Kenta Okitsu

Risk of Hematoma in Patients With a Bleeding Risk Undergoing Cardiovascular Surgery with a Paravertebral Catheter.

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the risk of hematoma associated with thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) in patients undergoing cardiovascular surgery. DESIGN Retrospective analysis. SETTING Single university hospital. PARTICIPANTS The study comprised 141 patients who underwent cardiovascular surgery with TPVB to relieve postoperative pain. INTERVENTIONS None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Three patients were excluded and of the remaining 138, TPVB was performed in 135, ages 11 to 96 years, who either had a clotting abnormality or were on anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy. No paravertebral, epidural, or spinal hematoma was detected, and only 1 case of superficial bleeding was observed. The frequency of hematoma associated with TPVB in patients with a risk of bleeding undergoing cardiovascular surgery was calculated as 0% (95% confidence interval 0-2.7). CONCLUSION Hematoma did not occur in patients at risk of bleeding who underwent cardiovascular surgery with TPVB for postoperative pain management. However, the risk and benefit in each case still must be considered carefully to determine whether TPVB is indicated.

Pain Management With Bilateral Continuous Thoracic Paravertebral Block in a Patient With Fontan-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Hepatectomy.

Objective We report a case of perioperative management of a single-ventricle patient with Fontan-associated liver disease undergoing hepatectomy. Case Report A 12-year-old boy with Fontan circulation was scheduled for partial hepatectomy to remove a liver mass in segment 6. He received stent implantation to relieve conduit stenosis 6 months before the operation. The operation was performed under general anesthesia and with a bilateral thoracic paravertebral block (PVB). A continuous paravertebral infusion of levobupivacaine was administered via right and left catheters postoperatively. He was hemodynamically stable throughout the perioperative period, extubated soon after surgery, and had an uncomplicated postoperative course. Conclusions An analgesic regimen including thoracic PVB resulted in a rapid recovery without opioid-related side effects and early reinitiation of anticoagulation therapy. Our case illustrates the effective application of thoracic PVB in congenital heart disease patients for non–cardiac-related surgery.

A case of laparotomic cholecystectomy in a patient with biventricular assist devices

We describe a patient with biventricular assist devices who had systemic inflammation because of cholecystitis that required open cholecystectomy, and we discuss the anesthetics and monitors that should be used in unstable patients with ventricular assist devices (VADs) who are undergoing major surgery.The patient was a 40-year-old man in the dilated phase of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, who was implanted with an internal left VAD and external right VAD. We anesthetized the patient with a combination of a low dose of sevoflurane and ketamine to minimize vasodilation. We chose ketamine because we expected it to have a postoperative analgesic effect. An INVOS™ (Medtronic) monitor was beneficial, especially since the pulse oximeter did not work because of a pulse deficit. The FloTrach™ (Edwards Lifesciences) failed to measure the stroke volume and its variability. The left VAD, the Jarvik2000, did not show its flow rate. However, we were able to estimate that the flow was stabilized, because the flow rate of the right VAD was stable, and there was no significant change in both ventricles and septa, as shown on transesophageal echocardiography.

Unexpected bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombus during left ventricular assist device implantation

Acute bioprosthetic valve thrombosis can occur after surgery and sometimes cause hemodynamic instability and cardiogenic shock. Risk factors for bioprosthetic valve thrombosis are hypercoagulability, atrial fibrillation, atrial dilatation, low cardiac function, and lack of anticoagulation therapy. The authors present a case of severe mitral stenosis due to bioprosthetic valve thrombus. The patient was diagnosed with dilated-phase hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and underwent mitral valve replacement. He required venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) due to extremely low cardiac output and was scheduled for left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation. Transesophageal echocardiographic examination before LVAD implantation revealed severe mitral stenosis due to bioprosthetic mitral valve thrombus, which was not detected by transthoracic echocardiography in the intensive care unit and contributed to the low cardiac function. The thrombus was removed through an unscheduled left atriotomy before LVAD implantation. The possibility of bioprosthetic valve thrombosis must be considered when the patient is dependent on VA-ECMO support. Early transesophageal echocardiographic examination of the bioprosthetic valve may be helpful and contribute to surgical decision-making.

Perioperative factors related to the severity of vocal cord paralysis after thoracic cardiovascular surgery: A retrospective review

BACKGROUND Vocal cord paralysis (VCP) is a rare complication of thoracic cardiovascular surgery. In severe cases, life-threatening airway obstruction may occur. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the incidence and severity of VCP among patients who underwent thoracic cardiovascular surgery and to identify possible risk factors. DESIGN Single-centre retrospective review of adult patients. SETTING Osaka University Hospital, Suita, Japan, from January 2013 to August 2015. PATIENTS We included 688 patients in the final analysis. Preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data were collected from medical records. Patients with preoperative VCP or tracheostomy prior to extubation were excluded. The VCP severity in relation to functional recovery was graded using the following categories: absent; mild, remission at 6 months; moderate, partial or persistent VCP at 6 months; or severe, airway obstruction after extubation requiring reintubation. An otolaryngologist diagnosed all VCP cases. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The incidence and severity of VCP after extubation. RESULTS The incidence (number) of VCP was 4.7% (32), with those of mild, moderate and severe VCP being 1.7% (12), 1.5% (10) and 1.5% (10), respectively. The ICU stay was significantly longer in patients with severe VCP than in patients without VCP [12.5 days (interquartile range 5.5 to 25.5) vs. 3 days (interquartile range 2 to 5), P = 0.0002]. In our multivariable analysis, type 2 diabetes mellitus [odds ratio (OR) 1.853, P = 0.009], intubation period (OR per 24 h 1.136, P = 0.014), ascending aortic arch surgery with brachiocephalic artery reconstruction (OR 8.708, P < 0.001) and ventricular assist device implantation (OR 3.460, P = 0.005) were independent predictors for VCP. CONCLUSION The identification of these risk factors may facilitate screening for VCP before extubation and possibly help anaesthesia personnel to be prepared to treat VCP-related airway obstruction should it occur.

Thoracic paravertebral block for perioperative analgesia in the surgical management of left ventricular assist device infections.

Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation is increasingly being used as a bridging therapy to heart transplantation. Infection is a major complication in patients with implanted LVADs, and it is associated with short- and long-term mortality. Surgical management for infection control is sometimes necessary; however, providing pain management during the surgical procedures is challenging. Anesthesiologists may be able to contribute to better pain management during surgical interventions to treat LVAD infections. We successfully performed a continuous thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) for perioperative pain relief during invasive surgical procedures on three patients with infections of implanted LVADs. Despite several limitations that need to be addressed in the future, TPVB was able to relieve surgical pain in these patients without obvious complications.