scholarly journals Pulmonary complications in neurosurgical patients

2012 ◽  
Vol 01 (02) ◽  
pp. 175-180
Author(s):  
Karan Madan ◽  
Randeep Guleria

Abstract Pulmonary complications are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in neurosurgical patients. The common pulmonary complications in neurosurgical patients include pneumonia, postoperative atelectasis, respiratory failure, pulmonary embolism, and neurogenic pulmonary edema. Postoperative lung expansion strategies have been shown to be useful in prevention of the postoperative complications in surgical patients. Low tidal volume ventilation should be used in patients who develop acute respiratory distress syndrome. An antibiotic use policy should be put in practice depending on the local patterns of antimicrobial resistance in the hospital. Thromboprophylactic strategies should be used in nonambulatory patients. Meticulous attention should be paid to infection control with a special emphasis on hand-washing practices. Prevention and timely management of these complications can help to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with pulmonary complications.

2010 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Gash ◽  
E Brown ◽  
A Pullyblank

INTRODUCTION Clostridium difficile has been an increasing problem in UK hospitals. At the time of this study, there was a high incidence of C. difficile within our trust and a number of patients developed acute fulminant colitis requiring subtotal colectomy. We review a series of colectomies for C. difficile, examining the associated morbidity and mortality and the factors that predispose to acute fulminant colitis. PATIENTS AND METHODS This is a retrospective study of patients undergoing subtotal colectomy for C. difficile colitis in an NHS trust over 18 months. Case notes were reviewed for antibiotic use, duration of diarrhoea, treatment, blood results, pre-operative imaging and surgical morbidity and mortality. RESULTS A total of 1398 patients tested positive for C. difficile in this period. Of these, 18 (1.29%) underwent colectomy. All were emergency admissions, 35% medical, 35% surgical, 24% neurosurgical and 6% orthopaedic. In the cohort, 29% were aged less than 65 years. Patients had a median of three antibiotics (range, 1–6), for a median of 10 days (range, 0–59 days). Median length of stay prior to C. difficile diagnosis was 13 days. Subtotal colectomy was performed a median of 4 days (range, 0–23 days) after diagnosis. Postoperative mortality was 53% (9 of 17). The median C-reactive protein level for those who died was 302 mg/l, in contrast to 214 mg/l in the survival group. Whilst 62% of all C. difficile cases were medical, the colectomy rate was only 0.7%. In the surgical specialties, the colectomy rates were 3.2% for general surgical, 1.2% for orthopaedic and 8% for neurosurgical patients. CONCLUSIONS Colectomy for C. difficile colitis has a high mortality but can be life-saving, even in extremely sick patients. Although heavy antibiotic use is a predisposing factor, this is not an obligatory prerequisite in the development of C. difficile. Neither is it a disease of the elderly, making it difficult to predict vulnerable patients. There are large differences in colectomy rates between specialties and we suggest there may be a place for a surgical opinion in all cases of severe C. difficile colitis.


CHEST Journal ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 148 (4) ◽  
pp. 1003-1010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana C. Lunardi ◽  
Denise M. Paisani ◽  
Cibele C. B. Marques da Silva ◽  
Desiderio P. Cano ◽  
Clarice Tanaka ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Davide Bona ◽  
Francesca Lombardo ◽  
Kazuhide Matsushima ◽  
Marta Cavalli ◽  
Valerio Panizzo ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction The anatomy of the esophageal hiatus is altered during esophagogastric surgery with an increased risk of postoperative hiatus hernia (HH). The purpose of this article was to examine the current evidence on the surgical management and outcomes associated with HH after esophagogastric surgery for cancer. Materials and methods Systematic review and meta-analysis. Web of Science, PubMed, and EMBASE data sets were consulted. Results Twenty-seven studies were included for a total of 404 patients requiring surgical treatment for HH after esophagogastric surgery. The age of the patients ranged from 35 to 85 years, and the majority were males (82.3%). Abdominal pain, nausea/vomiting, and dyspnea were the commonly reported symptoms. An emergency repair was required in 51.5%, while a minimally invasive repair was performed in 48.5%. Simple suture cruroplasty and mesh reinforced repair were performed in 65% and 35% of patients, respectively. The duration between the index procedure and HH repair ranged from 3 to 144 months, with the majority (67%) occurring within 24 months. The estimated pooled prevalence rates of pulmonary complications, anastomotic leak, overall morbidity, and mortality were 14.1% (95% CI = 8.0–22.0%), 1.4% (95% CI = 0.8–2.2%), 35% (95% CI = 20.0–54.0%), and 5.0% (95% CI = 3.0–8.0%), respectively. The postoperative follow-up ranged from 1 to 110 months (mean = 24) and the pooled prevalence of HH recurrence was 16% (95% CI = 13.0–21.6%). Conclusions Current evidence reporting data for HH after esophagogastric surgery is narrow. The overall postoperative pulmonary complications, overall morbidity, and mortality are 14%, 35%, and 5%, respectively. Additional studies are required to define indications and treatment algorithm and evaluate the best technique for crural repair at the index operation in an attempt to minimize the risk of HH.


Heart Asia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. e011069 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Gregory Ross Bayfield ◽  
Adrian Pannekoek ◽  
David Hao Tian

Currently, the choice of whether or not to electively operate on current smokers is varied among cardiothoracic surgeons. This meta-analysis aims to determine whether preoperative current versus ex-smoking status is related to short-term postoperative morbidity and mortality in cardiac surgical patients. Systematic literature searches of the PubMed, MEDLINE and Cochrane databases were carried out to identify all studies in cardiac surgery that investigated the relationship between smoking status and postoperative outcomes. Extracted data were analysed by random effects models. Primary outcomes included 30-day or in-hospital all-cause mortality and pulmonary morbidity. Overall, 13 relevant studies were identified, with 34 230 patients in current or ex-smoking subgroups. There was no difference in mortality (p=0.93). Current smokers had significantly higher risk of overall pulmonary complications (OR 1.44; 95% CI 1.27 to 1.64; p<0.001) and postoperative pneumonia (OR 1.62; 95%  CI 1.27 to 2.06; p<0.001) as well as lower risk of postoperative renal complications (OR 0.82; 95%  CI 0.70 to 0.96; p=0.01) compared with ex-smokers. There was a trend towards an increased risk of postoperative MI (OR 1.29; 95%  CI 0.95 to 1.75; p=0.10). No difference in postoperative neurological complications (p=0.15), postoperative sternal surgical site infections (p=0.20) or postoperative length of intensive care unit stay (p=0.86) was seen. Cardiac surgical patients who are current smokers at the time of operation do not have an increased 30-day mortality risk compared with ex-smokers, although they are at significantly increased risk of postoperative pulmonary complications.


Author(s):  
Adam M Gembe ◽  
◽  
Erhad Bilaro ◽  

Stroke is among the common emergency department presentations in Tanzania at large. In the developing world, still there are challenges in diagnosis, management and monitoring of these cases hence high morbidity and mortality. A one month case series is presented here, from Pwani region Tanzania, to demonstrate the encountered challenges. Keywords: Acute stroke management clinician; Community unawareness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie-Christine Brunet ◽  
Stephanie H Chen ◽  
Eric C Peterson

BackgroundNumerous large randomized trials have shown a significant morbidity and mortality benefit with the transradial approach (TRA) over the transfemoral approach (TFA) for endovascular procedures. However, this technique is routinely avoided or aborted due to unfamiliarity with the technique and the associated anatomical difficulties that may be faced in this approach. The objective of this review is to identify both the common and uncommon challenges that may be encountered during a transradial approach for cerebrovascular catheterization and to provide tips and tricks to overcome the transradial learning curve.MethodA careful review of the literature and of all our transradial cases was carried out to identify the common challenges and complications that are encountered when using TRA for diagnostic cerebral angiography and neurointerventions.ResultsA stepwise approach is provided to prevent and manage common challenges including radial artery access failure, radial artery spasm, radial artery anomalies and tortuosity, radial artery occlusion, radial artery perforation and hematoma, subclavian tortuosity and anomalies, and catheter knots and kinks.ConclusionThe ability to recognize and navigate anatomical variations and complications unique to TRA will accelerate learning, decrease unnecessary morbidity and mortality, and further advance the neurovascular field.


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