Tocilizumab use during Covid-19 should alert an orthopaedic surgeon for the surgical management of arthroplasty patients: A narrative review

The crisis of Covid-19 has shaken the world healthcare systems. The intensive care resources to manage the medical conditions associated with Covid-19 are consistently found to be inadequate with exploration and implementation of newer treatment avenues for an early recovery. Presently, the use of Tocilizumab (TCZ) in severe to critical affection of Covid-19 is being practiced as an off-label therapy. A narrative review of present knowledge regarding TCZ pharmacology, indications of its use, and potential side effects with clinical implications for an orthopedic surgeon is presented. The article discusses the clinicopathological factors required to be monitored during the perioperative management of an orthopedic patient who may have received TCZ for Covid-19 related illness. The implications of its usage should alert the orthopaedic surgeons for future management of their arthritic surgical patients. The commonly associated side effects and complications in the post-operative phase following an arthroplasty or any orthopaedic surgery are an area of concern and considerable uncertainty. In the post-Covid-19 recovery phase, when surgeons need to plan a surgical intervention then a thorough evaluation of their Covid-19 medical management history may be warranted. Practical guidelines for the management of arthritic surgical patients have been postulated. With an unregulated increased usage of TCZ during Covid-19 management, an orthopaedic surgeon should worry and needs to be aware of the possible consequences in the perioperative period for the post-surgery management. Future research to gain more insights will confirm the implied concerns.

Therapeutic Perspectives for the Perioperative Period in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC)

The perioperative period is the relatively short window of time, usually measured in days or weeks, around the surgical procedure. Despite its short duration, this time period is of great importance for cancer patients. From a biological point of view, the perioperative period is complex. Synchronous with primary tumor removal, surgery has local and distant consequences, including systemic and local inflammation, coagulation and sympathetic activation. Furthermore, the patients often present comorbidities and receive several medical prescriptions (hypnotics, pain killers, anti-emetics, hemostatics, inotropes, antibiotics). Because of the complex nature of the perioperative period, it is often difficult to predict the oncological outcome of tumor resection. Here, we review the biological consequences of surgery of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC), the most frequent form of primary head and neck tumors. We briefly address the specificities and the challenges of the surgical care of these tumors and highlight the biological and clinical studies that offer insight into the perioperative period. The recent trials examining neoadjuvant immunotherapy for OSCC illustrate the therapeutic opportunities offered by the perioperative period.

S100B in cardiac surgery brain monitoring: friend or foe?

Recent advances in perioperative management of adult and pediatric patients requiring open heart surgery (OHS) and cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for cardiac and/or congenital heart diseases repair allowed a significant reduction in the mortality rate. Conversely morbidity rate pattern has a flat trend. Perioperative period is crucial since OHS and CPB are widely accepted as a deliberate hypoxic-ischemic reperfusion damage representing the cost to pay at a time when standard of care monitoring procedures can be silent or unavailable. In this respect, the measurement of neuro-biomarkers (NB), able to detect at early stage perioperative brain damage could be especially useful. In the last decade, among a series of NB, S100B protein has been investigated. After the first promising results, supporting the usefulness of the protein as predictor of short/long term adverse neurological outcome, the protein has been progressively abandoned due to a series of limitations. In the present review we offer an up-dated overview of the main S100B pros and cons in the peri-operative monitoring of adult and pediatric patients.

Short-term outcomes of preoperative chemotherapy in patients with upper ampullary rectal cancer

The purpose of the study: to analyze short-term efficacy and tolerability of preoperative chemotherapy in patients with upper ampullary rectal carcinoma. Material and methods. A prospective study conducted at the cancer research institute (tomsk, russia) between 2018 and 2020 included 47 patients with operable cancer of the upper ampullary part of the rectum with mrt3n0m0 (mesorectal fascia involvement (crm+) or low-grade cancer), mrt4аn0m0 and mrt3–4аn1m0. All patients were divided into two groups. Group i comprised 22 patients, who received 3 cycles of chemotherapy with folfox-4 followed by surgery. Group ii consisted of 25 patients, who underwent surgery alone. All patients underwent arterior resection of the rectum. Results. Group i patients completed all three cycles of preoperative chemotherapy. Downstaging after chemotherapy was observed in 16 (72.7 %) patients. No severe side effects of chemotherapy were found. The frequency of radical surgeries (r0) was 100 %. No significant differences in the rate of postoperative complications between the treatment groups were observed (18.2 % and 16 %, respectively, p>0.05). There were no cases of postoperative mortality. Conclusion. Compared with surgery alone, preoperative chemotherapy followed by surgery demonstrates a high short-term efficacy, does not adversely affect the course of the perioperative period.

Incidence of and Risk Factors for Perioperative Cardiovascular Complications in Spine Surgery

Background: An increasing number of patients are opting for spine surgery despite the associated risk of cardiovascular complications. The evidence regarding the incidence and risk factors of cardiovascular complications in spine surgery is insufficient. Therefore, we aimed to determine the incidence and risk factors for cardiovascular complications that occur perioperatively in spine surgery. Methods: This retrospective study included all patients who underwent spine surgery between January 2018 and December 2019 at a single center. Demographic, clinical, and operative data were collected from electronic medical records. The incidence of perioperative cardiac complications was determined. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors for the development of perioperative cardiovascular complications in the participants. Results: Of the 1,002 eligible patients enrolled in the study, six developed cardiac complications. Acute myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest, and congestive heart failure occurred in one, two, and three patients, respectively. Risk factors for cardiovascular complications included scoliosis surgery (relative risk: RR, 18.61; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.346-257.35) and a history of congestive heart failure (RR, 120.97; 95% CI: 2.12-6898.80). Conclusion: The incidence of perioperative cardiovascular complications in patients who underwent spine surgery was 0.6%. High-risk patients should be closely monitored optimally managed throughout the perioperative period.

International practice variation in perioperative laboratory testing in glioblastoma patients—a retrospective cohort study

Purpose Although standard-of-care has been defined for the treatment of glioblastoma patients, substantial practice variation exists in the day-to-day clinical management. This study aims to compare the use of laboratory tests in the perioperative care of glioblastoma patients between two tertiary academic centers—Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Boston, USA, and University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU), Utrecht, the Netherlands. Methods All glioblastoma patients treated according to standard-of-care between 2005 and 2013 were included. We compared the number of blood drawings and laboratory tests performed during the 70-day perioperative period using a Poisson regression model, as well as the estimated laboratory costs per patient. Additionally, we compared the likelihood of an abnormal test result using a generalized linear mixed effects model. Results After correction for age, sex, IDH1 status, postoperative KPS score, length of stay, and survival status, the number of blood drawings and laboratory tests during the perioperative period were 3.7-fold (p < 0.001) and 4.7-fold (p < 0.001) higher, respectively, in BWH compared to UMCU patients. The estimated median laboratory costs per patient were 82 euros in UMCU and 256 euros in BWH. Furthermore, the likelihood of an abnormal test result was lower in BWH (odds ratio [OR] 0.75, p < 0.001), except when the prior test result was abnormal as well (OR 2.09, p < 0.001). Conclusions Our results suggest a substantially lower clinical threshold for ordering laboratory tests in BWH compared to UMCU. Further investigating the clinical consequences of laboratory testing could identify over and underuse, decrease healthcare costs, and reduce unnecessary discomfort that patients are exposed to.

Artificial Intelligence for the Prediction of Acute Kidney Injury During the Perioperative Period: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Diagnostic Test Accuracy

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) is independently associated with morbidity and mortality in a wide range of surgical settings. Nowadays, with the increasing use of electronic health records (EHR), advances in patient information retrieval, and cost reduction in clinical informatics, artificial intelligence is increasingly being used to improve early recognition and management for perioperative AKI. However, there is no quantitative synthesis of the performance of these methods.Objective: To estimate the sensitivity and specificity of artificial intelligence for the prediction of acute kidney injury during the perioperative period.Methods: Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane Library were searched to 2nd October 2021. Studies presenting diagnostic performance of artificial intelligence in the early detection of perioperative acute kidney injury were included. Two independent evaluators extracted data. The risk of bias of eligible studies was assessed using the PROBAST tool.Results: Nineteen studies involving 304,076 patients were included. Quantitative random-effects meta-analysis using the Rutter and Gatsonis hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristics (HSROC) model revealed pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio of 0.77 (95% CI: 0.73 to 0.81),0.75 (95% CI: 0.71 to 0.80), and 10.7 (95% CI 8.5 to 13.5), respectively. Threshold effect was found to be the only source of heterogeneity, and there was no evidence of publication bias.Conclusions: Our review demonstrates the promising performance of artificial intelligence for early prediction of perioperative AKI. Further studies should focus on the improvement of existing models, novel biomarkers, and clinical effectiveness.