Acute withdrawal in the postoperative setting in a patient taking standard therapeutic doses of pregabalin.

Pregabalin is a gamma-aminobutyric acid analog that binds to voltage-gated calcium channels within the central nervous tissues, inhibiting the release of many excitatory neurotransmitters. It is used to treat various conditions including postherpetic neuralgia and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Recently, its use has increased as part of non-opioid pain management algorithms. Prolonged use in high doses of pregabalin is associated with physical dependency and abuse, which can be seen when the medication is abruptly stopped. This phenomenon has been seen in studies focused on patients having abused or grown dependent on pregabalin. However, this has not been documented in patients taking therapeutic levels in the perioperative setting. This case report highlights a patient who experienced acute withdrawal symptoms of pregabalin after coronary artery bypass and aortic root enlargement.

Successful surgical management of a combined abdominal and thoracic penetrating injury: a case report.

Penetrating rebar injuries are extremely rare occurrences, but they are very life-threatening, particularly when involving the thoracic and abdominal cavities. The surgical approach to these traumatic injuries depends upon the length and diameter of the rebar as well as the path of penetration into the abdominal and thoracic regions. Due to the highly uncommon occurrence of penetrating rebar injuries, there is very limited information and studies pertaining to this topic in the literature. In this case report, we present a 43-year-old male patient sustaining a rebar penetrating injury, with the entry site being the left flank and the exit site being the anterior left chest. Upon arrival, the patient was emergently taken to the operating room and underwent simultaneous exploratory laparotomy and a left thoracotomy. The operation was successful in removing the rebar and the patient survived.

Use of Angiotensin II for Post Cardiopulmonary Bypass Vasoplegic Syndrome.

Angiotensin II is a novel vasopressor recently approved for the treatment of vasodilatory shock. We describe a case in which Angiotensin II was used to treat post-cardiopulmonary bypass vasoplegic syndrome in a patient who was refractory to standard vasopressors and other rescue therapies. Despite requiring high-dose vasopressors, the patient was extubated within 24 hours and has met key quality metrics defined by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.

Can remifentanil replace nitrous oxide during anesthesia for ambulatory orthopedic surgery with desflurane and fentanyl?

BACKGROUND: The administration of nitrous oxide (N2O) may be associated with side effects and toxicities. Remifentanil shares characteristics with N2O, including MAC-reducing and antinociceptive effects and a rapid decrease in clinical effect when discontinued. We compared the outcome after ambulatory orthopedic surgery with desflurane and fentanyl supplemented with clinically equivalent doses of either N2O or remifentanil. METHODS: Seventy patients undergoing ambulatory orthopedic surgery were studied. Thirty-five received 66% N2O and 35 received remifentanil 0.085 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) in addition to desflurane, titrated to a bispectral index (BIS) value of 50, and a fentanyl infusion. The principle outcome measure was time to awakening to verbal stimulation. Secondary outcome measures included neuropsychological testing, time to orientation, hemodynamic values, pain and nausea visual analog scores, discharge times, and satisfaction scores. The average end-tidal desflurane concentration and fentanyl effect-site concentration were determined. RESULTS: The median time (interquartile range) to awakening to verbal stimulation, 3.0 min (3.0-5.0 min) in the remifentanil group and 4.6 min (3.0-8.1 min) in the N2O group was not significantly different. Median time to orientation was significantly faster in the remifentanil group: 6.0 min (5.0-8.5 min) compared with 8.0 min (5.0-12.8 min) for the N2O group. There was no difference between groups in desflurane or fentanyl administration, neuropsychological testing, or any other outcome measure. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that a remifentanil infusion of 0.085 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) may be substituted for 66% N2O during desflurane/fentanyl anesthesia without any clinically significant change in outcome.

Predicting postoperative renal failure requiring dialysis, and an analysis of long-term outcome in patients undergoing valve surgery.

BACKGROUND AND AIM OF THE STUDY: Previous studies have been unable to identify independent valve-related risk factors for the occurrence of renal failure requiring dialysis (RF-D) in patients undergoing valve surgery. The study aim was to determine the incidence and predictors of renal failure in these patients, and to create a model based on these risk factors that could serve as a tool to predict this complication. METHODS: Between January 1998 and December 2006, a total of 2,690 consecutive patients (1,546 males, 1,144 females; mean age 64 +/- 15 years) underwent valve or combined valve/coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery at the authors' institution. The main outcome investigated was postoperative RF-D; other postoperative parameters investigated included hospital mortality, major morbidity, length of hospital stay, discharge condition and late survival. RESULTS: RF-D occurred in 70 patients (2.6%). Multivariate analysis revealed preoperative renal failure (creatinine >2.5 mg/dl) (OR = 4.3), endocarditis (OR = 3.0), congestive heart failure (OR = 2.4), reoperation (OR = 2.3), diabetes (OR = 3.1) and cardiopulmonary bypass time >180 min (OR = 1.7) as independent predictors for postoperative RF-D. Hospital mortality among patients with RF-D was 50% (n = 35) compared to a mortality rate of 3.2% (n = 87) in patients without this complication (p <0.001). The long-term survival of discharged patients with RF-D was significantly decreased compared to those without RF-D. A logistic equation which included the coefficients of the regression analysis was generated to calculate an individual patient's risk for the development of renal failure. The predictive accuracy of the model and validation was measured (ROC area under the curve = 0.750). CONCLUSION: Renal failure requiring dialysis is a well-known complication, particularly in patients undergoing complex valve operations, such as surgery for endocarditis and double-valve procedures. The poor long-term survival of patients with RF-D underlines the need to direct more resources towards the prevention and treatment of this complication in valve surgery patients.