study.

AIM: Despite initiatives to increase elderly patients' access to surgical treatments, the prevalence and impact of postoperative infectious complications (PICs) in elderly patients in China are poorly described. The aim of our study was to describe PICs and associated mortality in elderly patients undertaking elective surgery in China. METHODS: We analyzed data about elderly patients from China during the International Surgical Outcomes Study (ISOS), a 7-day prospective cohort study of outcomes after elective surgery in in-patient adults. All elderly patients (age ≥60 years) from 28 hospitals in China included in the ISOS study were included in this study as well. A review of 2014 elderly patients who underwent elective surgery in April 2014 was conducted. RESULTS: Of 2014 elderly patients, 209 (10.4%) developed at least one postoperative complication. Infectious complications were most frequent, affecting 154 patients (7.6%); there was one death, or 0.6% 30-day mortality, which was a significantly higher rate than among patients without PICs (0%). The most frequent infectious complication was superficial surgical-site infection (3.3%). The length of hospital stay was longer in elderly patients with PICs than in those without PICs. Moreover, a total of 142 elderly patients (7.1%) were routinely sent to critical care after surgery, of whom 97 (68.3%) developed PICs. Compared to elderly patients admitted to a standard ward, those admitted to critical care immediately after surgery had a higher postoperative complication rate and critical care admission rate to treat complications. CONCLUSIONS: The present prospective, multicentre study found that 7.6% of elderly patients in China had PICs after elective surgery that could prolong hospital stay and increase 30-day mortality. The clinical effectiveness of admission to critical care after surgery on elderly patients is not identified. Initiatives to increase elderly patients' access to surgical interventions should also enhance safe perioperative care to reduce PICs in China.

Airway Epithelial Hepcidin Coordinates Lung Macrophages and Immunity Against Bacterial Pneumonia.

BACKGROUND: Hepcidin is a liver-derived master regulator of iron metabolism through its molecular target ferroportin, the only known mammalian iron exporter. Accumulated evidence has shown the important roles of hepatic hepcidin in host defense and infections. Hepcidin is also expressed by airway epithelial cells. However, the function of epithelial hepcidin during bacterial pneumonia remains unknown. METHODS: Pneumonia was induced in hepcidin-1-deficient and wild-type mice using the most common bacterial agents, and the effects of hepcidin on survival, bacterial burden, iron status, and macrophage phagocytosis after bacterial pneumonia were assessed. RESULTS: Hepcidin levels decreased in airway epithelium during common pneumonia, while lung macrophage-derived ferroportin levels and pulmonary iron concentrations increased. Lack of hepcidin in the airway epithelium worsened the outcomes of pneumonia. Manipulation of hepcidin level in the airway epithelium in mice with macrophage-specific ferroportin deletion did not affect the progress of pneumonia. Increased pulmonary iron concentration not only facilitated bacterial growth but also led to the defective phagocytic function of lung macrophages via activation of RhoA GTPase through oxidation of RhoGDI. Furthermore, enhancing the hepcidin level in the airway epithelium rescued mice from lethal bacterial pneumonia. CONCLUSIONS: These findings identify an uncharacterized important role of airway epithelial hepcidin in protection against bacterial pneumonia and provide the basis for novel alternative therapeutic strategies for combatting bacterial pneumonia in future translational research.

Improved Analgesic Effect of Paravertebral Blocks before and after Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery: A Prospective, Double-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial.

Despite being less invasive, patients who underwent video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) suffered considerable postoperative pain. Paravertebral block (PVB) was proven to provide effective analgesia in patients with VATS; however, there is no difference in pain relief between preoperative PVB and postoperative PVB. This study was aimed to investigate the analgesic efficacy of combination of preoperative and postoperative PVB on the same patient undergoing VATS. In this prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial, 44 patients undergoing VATS were enrolled, and they received patient-controlled intravenous analgesia (PCIA) with sufentanil plus preoperative PVB (Group A, n = 15) or postoperative PVB (Group B, n = 15), or combination of preoperative and postoperative PVB (Group C, n = 14). The primary outcome was sufentanil consumption and PCIA press times in the first 24 hours postoperatively. Also, data of postoperative use of PCIA and visual analogue scale (VAS) were collected. In the first 24 hours postoperatively, median sufentanil consumption in Group C was 0 (0-34.75) µg, which was much less than that in Group A (45.00 (33.00-47.00) µg, p=0.005) and Group B (36 (20.00-50.00) µg, p=0.023). Patients in Group C pressed less times of PCIA (0 (0-0) times) than patients in Group A (2 (1-6) times, p < 0.001) and Group B (2 (1-3) times, p=0.009). Kaplan-Meier analysis showed patients with combination of preoperative and postoperative PVB had a higher PCIA-free rate than patients with either technique alone (p=0.003). The VAS among the three groups was comparable postoperatively. The combination of both preoperative and postoperative PVB provides better analgesic efficacy during the early postoperative period and may be an alternative option for pain control after VATS. This trial is registered with ChiCTR1800017102.

Analysis of Dexmedetomidine on the Quality of Awakening During Neurosurgery.

Dexmedetomidine has a dose-dependent sedative and analgesic effect. To further evaluate the wake-up quality of dexmedetomidine in patients undergoing neurosurgery, a meta-analysis of dexmedetomidine in a randomized controlled trial of general anesthesia was performed. Firstly, an experimental algorithm was proposed, and then the data fusion algorithm was used to conduct randomized controlled trials. The clinical efficacy and safety of dexmedetomidine in the acupuncture of neurosurgical patients were evaluated one by one for quality evaluation and data extraction. The effect of different input variables on the depth of anesthesia was studied by using a multi-data fusion approach. The results show that the data fusion algorithm proposed can effectively connect redundant information and complementary information in multiple data, and estimate the real parameters of the measured object. In addition, data fusion brings great convenience to the design of control algorithms and controllers, and provides an effective basis for system simplification. Experiments have shown that dexmedetomidine is effective and safe in the operation of neurosurgical motor function, and the management of the recovery period is safe and effective. Based on the research, it can provide some reference for the awakening of patients undergoing neurosurgery, and promote the progress and development of medicine.

GPR17 mediates ischemia-like neuronal injury via microglial activation.

GPR17 is a G (i)-coupled dual receptor, linked to P2Y and CysLT receptors stimulated by uracil nucleotides and cysteinyl leukotrienes, respectively. Recent evidence has demonstrated that GPR17 inhibition ameliorates the progression of cerebral ischemic injury by regulating neuronal death and microglial activation. The present study aimed to assess the detailed regulatory roles of this receptor in oxygen­glucose deprivation/recovery (OGD/R)­induced ischemia­like injury in vitro and explore the underlying mechanism. The results demonstrated that OGD/R induced ischemic neuronal injury and microglial activation, including enhanced phagocytosis and increased inflammatory cytokine release in neuron­glial mixed cultures of cortical cells. GPR17 upregulation during OGD/R was spatially and temporally correlated with neuronal injury and microglial activation. In addition, GPR17 knockdown inhibited OGD/R­induced responses in neuron­glial mixed cultures. GPR17 knockdown also attenuated cell injury induced by the agonist leukotriene D4 (LTD4) or uridine 5'­diphosphate (UDP) in neuron­glial mixed cultures. However, GPR17 knockdown did not affect OGD/R­induced ischemic neuronal injury in primary cultures of neurons. In primary astrocyte cultures, neither GPR17 nor OGD/R induced injury. By contrast, GPR17 knockdown ameliorated OGD/R­induced microglial activation, boosting phagocytosis and inflammatory cytokine release in primary microglia cultures. Finally, the results demonstrated that the conditioned medium of microglia pretreated with OGD/R induced neuronal death, and the neuronal injury was significantly inhibited by GPR17 knockdown. These findings suggested that GPR17 may mediate ischemia­like neuronal injury and microglial activation in vitro; however, the protective effects on ischemic neuronal injury might depend upon microglial activation. Whether GPR17 regulates neuronal injury mediated by oligodendrocyte linkage remains to be investigated.

Dexmedetomidine vs propofol sedation reduces delirium in patients after cardiac surgery: A meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials.

PURPOSE: It is uncertain whether dexmedetomidine is better than propofol for sedation in postcardiac surgery patients. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the effects of dexmedetomidine and propofol sedation on outcomes in adult patients after cardiac surgery. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials comparing outcomes in cardiac surgery patients sedated with dexmedetomidine or propofol were retrieved from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, and Clinicaltrials.Gov until May 23, 2016. RESULTS: A total of 969 patients in 8 studies met the selection criteria. The results revealed that dexmedetomidine was associated with a lower risk of delirium (risk ratio, 0.40;95% confidence interval [CI], 0.24-0.64; P=.0002), a shorter length of intubation (hours; mean difference, -0.95; 95% CI, -1.26 to -0.64; P<.00001), but a higher incidence of bradycardia (risk ratio 3.17; 95% CI, 1.41-7.10; P=.005) as compared to propofol. There were no statistical differences in the incidence of hypotension or atrial fibrillation, or the length of intensive care unit stay between dexmedetomidine and propofol sedation regimens. CONCLUSIONS: Dexmedetomidine sedation could reduce postoperative delirium and was associated with shorter length of intubation, but might increase bradycardia in patients after cardiac surgery compared with propofol.

[Adenosine Al Receptor Mediated Neuroprotection of Shenmai Injection on Rat Cerebral Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury: an Experimental Study].

OBJECTIVE: To observe whether adenosine Al receptor (Al R) mediated neuroprotection of Shenmai Injection (SI) on rat cerebral ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury. METHODS: The focal cerebral I/R model was established by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Totally 60 successfully modeled rats was divided into 5 groups according to randomized block principle, i.e., the model group, the SI group, the SI + AlR antagonist (1,3-dipropyl-8-cyclopentylxanthine, DPCPX) group, the AlR antagonist control group, and the dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) control group, 12 in each group. Besides, a sham-operation group was set up (n =12). SI at 15 mL/kg was peritoneally injected to mice in the SI group immediately after cerebral I/R. Equal volume of normal saline was injected to mice in the model group and the sham-operation group. DPCPX at 1 mg/mL was peritoneally injected to mice in the Al R antagonist control group 30 min before peritoneal injecting SI. DPCPX at 1 mg/kg and DMSO at 1 mL/kg were peritoneally injected to mice in the AlR antagonist control group and the DMSO control group 30 min immediately before cerebral I/R. Rats' neurobehavioral scores were assessed after 24 h reperfusion. The volume of cerebral infarction and Bcl-2 protein expression of cerebral infarction penumbra were also detected. Results Compared with the sham-operation group, neurobehavioral scores, the volume of cerebral infarction, and Bcl-2 protein expression increased (all P <0. 05). Compared with the model group, neurobehavioral scores and the volume of cerebral infarction obviously decreased, but Bcl-2 protein expression increased in the SI group (all P <0. 05). Compared with the SI group, neurobehavioral scores increased, the volume of cerebral infarction was obviously enlarged, and Bcl-2 protein expression was obviously reduced in the A1R antagonist control group (all P <0. 05). CONCLUSIONS: SI's neurobehavioral scores could be partially reversed in the Al R antagonist control group, the volume of cerebral infarction and Bcl-2 protein expression improved. AlR might possibly meditate neuroprotection of SI on MACO mire

Hepatic hepcidin protects against polymicrobial sepsis in mice by regulating host iron status.

BACKGROUND: Hepcidin is a master regulator of iron metabolism primarily produced by the liver. Markedly increased hepcidin levels have been observed in septic individuals, while decreased hepatic hepcidin expression has been demonstrated in liver diseases that tend to develop into sepsis. However, the role of liver hepcidin in sepsis remains unknown. METHODS: Mouse hepatic hepcidin expression was silenced using adenovirus-mediated hepcidin-specific short hairpin RNA injected via the tail vein. Sepsis was induced by cecal ligation and puncture, and the outcome (n = 23 for hepcidin knockdown mice, n = 15 for controls) and pathogenic changes (n = 5) related to sepsis were evaluated. The impact of alteration of iron status on the survival rate of hepatic hepcidin knockdown mice (n = 18 to 19) was also investigated. RESULTS: Disruption of liver hepcidin expression increased serum iron level (537.8 ± 28.1 µg/dl [mean ± SD] vs. 235.9 ± 62.2 µg/dl; P < 0.05) and reduced iron content in the spleen macrophages at the steady state. Hepatic hepcidin knockdown mice not only showed increased 7-day mortality (73.9% vs. 46.7%; P < 0.05), but also had exacerbated organ damage and oxidative stress, as well as compromised host inflammatory responses and bacterial clearance at 24 h after polymicrobial sepsis. Treating the hepatic hepcidin knockdown mice with low-iron diet plus iron chelation decreased systemic iron content (serum level: 324.0 ± 67.4 µg/dl vs. 517.4 ± 13.4 µg/dl; P < 0.05) and rescued the mice from lethal sepsis (7-day survival: 36.8% vs. 83.3%; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Hepatic hepcidin plays an important role in sepsis through regulation of iron metabolism. The findings may have potential therapeutic implications for liver diseases in which hepcidin expression is decreased.