Essential elements of anaesthesia practice in ERAS programs

Comparison of anaesthesia strategies on postoperative nausea and vomiting in laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy: a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Intra-operative anaesthesia management should be optimised to reduce the occurrence of postoperative nausea and vomiting in high-risk patients; however, a single intervention may not effectively reduce postoperative nausea and vomiting in such patients. This study assessed the effect of an optimised anaesthetic protocol versus a conventional one on postoperative nausea and vomiting in patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

METHODS

A single-centre randomised trial was conducted at Peking University Shenzhen Hospital from June 2021 to December 2022. Among 168 patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, 116 qualified, and 103 completed the study with available data. Patients were categorized into the conventional group (received sevoflurane and standard fluids) and the optimised group (underwent propofol-based anaesthesia and was administered goal-directed fluids). The primary endpoints were postoperative nausea and vomiting incidence and severity within 24 h.

RESULTS

Postoperative nausea and vomiting assessment at 0-3 h post-surgery revealed no significant differences between groups. However, at 3-24 h, the optimised anaesthetic protocol group showed lower postoperative nausea and vomiting incidence and severity than those of the conventional group (P = 0.005). In the conventional group, 20 (37.04%) patients experienced moderate-to-severe postoperative nausea and vomiting, compared to six (12.25%) patients in the optimised group (odds ratio = 0.237; 95% CI = 0.086, 0.656; P = 0.006). No significant differences were noted in antiemetic treatment, moderate-to-severe pain incidence, anaesthesia recovery, post-anaesthetic care unit stay, or postoperative duration between the groups. While the total intra-operative infusion volumes were comparable, the optimised group had a significantly higher colloidal infusion volume (500 mL vs. 0 mL, P = 0.014) than that of the conventional group.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence and severity of postoperative nausea and vomiting 3-24 h postoperatively in patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy were significantly lower with propofol-based total intravenous anaesthesia and goal-directed fluid therapy than with sevoflurane anaesthesia and traditional fluid management. Total intravenous anaesthesia is an effective multimodal antiemetic strategy for bariatric surgery.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

This trial was registered with the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR-TRC- 2,100,046,534, registration date: 21 May 2021).

Cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy: Effects of postoperative fluids beyond the first 24 h

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

There are no guidelines for intravenous fluid (IVF) administration after cytoreductive surgery and hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRS/HIPEC). This study assessed rates of post-CRS/HIPEC morbidity according to perioperative IVF administration.

METHODS

All patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC March 2007 to June 2018 were reviewed, recording clinicopathologic, operative, and postoperative variables. Patients were divided by peritoneal cancer index (PCI), comparing IVF volumes and types administered intraoperatively and during the first 72 h postoperatively. Optimal IVF rate cutoffs calculated using area under the receiver operating characteristic curves and Youden's index determined associations with complications.

RESULTS

Overall, 185 patients underwent CRS/HIPEC, and 81 (51%) had low PCI (<10) and 77 (49%) had high PCI (≥10). In low-PCI patients, high IVF rates on postoperative days (POD) #0-2 were associated with higher overall complications: POD#0 (46% vs. 89%, p = 0.001), POD#1 (40% vs. 86%, p < 0.05), and POD#2 (42% vs. 72%, p < 0.05). High IVF rates were associated with respiratory distress (7% vs. 26%, p = 0.02) on POD#0, ileus (14% vs. 47%, p = 0.007) and intensive care unit stay (11% vs. 33%, p = 0.022) on POD#1, and ICU stay (8% vs. 33%, p = 0.003) on POD#2.

CONCLUSIONS

For low PCI patients undergoing CRS/HIPEC, higher IVF rates were associated with postoperative complications. Post-CRS/HIPEC, IVF rates should be limited to prevent morbidity.

A spray-as-you-go airway topical anesthesia attenuates cardiovascular responses for double-lumen tube tracheal intubation

BACKGROUND

Spray-as-you-go (SAYGo) airway topical anesthesia and nerve block are common techniques used during awake tracheal intubation. However, their effects have not been described during double-lumen tube intubation. We report on a prospective randomized study that aimed to compare the intubation effects of SAYGo and nerve block patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

METHODS

Sixty-six American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I and II patients were scheduled to undergo double-lumen tube (DLT) tracheal intubation for thoracic surgery. The patients were randomly assigned into control (Group C), ultrasound (Group U), and flexible intubation scope (Group F) groups with 22 cases in each group. Patients in Group C were induced with a standard anesthetic regimen. Patients in Groups U and F were treated with superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) block combined with transtracheal injection (TTI) and given a SAYGo airway topical anesthesia before intubation. Hemodynamic variables during intubation process were recorded as the primary outcome. Additional patient data were recorded including the occurrence of adverse events, the level of hoarseness, the occurrence of sore throats, memory function and the level of patient satisfaction with anesthesia.

RESULTS

The blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) of patients in group C was significantly increased 1 min after tracheal intubation (P < 0.05) compared to before anesthesia. The BP and HR of patients in Groups U and F remained stable. 10 cases of hypertension were observed in Group C, 6 cases in Group U and 1 case in Group F. In Group C, tachycardia was observed in 9 patients along with 9 cases in Group U and 4 cases in Group F. In Group U, 4 patients experienced puncture and bleeding were and 8 patients had a poor memory of TTI. No significant differences were found in the incidence of hoarseness, sore throats, and satisfaction with anesthesia in postoperative follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

SAYGo airway topical anesthesia and SLN block combined with the TTI technique can inhibit the cardiovascular response during DLT tracheal intubation. The SAYGo technique has fewer complications and more advantages compared to other approaches.

Current application of the enhanced recovery after surgery protocol for patients undergoing radical cystectomy: lessons learned from European excellence centers

PURPOSE

There is no consensus on which items of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) should and should not be implemented in radical cystectomy (RC). The aim of this study is to report current practices across European high-volume RC centers involved in ERAS.

METHODS

Based on the recommendations of the ERAS society, we developed a survey with 17 questions that were validated by the Young Academic Urologists-urothelial group. The survey was distributed to European expert centers that implement ERAS for RC. Only one answer per-center was allowed to keep a representative overview of the different centers.

RESULTS

70 surgeons fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Of note, 28.6% of surgeons do not work with a referent anesthesiologist and 25% have not yet assessed the implementation of ERAS in their center. Avoiding bowel preparation, thromboprophylaxis, and removal of the nasogastric tube were widely implemented (> 90%application). On the other hand, preoperative carbohydrate loading, opioid-sparing anesthesia, and audits were less likely to be applied. Common barriers to ERAS implementation were difficulty in changing habits (55%), followed by a lack of communication across surgeons and anesthesiologist (33%). Responders found that performing a regular audit (14%), opioid-sparing anesthesia (14%) and early mobilization (13%) were the most difficult items to implement.

CONCLUSION

In this survey, we identified the ERAS items most and less commonly applied. Collaboration with anesthesiologists as well as regular audits remain a challenge for ERAS implementation. These results support the need to uniform ERAS for RC patients and develop strategies to help departments implement ERAS.