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In the present study the "fast-track rehabilitation" protocol of the Charité university hospital for patients undergoing elective colonic resection is described. The underlying principles, clinical pathways and outcome data from 208 patients are shown. Particularly anesthesiological aspects of this multimodal approach, such as modified preoperative and postoperative fluid management, changed guidelines for preoperative fasting, effective analgetic therapy using epidural analgesia and avoiding high systemic doses of opioids, use of short-acting anesthetic agents, and maintenance of normothermia as well as normovolemia are presented and discussed. In comparison to outcome data before "fast-track rehabilitation" was established, the duration of postoperative hospital stay has been reduced from 12 to 5 days, the number of general complications (pneumonia, duodenal ulcer bleeding, urinary tract infection, cerebral, cardiac and renal dysfunction) decreased from 20% to 7%, whereas surgical complications remained constant at 17% (8% wound infections, 3% anastomotic insufficiency).

For perioperative anesthesia in a case of shoulder arthroscopy, a continuous interscalene plexus block according to Meier was performed in a 51-year-old female patient. The catheter was placed after stimulator-assisted punction and application of a local anesthetic. A few minutes after a further dose of local anesthetic was given via the catheter, the patient had to be intubated and ventilated with signs of total spinal anesthesia. The cervical CT showed the intrathecal displacement of the catheter, reaching the spinal canal near the root of the 7th spinal nerve. Blind advancement and deep placement increase the risk of an abnormal catheter position. Intraspinal misplacement should be reliably excluded.

In Germany the predominant standard of preoperative care for elective surgery is fasting after midnight, with the aim of reducing the risk of pulmonary aspiration. However, for the past several years the scientific evidence supporting such a practice has been challenged. Experimental and clinical studies prove a reliable gastric emptying within 2 h suggesting that, particularly for limited intake of clear fluids up to 2 h preoperatively, there would be no increased risk for the patient. In addition, the general incidence of pulmonary aspiration during general anaesthesia (before induction, during surgery and during recovery) is extremely low, has a good prognosis and is more a consequence of insufficient airway protection and/or inadequate anaesthetic depth rather than due to the patient's fasting state. Therefore, primarily to decrease perioperative discomfort for patients, several national anaesthesia societies have changed their guidelines for preoperative fasting. They recommend a more liberal policy regarding per os intake of both liquid and solid food, with consideration of certain conditions and contraindications. The following article reviews the literature and gives an overview of the scientific background on which the national guidelines are based. The intention of this review is to propose recommendations for preoperative fasting regarding clear fluids for Germany as well.

To evaluate the effect of dopexamine and iloprost on the plasma disappearance rate (PDR) of indocyanine green (ICG) in patients in septic shock in a prospective clinical trial.In 40 consecutive patients in septic shock, a femoral arterial fiberoptic catheter (COLD system) and a gastrotonometric probe were placed. Patients received either dopexamine infusion (0.5 microgram/kg body weight/min) or iloprost (1 ng/kg body weight/min) for 24 h i.v. PDR, intramucosal pH of stomach wall (pHi), cardiac index (HI) and intrathoracic blood volume (ITBV) were determined before, 1, 6, and 24 h after dopexamine or iloprost infusion and 1 h after end of infusion.PDR was significantly increased 24 h after starting dopexamine infusion from 12.2 +/- 1.8%/min to 17.8 +/- 2.2%/min (+45.9%) and 1 h after the end of infusion PDR decreased to baseline values. PDR increased to 16.4 +/- 2.1%/min, 1 h after starting iloprost infusion and increased to a maximum value of 18.6 +/- 2.2%/min (+33.8%, p0.05) 24 h after start of infusion compared to the baseline (13.9 +/- 1.7%/min). After the end of infusion PDR decreased to baseline values. Baseline values of pHi were in normal ranges in all groups and there was no change during the observation period. Cardiac index and ITBV were stable during the study. Dosage of norepinephrine could be reduced by dopexamine infusion.Dopexamine and iloprost have a positive effect on the plasma disappearance rate of ICG and therefore have a protective effect on splanchnic perfusion and liver function, respectively.

23% of all septic patients develop septic encephalopathy which is associated with an increased mortality rate. Symptoms such as agitation, confusion and disorientation ranging from stupor to coma often develop in early sepsis. Severe hypotension is significantly associated with the development of septic encephalopathy. Several other factors which may play a role are also discussed: effects of inflammatory mediators on the brain, inadequate cerebral perfusion pressure, blood-brain barrier derangements, disturbances of the cerebral microcirculation, cerebral ischemia e.g. due to hypocapnia,metabolic changes, altered amino acid levels, transmitter imbalances, liver insufficiency, multiple organ failure and infections of the CNS, respectively. Compared to patients with an isolated infection,patients in septic shock have increased levels of aromatic amino acids such as phenylalanine and tryptophan in the plasma and brain as well as decreased levels of branched chain amino acids. Patients who died had higher levels of aromatic amino acids than the survivors. The correlation between aromatic amino acids and the APACHE II score was significant. The tryptophan metabolite quinolinic acid which can be synthesized in activated macrophages could act as an excitatory transmitter on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) -receptor. Observations from experimental models indicate that activated NMDA receptors activate the neuronal isoform of the NO-synthase and other calcium dependent enzymes. This releases free radicals which may damage the DNA and activate the nuclear enzyme Poly-ADP-ribose-synthetase (PARS), resulting in energy depletion and cell death. Sepsis is the main cause of metabolic encephalopathies in critically ill patients. The differential diagnoses include hepatic, renal,hypoxic-ischemic or cardiovascular encephalopathies as well as encephalopathies,metabolic disorders and organ dysfunctions of other origin. Therapeutic interventions are numerous,however, so far only investigated in few controlled studies. The primary therapeutic goal is to maintain an adequate perfusion pressure and to prevent hypoxia and hypocapnia. Although the infusion of branched chain amino acids is controversial, experimental investigations demonstrated improvements improvements in an animal model with septic encephalopathy. Further investigations with respect to glutamate receptor antagonists, new radical scavengers, NO- and PARS-inhibitors may show whether these substances are suitable for the prophylaxis or early therapy of septic encephalopathy.

Determination of Functional Residual Capacity (FRC) can be performed through washout methods, indicator gas dilution or bodyplethysmography. Some of these techniques have been adapted for use in intensive care patients whilst being mechanically ventilated. However, most measurement setups are bulky, cumbersome to use and their running costs are high. Hence FRC measurement has not become a routine method in intensive care although it offers considerable advantages in the management of ventilated patients such as the determination of "best PEEP", the detection of progressive alveolar collapse in the course of acute lung injury and during weaning from mechanical ventilation. Up to now most efforts to improve and simplify FRC measurement were made at the expense of accuracy. An ideal method ought to be accurate, easy to handle and cost-effective. It should supply not only FRC data but also information about intrapulmonary gas distribution and dead space. These demands can be met using modern data acquisition software. The pros and cons of all methods available for FRC measurement are discussed in view of their suitability for intensive care patients. A conventional nitrogen washout using emission spectroscopy for measurement of nitrogen concentration gives satisfying exact values for the determination of the parameters mentioned above. The measurement error can be lowered under 5% by special corrections for flow and nitrogen signal (delay and rise times, changes of gas viscosity). For flow measurement a normal pneumotachograph can be used. Using a laptop computer for data acquisition the bed-side monitor fulfills most of the demands in intensive care. It is then also possible to measure indices of intrapulmonary gas distribution such as Alveolar Mixing Efficiency and Lung Clearance Index.

Consumptive coagulation disorders are frequently observed in critically ill patients secondary to other underlying diseases. Initial hypercoagulability leads to subsequent hypocoagulability due to consumption of procoagulant proteins, inhibitors, and platelets. This process evolves in three distinct phases: an initial increase in coagulation activity is characterised by the activation of coagulation factors and platelets without any clinical symptoms of a haemorrhagic diathesis. The ongoing process of activation and accelerated consumption of coagulation factors and inhibitors causes a critical reduction in the haemostatic potential. The time of onset of the clinical symptoms of bleeding depends on the patient's underlying disease and its pharmacological management. Coagulation processes that are restricted locally under normal conditions become disseminated when the inhibitory potential--mainly represented by antithrombin III (AT III)--is exhausted. Therefore, thrombin formation occurs, especially in the microcirculation, where fibrin clot deposition begins to cause inhomogeneities of blood flow and thus to reduce oxygen delivery to the tissues. Hypocoagulability, reactive hyperfibrinolysis, and diffuse bleeding lead to an irreversible systemic breakdown of haemostatic mechanisms (disseminated intravascular coagulation, DIC). The laboratory diagnosis of accelerated consumption is based on the course of global coagulation tests (e.g., prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, platelet count) and more sensitive ("dynamic") activation parameters such as prothrombin fragment F1 + 2, thrombin-AT III complex, fibrin monomers, or d-dimer. Measurements of plasminogen, tissue plasminogen activator, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1, and alpha 2-antiplasmin-plasmin complex provide information on fibrinolytic turnover.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Patients with end-stage liver disease frequently develop combined coagulopathies due to increased procoagulant and fibrinolytic turnover as well as thrombocytopenia. The onset of clinical symptoms of a haemorrhagic diathesis requires balanced substitution of coagulation factors, since fresh frozen plasma alone does not always maintain a sufficient haemostatic potential in these patients. This substitution commonly follows standard rules based on the assumption that 0.5-1 IU of a coagulation factor or inhibitor concentrate given per kg body weight will increase its endogenous activity by 1%. We set out to investigate the validity of this standard regime in patients with end-stage liver disease scheduled for orthotopic liver transplantation.Fifty-one adult patients were prospectively studied. In 37 patients with antithrombin III (AT III) activity70%, an AT III preparation (Kybernin, Behring, Marburg, Germany) was given preoperatively (mean dose 2616 +/- 207 IU) following standard calculations in order to increase endogenous activity to 80%. Twenty-seven of the patients had chronic hepatic failure (CHF group) with histologically proven cirrhosis and 10 had acute hepatic failure (AHF group). Blood samples were drawn prior to a 15-min infusion of AT III concentrate and 30 min thereafter. In 14 patients with prothrombin time (PT)40%, AT III levels had been corrected earlier during the clinical course to achieve activities70%. Prothrombin complex (PPSB, Beriplex, Behring, Marburg, Germany) was substituted (mean dose 2304 +/- 289 IU) to increase procoagulant activity to PT60%. Blood samples were drawn in the same fashion as in the AT III group. The amounts of AT III and PPSB concentrates (delta AT III, [IU/kg]; delta PPSB [IU/kg]) required to increase AT III activity and PT, respectively, by 1% were calculated.Standard calculations for AT III substitution indicated AT III recovery in all 37 patients who received AT III concentrate. However, there was a statistically significant difference between patients with CLF and ALF. In patients with CLF, delta AT III was found to be 0.8 IU/kg (+/- 0.1 SEM) and in those with ALF it was 1.5 IU/kg (+/- 0.1 SEM) (P0.05, t-test). In patients treated with PPSB concentrate, delta PPSB was 1.6 U/kg (+/- 0.2 SEM) for both CLF and ALF groups.In patients with end-stage liver disease standard rules for substitution with AT III-concentrate are adequate only for patients with CLF. In patients with ALF higher AT III doses are required to achieve the expected effect on endogenous AT III activity. Procoagulant activity, as reflected by PT, can be increased by 1% when 1.6 IU/kg PPSB concentrate is given. However, this study shows the effects of coagulation concentrates only 30 min after administration. An increased volume of distribution and increased turnover may explain the poor recovery of AT III activity in the ALF group, indicating that the dose of coagulation concentrate should be estimated against the background of the patient's clinical symptoms and diagnosis.