Cardiac implantable electronic devices in pregnancy: A position statement.

The aim of this document is to provide guidance for the management of women and birthing people with a permanent pacemaker (PPM) or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Cardiac devices are becoming more common in obstetric practice and a reference document for contemporary evidence-based practice is required. Where evidence is limited, expert consensus has established recommendations. The purpose is to improve safety and reduce the risk of adverse events relating to implanted cardiac devices during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period.

Late pregnancy in women with renal transplants: A multidisciplinary guide.

Kidney transplant recipients are at risk of complications in late pregnancy, with increased rates of pre-eclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and preterm birth. It is recommended that these women receive more intensive monitoring after 20 weeks' gestation, ideally provided by a multidisciplinary team in a tertiary centre. This review focuses on the management of late pregnancy in kidney transplant recipients, from the perspective of different members of the multidisciplinary team. This includes evidence and guidance to inform the nephrologist, obstetrician, obstetric anaesthetist, transplant surgeon, midwife, and a summary of the woman's perspective. The review outlines a late pregnancy and early postnatal care pathway as a common algorithm to be used by the whole multidisciplinary team.

The role of supraglottic airway devices in obstetric anaesthesia.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: To discuss the role of supraglottic airway devices as rescue and primary airway devices in pregnant patients. RECENT FINDINGS: General anaesthesia in pregnant patients is associated with increased incidence of difficult and failed intubation, especially when performed for caesarean deliveries. The Difficult Airway Society and the Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association guidelines for the management of failed intubation recommend the use of second-generation supraglottic airway devices as a rescue airway strategy when failed intubation occurs. This practice is now widely accepted and embedded in routine teaching and clinical practice. On the other hand, there is little but growing evidence describing the use of supraglottic airway devices as the primary airway device and an alternative to endotracheal intubation for patients undergoing elective and emergency caesarean deliveries under general anaesthesia. Most of the published research supporting this practice was done on carefully selected patients who were nonobese and who did not have gastroesophageal reflux or anticipated difficult airway. Despite demonstrating high insertion success rates and low complication rates, these studies were underpowered and have thus far, failed to provide robust data on the true risk of aspiration in this setting. SUMMARY: Based on current scientific data, the evidence for the safe use of supraglottic airway devices as primary airway devices during general anaesthesia for caesarean deliveries is not compelling. However, their use as rescue airway devices remains a well established strategy supported by international guidelines.

Haemolysis, elevated liver enzymes and low platelets: Diagnosis and management in critical care.

A thirty-year-old pregnant woman was admitted to hospital with headache and gastrointestinal discomfort. She developed peripheral oedema and had an emergency caesarean section following an episode of tonic-clonic seizures. Her delivery was further complicated by postpartum haemorrhage and she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for further resuscitation and seizure control which required infusions of magnesium and multiple anticonvulsants. Despite haemodynamic optimisation she developed an acute kidney injury with evidence of liver damage, thrombocytopenia and haemolysis. Haemolysis, Elevated Liver enzymes and Low Platelets (HELLP) syndrome, a multisystem disease of advanced pregnancy which overlaps with pre-eclampsia, was diagnosed. HELLP syndrome is associated with a range of complications which may require critical care support, including placental abruption and foetal loss, acute kidney injury, microangiopathic haemolytic anaemia, acute liver failure and liver capsule rupture. Definitive treatment of HELLP is delivery of the fetus and in its most severe forms requires admission to the ICU for multiorgan support. Therapeutic strategies in ICU are mainly supportive and include blood pressure control, meticulous fluid balance and possibly escalation to renal replacement therapy, mechanical ventilation, neuroprotection, seizure control, and management of liver failure-related complications. Multidisciplinary input is essential for optimal treatment.

Anesthetic management of a child with Apert syndrome.

In this paper, the authors describe an anesthetic technique for a child with Apert syndrome, presenting to the operating room for a syndactyly separation. The anesthetic approach is innovative for the clinic and is a combination of intravenous anesthesia and two regional techniques (axillary block and transversus abdominis plane block, respectively). They were performed under ultrasound guidance and provided analgesia in the two body regions, which were to be operated.