Anaesthesiology Intensive Therapy 

About: Anaesthesiology Intensive Therapy is an academic journal published by Via Medica. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Intensive care & Medicine. It has an ISSN identifier of 1642-5758. It is also open access. Over the lifetime, 666 publications have been published receiving 7138 citations. The journal is also known as: Anestezjologia, Intensywna Terapia.

Fluid overload, de-resuscitation, and outcomes in critically ill or injured patients: a systematic review with suggestions for clinical practice.

Abstract: Background: Sepsis is associated with generalised endothelial injury and capillary leak and has traditionally been treated with large volume fluid resuscitation. Some patients with sepsis will accumulate bodily fluids. The aim of this study was to systematically review the association between a positive fluid balance/fluid overload and outcomes in critically ill adults, and to determine whether interventions aimed at reducing fluid balance may be linked with improved outcomes. Methods: We searched MEDLINE, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, The Cochrane Database, clinical trials registries, and bibliographies of included articles. Two authors independently reviewed citations and selected studies examining the association between fluid balance and outcomes or where the intervention was any strategy or protocol that attempted to obtain a negative or neutral cumulative fluid balance after the third day of intensive care compared to usual care. The primary outcomes of interest were the incidence of IAH and mortality. Results: Among all identified citations, one individual patient meta-analysis, 11 randomised controlled clinical trials, seven interventional studies, 24 observational studies, and four case series met the inclusion criteria. Altogether, 19,902 critically ill patients were studied. The cumulative fluid balance after one week of ICU stay was 4.4 L more positive in non-survivors compared to survivors. A restrictive fluid management strategy resulted in a less positive cumulative fluid balance of 5.6 L compared to controls after one week of ICU stay. A restrictive fluid management was associated with a lower mortality compared to patients treated with a more liberal fluid management strategy (24.7% vs 33.2%; OR, 0.42; 95% CI 0.32−0.55; P < 0.0001). Patients with intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) had a more positive cumulative fluid balance of 3.4 L after one week of ICU stay. Interventions to decrease fluid balance resulted in a decrease in intra-abdominal pressure (IAP): an average total body fluid removal of 4.9 L resulted in a drop in IAP from 19.3 ± 9.1 mm Hg to 11.5 ± 3.9 mm Hg. Conclusions: A positive cumulative fluid balance is associated with IAH and worse outcomes. Interventions to limit the development of a positive cumulative fluid balance are associated with improved outcomes. In patients not transgressing spontaneously from the Ebb to Flow phases of shock, late conservative fluid management and late goal directed fluid removal (de-resuscitation) should be considered.

Tranexamic acid: a clinical review.

Abstract: Blood loss and subsequent transfusions are associated with major morbidity and mortality. The use of antifibrinolytics can reduce blood loss in cardiac surgery, trauma, orthopedic surgery, liver surgery and solid organ transplantation, obstetrics and gynecology, neurosurgery and non-surgical diseases. The evidence of their efficacy has been mounting for years. Tranexamic acid (TXA), a synthetic lysine-analogue antifibrinolytic, was first patented in 1957 and its use has been increasing in contrast to aprotinin, a serine protease inhibitor antifibrinolytic. This review aims to help acute care physicians navigate through the clinical evidence available for TXA therapy, develop appropriate dose regimens whilst minimizing harm, as well as understand its broadening scope of applications. Many questions remain unanswered regarding other clinical effects of TXA such as anti-inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass, the risk of thromboembolic events, adverse neurological effects such as seizures, and its morbidity and mortality, all of which necessitate further clinical trials on its usage and safety in various clinical settings.

Ten good reasons to practice ultrasound in critical care

Abstract: Over the past decade, critical care ultrasound has gained its place in the armamentarium of monitoring tools. A greater understanding of lung, abdominal, and vascular ultrasound plus easier access to portable machines have revolutionised the bedside assessment of our ICU patients. Because ultrasound is not only a diagnostic test, but can also be seen as a component of the physical exam, it has the potential to become the stethoscope of the 21st century. Critical care ultrasound is a combination of simple protocols, with lung ultrasound being a basic application, allowing assessment of urgent diagnoses in combination with therapeutic decisions. The LUCI (Lung Ultrasound in the Critically Ill) consists of the identification of ten signs: the bat sign (pleural line); lung sliding (seashore sign); the A-lines (horizontal artefact); the quad sign and sinusoid sign indicating pleural effusion; the fractal and tissue-like sign indicating lung consolidation; the B-lines and lung rockets indicating interstitial syndromes; abolished lung sliding with the stratosphere sign suggesting pneumothorax; and the lung point indicating pneumothorax. Two more signs, the lung pulse and the dynamic air bronchogram, are used to distinguish atelectasis from pneumonia. The BLUE protocol (Bedside Lung Ultrasound in Emergency) is a fast protocol (< 3 minutes), also including a vascular (venous) analysis allowing differential diagnosis in patients with acute respiratory failure. With this protocol, it becomes possible to differentiate between pulmonary oedema, pulmonary embolism, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and pneumothorax, each showing specific ultrasound patterns and profiles. The FALLS protocol (Fluid Administration Limited by Lung Sonography) adapts the BLUE protocol to be used in patients with acute circulatory failure. It makes a sequential search for obstructive, cardiogenic, hypovolemic, and distributive shock using simple real-time echocardiography in combination with lung ultrasound, with the appearance of B-lines considered to be the endpoint for fluid therapy. An advantage of lung ultrasound is that the patient is not exposed to radiation, and so the LUCI-FLR project (LUCI favouring limitation of radiation) can be unfolded in trauma patients. Although it has been practiced for 25 years, critical care ultrasound is a relatively young but expanding discipline and can be seen as the stethoscope of the modern intensivist. In this review, the usefulness and advantages of ultrasound in the critical care setting are discussed in ten points. The emphasis is on a holistic approach, with a central role for lung ultrasound.

COVID-19 - what should anaethesiologists and intensivists know about it?

Abstract: Over the past three months, the world has faced an unprecedented health hazard. The World Health Organization has announced a pandemic infection with an unknown species of coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Spreading mainly through the droplet route, the virus causes mild symptoms in the majority of cases, the most common being: fever (80%), dry cough (56%), fatigue (22%) and muscle pain (7%); less common symptoms include a sore throat, a runny nose, diarrhea, hemoptysis and chills. A life-threatening complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection is an acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which occurs more often in older adults, those with immune disorders and co-morbidities. Severe forms of the infection, being an indication for treatment in the intensive care unit, comprise acute lung inflammation, ARDS, sepsis and septic shock. The article presents basic information about etiology, pathogenesis and diagnostics (with particular emphasis on the importance of tomocomputer imaging), clinical picture, treatment and prevention of the infection. It goes on to emphasize the specific risks of providing anesthesiology and intensive care services. Due to the fact that effective causal treatment is not yet available and the number of infections and deaths increases day by day, infection prevention and strict adherence to recommendations of infection control organizations remain the basis for fighting the virus.

ICU delirium - a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge in the intensive care unit.

Abstract: ICU delirium is a common medical problem occurring in patients admitted to the intensive care units (ICUs). Studies have shown that ICU delirium is associated with increased mortality, prolonged hospitalization, prolonged mechanical ventilation, costs and the occurrence of cognitive disoders after discharge from ICU. The tools available for ICU delirium screening and diagnosis are validated tests available for all members if the medical team (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists). Their use for routine patient assessment is recommended by international medical and scientific societies. They have been implemented as Pain, Agitation, Delirium (PAD) Guidelines by the Society of Critical Care Medicine. Apart from monitoring, a strategy of prevention and treatment is recommended, based on non-pharmacological approach (restoration of senses, early mobilization, physiotherapy, improvement in sleep hygiene and family involvement) as well as pharmacological treatment (typical and atypical antipsychotics and dexmedetomidine). In this article, we present the risk factors of ICU delirium, available tools for monitoring, as well as options for prevention and treatment of delirium that can be used to improve care over critically ill patients.