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Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the developed world today. Obesity is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease. There has been renewed interest in the role of perioperative renal dysfunction with the establishment of new diagnostic criteria for kidney dysfunction such as the Acute Kidney Injury Network criteria and the Risk-Injury-Failure-Loss End-stage kidney disease criteria. There is increasing evidence pointing to the role of visceral adipose tissue and adipokines in the pathophysiology of obesity. Furthermore, the traditional methods of quantifying obesity such as body mass index are increasing being questioned because they may not accurately reflect true visceral obesity and may skew epidemiologic classification of metabolically healthy patients. Recent epidemiologic studies suggest the existence of an obesity paradox wherein obese patients seem to have superior perioperative outcomes compared with patients with normal and low body mass index. We seek to review the epidemiologic and pathophysiologic aspects of obesity, especially with respect to structural and functional changes in kidney function and their impact on perioperative outcomes.

Case report. Operating room. 25YF, ASA IV E who underwent an emergent decompressive craniectomy for refractory intracranial hypertension secondary to acute intracranial hemorhage. A 25Y caucasian female presented with acute intracranial hemorrhage with intraventricular extension secondary to Moya Moya disease. Post admisison, she underwent an emergent decompressive craniectomy for medically refractory intracranial hypertension. Introperatively (post dural closure and bone flap removal) the patient developed acutely worsening peak and plateau pressures followed by pulseless electrical activity necessitating CPR with epinephrine and Vasopressin before return of circulation before return of circulation. Intraoperative TEE done during return of circulation, was essentially non diagnostic, the patient had normal breath sounds throughout, and non-contributory bronchoscopy findings. EKG, arterial blood pressure, heart rate, resp. rate, introperative tranesophageal echocardiogram (TEE), Pulse oximetry, serial arterial blood gases, introperative bronchoscopy, ventilatory peak pressures. A post operative chest CT revealed extensive pneumomediastinum with subcutaneous emphysema. The focussed introperative echocardiogram showed preserved left ventricular function and no evidence of tamponade physiology. Tension pneumomediastinum was the likely etiologic factor for the acute hemodynamic collapse and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of intraoperative circulatory arrest. •Tension pneumomediastinum (TP) can present as catastrophic circulatory collapse.•Initial intraoperative echocardiography may show near normal myocardial function.•Bilateral breath sounds are present and echocardiographic diagnosis maybe challenging.•Consider TP in the differential diagosis of circulatory collapse of complex etiology.

In this cluster-randomized, multiple-crossover trial conducted in 5 ICUs, intravenous administration of balanced crystalloids resulted in a lower rate of the composite outcome — death from any cause, new renal-replacement therapy, or persistent renal dysfunction — than saline.

It is known that acute respiratory distress syndrome and acute lung injury are independent risk factors for developing acute kidney injury (AKI) through complex pathophysiologic mechanisms. Our specific aim is to evaluate the risk factors for AKI postburn injury and whether inhalation thermal injury is an independent risk factor for developing AKI in the major burn population. This is an institutional review board–approved, retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to a tertiary burn intensive care unit between 2011 and 2013. We included adults (age 18 years or older) with major burn injury greater than or equal to 20% total burn surface area (TBSA) and patients with confirmed inhalation injury (±major burn). Acute kidney injury was defined using the acute kidney injury network serum creatinine criteria up to 5 days after admission. Patient demographics and clinical data were compared across cohorts using the Wilcoxon rank sum test or Pearson χ2 test, as appropriate. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess the effect of inhalation injury and major burn on the incidence of AKI, adjusting for clinical and demographic confounders. Two hundred fifty-four patient records (90 with inhalation injury and 164 with major burn only) were evaluated. The mean age on admission was 47±19 years and 72% of the cohort were men. There were more men in the major burn group (78% vs 62%; P=.007). No other significant differences were observed in the baseline demographics. The overall incidence of AKI was 28% (95% confidence interval, 22, 33). The unadjusted odds of AKI were nearly double (odds ratio, 1.99; 95% confidence interval, 1.13, 3.49) among those with inhalation injury relative to those with major burn only. However, there was no evidence of an independent inhalational injury effect after adjusting for potential confounders. In particular, TBSA (P=.051), daily 24-hour fluid balance (P<.001), and most recent 24-hour albumin transfusion status (P=.002) were all significantly associated with AKI in the adjusted analysis. Age and packed red blood cell transfusion status were not significant. Inhalation thermal injury is not an independent risk factor for AKI after adjusting for TBSA and surrogates for fluid resuscitation. In patients with major burns, intensity of fluid resuscitation may mediate the development of AKI.

Background We report two cases of acute respiratory distress syndrome in burn patients who were successfully managed with good outcomes with extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) after failing multiple conventional modes of ventilation, and review the relevant literature. Case presentation The two patients were a 39-year-old male and 53-year-old male with modified Baux Scores of 79 and 78, respectively, with no known inhalation injury. After the initial modified Parkland-based fluid resuscitation and partial escharotomy, both patients developed worsening hypoxemia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The hypoxemia continued to worsen on multiple modes of ventilation including volume control, pressure regulated volume control, pressure control, airway pressure release ventilation and volumetric diffusive ventilation. In both cases, the PaO 2  ≤ 50 mm Hg on a FiO 2 100% during the trial of mechanical ventilation. The deterioration was rapid (<12 h since onset of worsening oxygenation) in both cases. A decision was made to trial the patients on ECMO. Veno-Venous ECMO (V-V ECMO) was successfully initiated following cannulation-under transesophgeal echo guidance—with the dual lumen Avalon® (Maquet, NJ, USA) cannula. ECMO support was maintained for 4 and 24 days, respectively. Both patients were successfully weaned off ECMO and were discharged to rehabilitation following their complex hospital course. Conclusion Early ECMO for isolated respiratory failure in the setting on maintained hemodynamics resulted in a positive outcome in our two burn patients suffered from acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Abstract Rationale Saline is the intravenous fluid most commonly administered to critically ill adults, but it may be associated with acute kidney injury and death. Whether use of balanced crystalloids rather than saline affects patient outcomes remains unknown. Objectives To pilot a cluster-randomized, multiple-crossover trial using software tools within the electronic health record to compare saline to balanced crystalloids. Methods This was a cluster-randomized, multiple-crossover trial among 974 adults admitted to a tertiary medical intensive care unit from February 3, 2015 to May 31, 2015. The intravenous crystalloid used in the unit alternated monthly between saline (0.9% sodium chloride) and balanced crystalloids (lactated Ringer’s solution or Plasma-Lyte A). Enrollment, fluid delivery, and data collection were performed using software tools within the electronic health record. The primary outcome was the difference between study groups in the proportion of isotonic crystalloid administered that was saline. The secondary outcome was major adverse kidney events within 30 days (MAKE30), a composite of death, dialysis, or persistent renal dysfunction. Measurements and Main Results Patients assigned to saline (n = 454) and balanced crystalloids (n = 520) were similar at baseline and received similar volumes of crystalloid by 30 days (median [interquartile range]: 1,424 ml [500–3,377] vs. 1,617 ml [500–3,628]; P = 0.40). Saline made up a larger proportion of the isotonic crystalloid given in the saline group than in the balanced crystalloid group (91% vs. 21%; P < 0.001). MAKE30 did not differ between groups (24.7% vs. 24.6%; P = 0.98). Conclusions An electronic health record–embedded, cluster-randomized, multiple-crossover trial comparing saline with balanced crystalloids can produce well-balanced study groups and separation in crystalloid receipt. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 02345486).

Anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis (anti-NMDARE) is autoimmune encephalitis primarily affecting young adults and children. First described about a decade ago, it frequently manifests as a syndrome that includes progressive behavioral changes, psychosis, central hypoventilation, seizures, and autonomic instability. Although cardiac arrhythmias often accompany anti-NMDARE, the need for long-term electrophysiological support is rare. We describe the case of NMDARE whose ICU course was complicated by progressively worsening episodes of tachyarrhythmia-bradyarrhythmia and episodes of asystole from which she was successfully resuscitated. Her life-threatening episodes of autonomic instability were successfully controlled only after the placement of a permanent pacemaker during her ICU stay. She made a clinical recovery and was discharged to a skilled nursing facility after a protracted hospital course.

Acute kidney injury is common among critically ill adults and is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The Major Adverse Kidney Events by 30 days (MAKE30) composite of death, new renal replacement therapy, or persistent renal dysfunction is recommended as a patient-centered outcome for pragmatic trials involving acute kidney injury. Accurate electronic detection of the MAKE30 endpoint using data within the electronic health record (EHR) could facilitate the use of the EHR in large-scale kidney injury research. In an observational study using prospectively collected data from 200 admissions to a single medical intensive care unit, we tested the performance of electronically-extracted data in identifying the MAKE30 composite compared to the reference standard of two-physician manual chart review. The incidence of MAKE30 on manual-review was 16 %, which included 8.5 % for in-hospital mortality, 3.5 % for new renal replacement therapy, and 8.5 % for persistent renal dysfunction. There was strong agreement between the electronic and manual assessment of MAKE30 (98.5 % agreement [95 % CI 96.5–100.0 %]; kappa 0.95 [95 % CI 0.87–1.00]; P  < 0.001), with only three patients misclassified by electronic assessment. Performance of the electronic MAKE30 assessment was similar among patients with and without CKD and with and without a measured serum creatinine in the 12 months prior to hospital admission. In summary, accurately identifying the MAKE30 composite outcome using EHR data collected as a part of routine care appears feasible.

Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is a rare condition caused by the excessive alveolar accumulation of surfactant proteins. The current standard of care for removing these secretions is through therapeutic whole lung lavage (WLL). We describe two successful cases of bilateral WLL involving the novel use of the Vest™ chest physiotherapy system thereby avoiding the need for extensive changes in patient position in the intraoperative period. In brief, it involves the induction of general anesthesia followed by single-lung ventilation while simultaneously performing large volume lavages on the nonventilated lung. The washout was enhanced using the Vest™ system.