Expert consensus on training and accreditation for extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation an international, multidisciplinary modified Delphi Study

BACKGROUND

A multidisciplinary group of stakeholders were used to identify: (1) the core competencies of a training program required to perform in-hospital ECPR initiation (2) additional competencies required to perform pre-hospital ECPR initiation and; (3) the optimal training method and maintenance protocol for delivering an ECPR program.

METHODS

A modified Delphi process was undertaken utilising two web based survey rounds and one virtual meeting. Experts rated the importance of different aspects of ECPR training, competency and governance on a 9-point Likert scale. A diverse, representative group was targeted. Consensus was achieved when greater than 70% respondents rated a domain as critical (> or = 7 on the 9 point Likert scale).

RESULTS

35 international ECPR experts from 9 countries formed the expert panel, with a median number of 14 years of ECMO practice (interquartile range 11-38). Participant response rates were 97% (survey round one), 63% (virtual meeting) and 100% (survey round two). After the second round of the survey, 47 consensus statements were formed outlining a core set of competencies required for ECPR provision. We identified key elements required to safely train and perform ECPR including skill pre-requisites, surrogate skill identification, the importance of competency-based assessment over volume of practice and competency requirements for successful ECPR practice and skill maintenance.

CONCLUSIONS

We present a series of core competencies, training requirements and ongoing governance protocols to guide safe ECPR implementation. These findings can be used to develop training syllabus and guide minimum standards for competency as the growth of ECPR practitioners continues.

Experience of Immediate Ambulation and Early Discharge After Tumescent Anesthesia and Propofol Infusion in Cosmetic Breast Augmentation

INTRODUCTION

Current cosmetic breast augmentation relies on general anesthesia that normally requires 40 min to total recovery. With experience, the surgical procedure can be completed expediently in 20 min under tumescent anesthesia and propofol full sedation to achieve immediate postoperative ambulation and home discharge readiness, and thus improve patient satisfaction and reduce cost. We retrospectively examined the outcomes of the protocol.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Per protocol, 1200 female patients underwent simple cosmetic breast augmentation accomplished with tumescent anesthesia, immediate mobilization, and early home discharge readiness after surgery. The following records were analyzed: vital sign stability during mobilization in the first 30 cases (primary goal), duration of surgery and anesthesia, frequency of intraoperative opioid use, frequency of ambulation needing assistance, Verbal Analog Scores and incidences of pain, orthostatic intolerance events, incidences of postoperative nausea and vomiting or anti-emetic use, and complications at follow-up visits (secondary goal).

RESULTS

Hemodynamics during immediate postoperative mobilization demonstrated no statistically significant fluctuations and/or orthostatic intolerance requiring interventions. The mean duration of surgery was 20.4 ± 4.1 min. The mean duration of anesthesia was 25.2 ± 6.8 min. All patients tolerated immediate postoperative ambulation well. Adverse postoperative events were scarce. Only 9.1% reported postoperative pain, and 5.7% reported postoperative nausea and vomiting. One percent had transit post-ambulation dizziness needing supine positioning for less than 3 min. The average time to meet home-readiness criteria was 4.7 min, and there was no incidence of hematoma, infection, or complaints at follow-ups.

CONCLUSIONS

For simple cosmetic breast augmentation, instead of general anesthesia and 40 min of recovery time, a tumescent anesthetic technique can be used for immediate postoperative ambulation and a 4.7-min home discharge readiness without a decrease in anesthesia quality and safety.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV

This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Ischaemia modified albumin cannot be used for rapid exclusion of acute coronary syndrome

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate ischaemia modified albumin (IMA) as an early negative predictor of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in different time to presentation groups and different cardiac risk groups.

METHODS

A prospective observational study was performed in the emergency department at Royal Perth Hospital. Consecutive patients with symptoms suggestive of ACS needing delayed troponin measurements were recruited. All enrolled patients had both IMA and troponin measurements performed on their initial blood samples. The time of the initial blood tests and thrombolysis in myocardial ischaemia (TIMI) risk scores were recorded. Initial IMA results were compared with 12 h troponin levels and a discharge diagnosis of ACS. More detailed analyses were made according to different times to presentation (0-4 h, 5-12 h) and cardiac risk (TIMI score 0-1, 2-7). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and likelihood ratio were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to determine the best diagnostic cut-off for IMA.

RESULTS

248 patients were enrolled (151 (61%) men, mean age 65 years). All 248 patients had 'positive' IMA results using the 85 U/ml cut-off value recommended by the manufacturer. ROC curves failed to show improved cut-off points for diagnosing raised 12 h troponin levels or ACS; the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.52 and 0.53, respectively. ROC curves produced similar poor results in all subgroups. In the subgroup with time to presentation 0-4 h and TIMI score 0-1 for diagnosing ACS, the AUC was slightly better at 0.58.

CONCLUSION

This study does not support the use of IMA as a negative predictor for ACS.

Preoperative tibiofemoral angle predicts survival of proximal tibia osteotomy

A prospective group study was done to clarify whether perioperative variables such as preoperative and postoperative tibiofemoral angles influence the survivorship of proximal tibia osteotomy as measured by conversion to arthroplasty and patient dissatisfaction. The results of 93 proximal tibial osteotomies in 82 consecutive patients with medial compartment osteoarthrosis were followed up for a mean of 10.9 years. All data were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier survivorship method and the multivariate Cox proportional hazards model. Only the preoperative tibiofemoral angle was a predictor of conversion to arthroplasty and patient dissatisfaction. The ideal prognostic cutoff angle was 9 degrees or less varus. Increasing the preoperative varus alignment 1 degrees would result in a 1.2 (95% confidence intervals, 1.02-1.50) times higher risk of conversion to a total knee arthroplasty and a 1.5 (95% confidence intervals, 1.27-1.76) times higher chance of patient dissatisfaction. Factors such as age, gender, body mass index, Ahlback's classification, and postoperative tibiofemoral angle were not significant. We think that proximal tibial osteotomy should be considered for patients with medial compartment osteoarthrosis and a preoperative varus alignment of 9 degrees or less, whereas arthroplasty is a more suitable alternative for patients with preoperative varus alignment greater than 9 degrees.