Gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery are rare, but they are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The mechanisms of gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery may be unique, as the abdominal cavity is not involved. This review summarizes the current evidence of the pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, risk factors, and management of gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery, aiming to improve the recognition of gastrointestinal complications after cardiac surgery.
Objective To explore the effect of preoperative hypothyroidism on postoperative cognition dysfunction (POCD) in elderly patients after on-pump cardiac surgery. Methods Patients who were no younger than 50 years and scheduled to have on-pump cardiac surgeries were selected in West China Hospital from March 2016 to December 2017. Based on hormone levels, patients were divided into two groups: a hypo group (hypothyroidism group, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) >4.2 mU/L or free triiodothyronine 3 (FT3) <3.60 pmol/L or FT4 <12.0 pmol/L) and an eu group (euthyroidism group, normal TSH, FT3 and FT4). The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) test and a battery of neuropsychological tests were used by a fixed researcher to assess cognitive function on 1 day before operation and 7 days after operation. Primer outcome was the incidence of POCD. Secondary outcomes were the incidence of cognitive degradation, scores or time cost in every aspect of cognitive function. Results No matter cognitive function was assessed by MMSE or a battery of neuropsychological tests, the incidence of POCD in the hypo group was higher than that of the eu group. The statistical significance existed when using MMSE (55.56% vs. 26.67%, P=0.014) but was absent when using a battery of neuropsychological tests (55.56% vs. 44.44%, P=0.361). The incidence of cognitive deterioration in the hypo group was higher than that in the eu group in verbal fluency test (48.15% vs. 20.00%, P=0.012). The cognitive deterioration incidence between the hypo group and the eu group was not statistically different in the other aspects of cognitive function. There was no statistical difference about scores or time cost between the hypo group and the eu group in all the aspects of cognitive function before surgery. After surgery, the scores between the hypo group and the eu group was statistically different in verbal fluency test (26.26±6.55 vs. 30.23±8.00, P=0.023) while was not statistically significant in other aspects of cognitive function. Conclusion The incidence of POCD is high in the elderly patients complicated with hypothyroidism after on-pump cardiac surgery and words reserve, fluency, and classification of cognitive function are significantly impacted by hypothyroidism over than other domains, which indicates hypothyroidism may have close relationship with POCD in this kind of patients.
Frailty is a syndrome characterized by vulnerability to stressors due to loss of physiological reserve. In recent years, many researches have confirmed that frailty is a risk factor for postoperative complications of cardiac surgery, such as readmission, adverse cardiovascular events, and death in elderly patients. This paper reviews the concept of frailty, the relationship between frailty and cardiac surgery, the frailty assessment and intervention strategy in perioperative period, aimed at providing decision making basis for the risk stratification and perioperative management of cardiac surgery in elderly patients.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the influence of dexmedetomidine on early postoperative cognitive dysfunction in adult patients after receiving noncardiac surgery under general anesthesia. MethodsThe randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about the influence of dexmedetomidine on the early postoperative cognitive dysfunction of patients after receiving noncardiac surgery with general anesthesia was searched in PubMed, EBSCO, Springer, Ovid, The Cochrane Library (Issue 1, 2013), CNKI, VIP, WanFang Data and Google Scholar up to November 30th, 2013. The references of included literature were also retrieved manually. Two reviewers independently screened literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.2. ResultsA total of 22 RCTs involving 1 356 patients were enrolled. The results of meta-analysis indicated that:a) dexmedetomidine reduced the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction on the first day (RR=0.38, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.49, P < 0.001), on the seventh day (RR=0.55, 95%CI 0.23 to 1.29, P=0.17); improved postoperative MMSE scores after surgery (on the first day:MD=2.38, 95%CI 1.42 to 3.34, P < 0.001; on the seventh day:MD=0.92, 95%CI 0.16 to 1.68, P=0.02), and decreased the expression of inflammatory factor IL-6 (instant:MD=-11.96, 95%CI-18.45 to-5.46, P=0.000 3; after 24 h:MD=-7.50, 95%CI-13.73 to-1.27, P=0.02); and TNF-α (instant:MD=-4.09, 95%CI-7.02 to-1.16, P=0.006)) in patients. b) No significant difference was found between two groups (MD=-0.97, 95%CI-2.37 to 0.43, P=0.17). ConclusionDexmedetomidine can effectively reduce the early-stage postoperative cognitive dysfunction, improve MMSE scores after the operation, and reduce inflammatory reaction. In addition, due to the limited quantity and quality of studies included, larger sample, high quality RCTs are needed to verify the abovementioned conclusion.
ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of different β-blockers for preventing postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) after cardiac surgery. Methods Databases of PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, SinoMed, CKNI, VIP, WanFang were searched by the computer from inception to April 31, 2022 to collect randomized controlled studies on the comparison of the effectiveness of different β-blockers for preventing POAF. Two investigators independently screened the literature and extracted information. The quality of the literature was evaluated using Cochrane bias risk tool, and RevMan 5.3 and STATA 17.0 were used for meta-analysis. Results A total of 17 randomized controlled studies with 3 290 patients were included. Direct meta-analysis showed that landiolol and metoprolol were more effective than placebo (P≤0.001), and carvedilol was more effective than metoprolol in preventing the development of POAF (P<0.001). Network meta-analysis showed that landiolol, carvedilol and metoprolol were more effective than placebo in preventing the incidence of POAF (P<0.05). Landiolol and carvedilol were more effective than metoprolol, and carvedilol were more effective than nebivolol (P<0.05). The surface under the cumulative ranking curve from high to low were carvedilol, landilol, propranolol, atenolol, metoprolol, and nebivolol. Conclusion Carvedilol and landilol have different degrees of improvement in the occurrence of POAF, and carvedilol has the best preventive effect. More studies are required to verify the strength of evidence due to the limited sample size.
ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of preoperative immunosuppressive therapy combined with surgical intervention. MethodsA retrospective study was conducted on Behçet's disease patients who underwent cardiac surgery at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital from 2012 to 2021. Patients were divided into immunosuppressive group and non-immunosuppressive group based on whether they received immunosuppressive therapy before surgery. The complications and long-term survival rates of the two groups were analyzed. ResultsA total of 28 patients were included, among which 2 patients underwent reoperation, a total of 30 surgeries were performed, including 16 males (53.3%), and the confirmed age was 37 (31, 45) years old. There were 15 surgeries in the immunosuppressive group and 15 surgeries in the non-immunosuppressive group. Compared with the non-immunosuppressive group, the incidence of complications during hospitalization in the immunosuppressive group was lower (13.3% vs. 53.3%, P=0.008). One patient died in hospital, and the rest were discharged and followed up, with a median follow-up time of 38.7 (15.1, 57.3) months, and there was no statistically significant difference in long-term survival rate between the two groups (26.7% vs. 6.7%, P=0.158). There was no statistically significant difference in the cumulative incidence of complications one month (20% vs. 53%, P=0.058) and one year (27% vs. 60%, P=0.065) after surgery between the immunosuppressive group and the non-immunosuppressive group, but there was a statistically significant difference in the cumulative incidence of complications three years after surgery (47% vs. 92%, P=0.002). ConclusionSurgical treatment can save lives in Behçet's disease patients with cardiovascular diseases, but the incidence of postoperative complications is high. Timely use of immunosuppressants before cardiovascular surgery can reduce the incidence of postoperative complications.
ObjectiveTo summary the safety and efficiency of the minimally invasive direct cardiac surgery (MIDCS) approach in elderly patients with heart disease. MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 60 patients underwent MIDCS in Beijng Anzhen Hospital between April 2010 and January 2013. There were 34 males and 26 females with mean age of 66.4±4.8 years and mean weight of 66.1±10.6 kg. ResultsMean cardiopulmonary bypass time and aortic cross-clamp time was 141.2±57.2 minutes and 99.8±37.6 minutes respectively. A total of 37 patients (90.2%) recovered to beat automatically after heart ceased operation. Median mechanical ventilation time was 17.1±9.1 hours. Mean intensive care unit stay was 22.1±12.2 hours. Mean post operative hospital stay was 7.0±2.5 days. Mean incision length was 5.3±0.9 cm. Mean pericardial draining volume was 466.6±412.1 ml in the first day after operation. No transfusion occurred in 27 (45.0%) patients. Early postoperative mortality was 3.3% (2/60). There were 2 patients of reexplorations for bleeding, 1 patient of the twice tracheal intubation, 1 patient of cardiac arrest after operation, 2 patients of poor healing of skin incision, and 1 patient of injury of right phrenic nerve. When leaving hospital, 47 patients were in heart functional class Ⅰ, 8 patients in class Ⅱ, and 3 patients in class Ⅲ. ConclusionMIDCS is associated with good operative effect in the near future with superior safety and broad application range in elderly patients with heart disease.
Objective To investigate clinical diagnosis，timing of surgery and perioperative therapeutic strategies for blood culture-negative infective endocarditis （IE）. Methods Clinical data of 240 IE patients who were admitted tWuhan Asia Heart Hospital between July 2008 and July 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. According to their blood cultureresults，all the patients were divided into blood culture-negative group and blood culture-positive group. In the blood culture-negative group，there were 158 patients including 88 male and 70 female patients with their age of 51.3±10.1 years. In the blood culture-positive group，there were 82 patients including 45 male and 37 female patients with their age of 48.9±9.8 years. All the patients underwent surgical treatment，and the surgical procedures included complete vegetations excision，debridement of infected valves，removal of necrotic tissue around the annulus，and concomitant heart valve replacement or intracardiac repair. Postoperatively，all the patients received routine monitoring in ICU，cardiac glycosides，diuretics，other symptomatic treatment and adequate dosages of antibiotics for 4-6 weeks. Results Four patients died postoperatively in this study including 1 patient for low cardiac output syndrome and 3 patients for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome，1 patient in the blood culture-positive group and 3 patients in the blood culture-negative group respectively. There was no statistical difference in surgical mortality between the 2 groups （χ2=0.15，P=0.70）. All the other patients were discharged successfully and followed up for 6 to 36 months with the median follow-up time of 22 months. During follow-up, 2 patients died including 1 patient for cerebral infarction 2 years after surgery and another patient for cerebral hemorrhage 3 yearsafter surgery. Conclusion Patients with blood culture-negative IE should receive adequate dosage and duration of broad-spectrum antibiotics to control the infection rapidly, and aggressive surgical therapy to decrease in-hospital mortality and improve their quality of life and prognosis.
Objective Historically, perioperative hemoglobin monitoring has relied on calculated saturation, using blood gas devices that measure plasma hematocrit (Hct). Co-oximetry, which measures total hemoglobin (tHb), yields a more comprehensive assessment of hemodilution. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of tHb measurement by co-oximetry and Hct, using conductivity with red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, length of stay (LOS) and inpatient costs in patients having major cardiac surgery. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on patients who underwent coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and/or valve replacement (VR) procedures from January 2014 to June 2016, using MedAssets discharge data. The patient population was sub-divided by the measurement modality (tHb and Hct), using detailed billing records and Current Procedural Terminology coding. Cost was calculated using hospital-specific cost-to-charge ratios. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify significant drivers of RBC transfusion and resource utilization. Results The study population included 18 169 cardiovascular surgery patients. Hct-monitored patients accounted for 66% of the population and were more likely to have dual CABG and VR procedures (10.4% vs. 8.9%, P=0.006 9). After controlling for patient and hospital characteristics, as well as patient comorbidities, Hct-monitored patients had significantly higher RBC transfusion risk (OR=1.26, 95%CI 1.15-1.38,P<0.000 1), longer LOS (IRR=1.08, P<0.000 1) and higher costs (IRR=1.15, P<0.000 1) than tHb-monitored patients. RBC transfusions were a significant driver of LOS (IRR=1.25, P<0.000 1) and cost (IRR=1.22, P<0.000 1). Conclusion tHb monitoring during cardiovascular surgery could offer a significant reduction in RBC transfusion, length of stay and hospital cost compared to Hct monitoring.
ObjectiveTo investigate the correlation between lung ultrasonography and pulmonary complications after cardiac surgery.MethodsFifty-two patients after cardiac surgery in our hospital from January to May 2017 were recruited. There were 27 males and 25 females, aged 60.50±10.43 years. Lung ultrasonography was performed by specially trained observers, video data were saved, and lung ultrasound score (LUS) were recorded. The correlation between the LUS and the patients' pulmonary function was evaluated.ResultsLUS was 17.80±3.87, which was negatively correlated to the ratio of arterial PO2 to the inspired oxygen fraction (PaO2/FiO2) during examination, without significant difference (r=–0.363, P=0.095), but significantly negatively correlated to PaO2/FiO2 changes 24 hours postoperatively (r=–0.464, P=0.034).ConclusionThe changes of lung ventilation area may occur earlier than the changes of lung function. Bedside LUS is an effective method for clinical monitoring of pulmonary complications.