Introduction: Paediatric male circumcision is a painful surgical procedure, which is usually carried out under general anaesthesia. Regional analgesic techniques, including dorsal penile nerve block (DPNB) and caudal nerve block (CNB), are superior to opioid and non-opioid systemic analgesia for postoperative pain control after circumcision.
Material and methods: The purpose of our study was to compare the efficacy, duration of postoperative analgesia, and complications of DPNB, CNB, and the combination of 2 blocks. Eighty-one male patients aged from 3 to 12 years scheduled for circumcision were distributed into 3 groups, each consisting of 27 patients; group 1 (DPNB group), group 2 (CNB group), and group 3 for combined blockade. This study compared the 3 groups in terms of intraoperative vital signs: heart rate and blood pressure, postoperative Wong-Baker score, and complications (nausea, vomiting, pruritus, urinary retention, and constipation).
Results: The intraoperative haemodynamics did not differ between the 3 groups of the study. There is significant difference in the Wong-Baker scale postoperatively at 1, 3, and 24 hours, being significantly less in the CNB group and combined blockade group than in the DPNB group, but there was no significant difference between the CNB group and the combined blockade group. The incidence of complications showed no significant intergroup difference, except for urinary retention being lower with DPNB.
Conclusions: Both caudal and combined blockade were superior to DPNB for intraoperative and postoperative analgesia after circumcision. CNB and combined blockade was associated with significantly higher incidence of urinary retention compared to DPNB. Also, there was no additional benefit to the analgesic efficacy from combining both blocks.
Introduction: The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score is the sum of 6 components, each representing one organ system with dysfunction classified on a 4-point scale. In research, usually by default, the total SOFA score is taken into account, but it may not reflect the severity of the condition of the individual organs. Often, these values are expected to predict mortality.
Material and methods: In this study, we reanalysed 2 cohorts of critically ill elderly patients to explore the distribution of SOFA subscores and to assess the between-group differences. Both cohorts were adjusted to maintain similarity in terms of age and the primary cause of admission (respiratory cause).
Results: In total, 910 (non-COVID-19 cohort) and 551 patients (COVID-19 cohort) were included in the analysis. Both cohorts were similar in terms of the total SOFA score (median 5 vs. 5 points); however, the groups differed significantly in 4/6 SOFA subscores (respiratory, neurological, cardiovascular, and coagulation subscores). Moreover, the cohorts had different fractions of organ failures (defined as a SOFA subscore ≥ 3).
Conclusions: This analysis revealed significant differences in SOFA subscores between the COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 respiratory cohorts, highlighting the importance of considering individual organ dysfunction rather than relying solely on the total SOFA score when reporting organ dysfunction in clinical research.
Background: The erector spinae plane block (ESPB) is a valuable alternative for pain management after video-assisted thoracoscopy surgery (VATS). The incidence of postoperative chronic neuropathic pain (CNP) is high while the quality of life (QoL) after VATS remains unknown. We hypothesised that patients with ESPB would have a low incidence of acute and CNP and would report a good QoL up to three months after VATS.
Methods: We conducted a single-centre prospective pilot cohort study from January to April 2020. ESPB after VATS was the standard practice. The primary outcome was the incidence of CNP three months postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included QoL assessed by the EuroQoL questionnaire three months after surgery and pain control at the Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU), 12 and 24 hours postoperatively.
Results: We conducted a single-centre prospective pilot cohort study from January to April 2020. ESPB after VATS was the standard practice. The primary outcome was the incidence of CNP three months postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included QoL assessed by the EuroQoL questionnaire three months after surgery and pain control at the Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU), 12 and 24 hours postoperatively.
Conclusions: We conducted a single-centre prospective pilot cohort study from January to April 2020. ESPB after VATS was the standard practice. The primary outcome was the incidence of CNP three months postoperatively. Secondary outcomes included QoL assessed by the EuroQoL questionnaire three months after surgery and pain control at the Post-Anaesthesia Care Unit (PACU), 12 and 24 hours postoperatively.
Ultrasonography is becoming an essential part of the management of critically ill patients. There has been a sufficient body of evidence to support the incorporation of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine training programme. Recently the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine reco-gnized POCUS as an essential skill for European Intensive Care Medicine specialists and updated Competency Based Training in Intensive Care (CoBaTrICe). Following European training standards, the Ultrasound and Echocardiography Committee of the Polish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy issued this Position Statement for recommendations for the accreditation process in POCUS in Poland.
Introduction: Bacterial superinfections are common in severely ill COVID-19 patients and could be associated with a significant increase in morbidity and mortality.
Material and methods: We assessed 29 critically ill patients treated in a university hospital's intensive care unit (ICU). Each patient required mechanical ventilation due to COVID-19-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Fifteen patients who required venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VV-ECMO) support (ECMO group) were compared to a control group (CON group) of 14 individuals without ECMO. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of superinfection in both studied groups. Moreover, we evaluated mortality, length of stay in the ICU, positive culture results, antibiotics used during treatment, and the impact of immunomodulatory drugs on secondary infections.
Results: We did not find a difference in the number of superinfections between the ECMO and CON groups (11 vs. 10, P = 1.0). The mortality rate was 67% in the ECMO group and 64% in the CON group ( P = 1.0). The patients in both groups had similar numbers of positive culture results and days in the ICU prior to the detection of a positive culture. Antibiotics were administered to ten patients in the ECMO and eight patients in the CON group. The mortality rate was 81% in patients with superinfection versus 25% in those without co-infection ( P = 0.009). We found a negative impact of urea concentration on mortality in our cohort, with an odds ratio of 0.942 (0.891-0.996, P = 0.034).
Conclusions: Our results suggest that bacterial superinfection in COVID-19 patients negatively impacted survival in the ICU. VV-ECMO support in COVID-19 patients does not seem to improve the outcomes of patients with severe ARDS.