Fluid replacement with hydroxyethyl starch in critical care--a reassessment

Renal Morbidity of 6% Hydroxyethyl Starch 130/0.4 in 9000 Propensity Score Matched Pairs of Surgical Patients

BACKGROUND

Several studies of critically ill patients reported that fluid resuscitation with hydroxyethyl starch (HES) solutions damages the kidneys, but their use for surgical patients is debated. Because different HES preparations have different safety profiles, we sought to determine whether 6% third-generation HES 130/0.4 was associated with renal morbidity when used for surgical patients.

METHODS

We identified adults enrolled in a Japanese nationwide medical database who underwent surgery between 2014 and 2016, with HES 130/0.4 or without it (controls). These groups were balanced with propensity score matching in a 1:1 ratio without replacement by multivariable logistic regression with 36 covariates, including demographic characteristics, preoperative comorbidities, and anesthetic/surgical procedures. The primary outcome was the incidence of acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients receiving intraoperative HES and controls. Secondary outcomes were assessing whether HES was associated with worsening AKI stage, the incidence of renal-replacement therapy (RRT), hospital length-of-stay, and in-hospital 30-day mortality. Tertiary outcomes include the use of vasoactive agents and the fluid requirement on the day of surgery. Comparative analysis was made with χ, Mann-Whitney U test, or the ordinal logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Of 76,048 patients in the database, 58,425 were eligible: 9542 received HES and 48,883 controls. Propensity score matching identified 8823 matched pairs. The incidence of AKI was 6.2% (548/8823) in the HES group and 5.6% (492/8823) in controls (odds ratio [OR], 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.99-1.27; P = .07). Compared to controls, HES was not associated with worsening AKI stage (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.79-1.01; P = .08). The incidence of RRT was lower in the HES group than that in controls (0.2% vs 0.4%, respectively; OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.29-0.91; P = .02). Median [interquartile range] hospital stay was 1 day longer in the HES group (12 [8-21] vs 11 [7-20] days; P < .001), but in-hospital 30-day mortality did not differ between groups (0.5% vs 0.6%, respectively: OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.56-1.24; P = .36). The use rate of vasoactive agents and the median net fluid requirement on the day of surgery were higher in the HES group (80.5% vs 70.0%: P < .001, 88.1 vs 73.6 mL/kg; P < .001, respectively) compared to controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study did not demonstrate that 6% HES 130/0.4 increased the incidence and the severity of postoperative AKI. It was associated with a lower incidence of RRT when used for surgical patients.

Understanding the Harms of HES: A Review of the Evidence to Date

Intravenous (IV) fluid resuscitation is one of the most common interventions in intensive care medicine. Despite clear guidelines, the choice of IV fluid is largely dependent on physician preference instead of high-quality evidence of efficacy and safety. This is particularly the case for synthetic colloids, such as hydroxyethyl starch (HES). The use of HES in critical care has been associated with increased rates of acute kidney injury (AKI), renal replacement therapy and mortality. In light of this, current guidelines and scientific and regulatory bodies do not recommend the use of HES for fluid therapy in critical illness and caution against its use in many other settings. Despite this, HES products are still debated and used. Awareness of the indications, contraindications, doses, benefits and adverse effects for IV fluids, as well as recommendations from scientific and regulatory bodies, is essential to guarantee patients' safety. Poor awareness of optimal IV fluid therapy has recently been revealed in some countries including Turkey. Therefore, we provide a review of fluids used for resuscitation, discuss safety data and adverse effects of HES, such as increased AKI and mortality, and discuss recent updates from scientific and regulatory bodies in order to raise awareness of fluid therapy. We conclude that given the lack of a clear benefit of HES in any clinical setting and the availability of safer alternatives, such as crystalloids and albumin, HES should be avoided.

Publication status of completed registered studies in paediatric appendicitis: a cross-sectional analysis

OBJECTIVE

Appendicitis is considered the most frequent surgical emergency in children. While the management of paediatric appendicitis is evolving, the precise amount of unpublished completed trials, potentially introducing bias into meta-analyses, is unknown. Controversial issues include the appropriate choice of surgical procedures, criteria for diagnosis of appendicitis, the role of antibiotic treatment and pain management. Selective reporting may introduce bias into evidence-based clinical decision-making, and the current, precise extent of unpublished results in paediatric appendicitis is unknown. We therefore assessed the publication status of completed clinical studies involving children registered on ClinicalTrials.gov.

DESIGN

Cross sectional analysis. STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology criteria were applied for design and analysis.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

ClinicalTrials.gov was queried for completed studies which were matched to publications on ClinicalTrials.gov, PubMed or Google Scholar. If no publication could be identified, principal investigators were contacted.

INTERVENTIONS/EXPOSURE

Observational analysis.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES

The proportion of published and unpublished studies was calculated. Subgroup analysis included studies on surgical procedures, diagnosis, antibiotic treatment and pain management.

RESULTS

Out of n=52 completed clinical studies involving children with appendicitis, n=33 (63%) were published and n=19 (37%) were unpublished. Eighty-three per cent (n=43/52) of clinical trials assessed the above-listed controversial issues. Diagnostic studies were most rigorously published (91% of trials reported), data on surgical procedures, antibiotic and pain management were less transparent. Sixty-six per cent of interventional studies and 60% of randomised studies were published. Median time-to-publication, for example, the delay between completion of the trial until public availability of the results was 24 (IQR 12-36), range 2-92 months.

CONCLUSION

Despite the importance of appendicitis in clinical practice for the paediatric surgeon, there remains scientific uncertainty due to unpublished clinical trial results with room for improvement in the future. These data are helpful in framing the shifting paradigms in paediatric appendicitis because it adds transparency to the debate.

[Care for severely injured persons : Update of the 2016 S3 guideline for the treatment of polytrauma and the severely injured]

In 2011 the first interdisciplinary S3 guideline for the management of patients with serious injuries/trauma was published. After intensive revision and in consensus with 20 different medical societies, the updated version of the guideline was published online in September 2016. It is divided into three sections: prehospital care, emergency room management and the first operative phase. Many recommendations and explanations were updated, mostly in the prehospital care and emergency room management sections. These two sections are of special interest for anesthesiologists in field emergency physician roles or as team members or team leaders in the emergency room. The present work summarizes the changes to the current guideline and gives a brief overview of this very important work.

Influence of Deceased Donor and Pretransplant Recipient Parameters on Early Overall Kidney Graft-Survival in Germany

Background. Scarcity of grafts for kidney transplantation (KTX) caused an increased consideration of deceased donors with substantial risk factors. There is no agreement on which ones are detrimental for overall graft-survival. Therefore, we investigated in a nationwide multicentre study the impact of donor and recipient related risks known before KTX on graft-survival based on the original data used for allocation and graft acceptance. Methods. A nationwide deidentified multicenter study-database was created of data concerning kidneys donated and transplanted in Germany between 2006 and 2008 as provided by the national organ procurement organization (Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation) and BQS Institute. Multiple Cox regression (significance level 5%, hazard ratio [95% CI]) was conducted (n = 4411, isolated KTX). Results. Risk factors associated with graft-survival were donor age (1.020 [1.013-1.027] per year), donor size (0.985 [0.977-0.993] per cm), donor's creatinine at admission (1.002 [1.001-1.004] per µmol/L), donor treatment with catecholamine (0.757 [0.635-0.901]), and reduced graft-quality at procurement (1.549 [1.217-1.973]), as well as recipient age (1.012 [1.003-1.021] per year), actual panel reactive antibodies (1.007 [1.002-1.011] per percent), retransplantation (1.850 [1.484-2.306]), recipient's cardiovascular comorbidity (1.436 [1.212-1.701]), and use of IL2-receptor antibodies for induction (0.741 [0.619-0.887]). Conclusion. Some donor characteristics persist to impact graft-survival (e.g., age) while the effect of others could be mitigated by elaborate donor-recipient match and care.

Hydroxyeyhyl starch: Controversies revisited

Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) family has been one of the cornerstones in fluid management for over four decades. Recent evidence from clinical studies and meta-analyses has raised few concerns about the safety of these fluids, especially in certain subpopulations of patients. High-quality clinical trials and meta-analyses have emphasized nephrotoxic effects, increased risk of bleeding, and a trend toward higher mortality in these patients after the use of HES solutions. Scientific evidence was derived from international guidelines, aggregated research literature, and opinion-based evidence was obtained from surveys and other activities (e.g., internet postings). On critical analysis of the current data available, it can be summarized that further large scale trials are still indicated before HES can be discarded.