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Purpose: Prone position has recently gained renewed importance as a treatment for acute respiratory distress syndrome and spine and brain surgeries. Our study aimed to perform an error grid analysis to examine the clinical discrepancies between arterial blood pressure (ABP) and non-invasive blood pressure (NIBP) in the prone position and to investigate the risk factors influencing these differences., Methods: Error grid analysis was performed retrospectively on 1389 pairs of 100 consecutive prone positioning cases. This analysis classifies the difference between the two methods into five clinically relevant zones, from "no risk" to "dangerous risk". Additionally, multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationship between the risk zones of mean blood pressure (MBP), as classified by error grid analysis and the covariate of interest., Results: Error grid analysis showed that the proportions of measurement pairs in risk zones A-E for systolic blood pressure were 96.8%, 3.2%, 0.1%, 0%, and 0%, respectively. In contrast, the MBP proportions were 74.0%, 25.1%, 0.9%, 0.1%, and 0%. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis revealed that the position of arms (next to the head) was a significant factor (adjusted odds ratio: 4.35, 95% CI: 2.38-8.33, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Error grid analysis revealed a clinically unacceptable discrepancy between ABP and NIBP for MBP during prone positioning surgery. The position of the arms next to the head was associated with increased clinical discrepancy between the two MBP measurement methods., Competing Interests: Declarations. Conflict of interest: Koichi Suehiro has received speaker fees from Edwards Lifesciences and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory. Other authors have no conflict of interest., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists.)

To explore the current status of anesthesia research activity in Japan, we analyzed the number of abstracts presented at the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists (JSA) annual meetings by several factors including gender, society branches, and subspecialty categories. The number of abstracts at JSA annual meetings has declined sharply since 2016 with no gender gap. A decrease in the neurological field predated the overall decline, but other subspecialty categories showed a similar decline. Although the Tokyo, Tokai-Hokuriku, and Kyushu branches were responsible for more than half of the reduction, the trend was similar among all branches. In a survey regarding academic activities of university hospital residents and faculty, Ph.D. aspirants' rate was only 20-30%. Residents had never presented an abstract at scientific conferences and never published any papers at nearly 40% and 30% of the university hospitals, respectively. Our survey suggests that junior anesthetists are losing interest in research. Senior faculty and mentors must redouble efforts to embed and encourage research in departments and by anesthetists in training. If a revival of anesthesia research in Japan does not occur then a service only specialty awaits., (© 2023. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists.)

Purpose: Spinal anesthesia is a standard technique for cesarean delivery; however, it possesses a risk of hypotension. We hypothesised that the changes in the corrected flow time induced by the Trendelenburg position could predict the incidence of hypotension after spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery., Methods: Patients undergoing elective cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia were enrolled. Before anesthesia induction, corrected flow time was measured in the supine and Trendelenburg positions (FTc-1 and FTc-2, respectively). Additionally, a percent change in corrected flow time induced by the Trendelenburg position was defined as ΔFTc. The primary endpoint was to investigate the ability of ΔFTc to predict the incidence of spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension until delivery. The receiver operating characteristics curves to assess the ability of FTc-1, FTc-2, and ΔFTc to predict the incidence of hypotension were generated., Results: Finally, 40 patients were included, and of those, 26 (65%) developed spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension. The areas under the curve for FTc-1, FTc-2, and ΔFTc were 0.591 (95% CI: 0.424 to 0.743) (P = 0.380), 0.742 (95% CI: 0.579 to 0.867) (P = 0.004), and 0.882 (95% CI: 0.740 to 0.962) (P < 0.001) respectively, indicating ΔFTc as the best predictor among these three parameters. The best threshold for ΔFTc was 6.4% (sensitivity: 80.8% (95% CI: 53.8 to 96.2), specificity: 85.7% (95% CI: 42.9 to 100.0))., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that changes in the corrected carotid flow time induced by the Trendelenburg position could serve as a good predictor of spinal anesthesia-induced hypotension for cesarean delivery., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists.)

On Mar 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a pandemic. Because COVID-19 has a pre-symptomatic period of up to 2 weeks, SARS-CoV-2 infection has continued to spread. Some individuals with SARS-CoV-2 infection have a severe clinical course, while most individuals have mild or moderate symptoms. Because SARS-CoV-2 is transmitted via droplets and secretions, anesthesiologists have higher risks of infection, especially during airway management. Therefore, general anesthesia requiring airway management can be a challenging procedure for anesthesiologists. During the pandemic, many elective surgeries have been postponed or cancelled in most affected countries. Recently, the number of elective surgeries is gradually recovering from the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, and hence, safe clinical practice and protocols to prevent SARS-CoV-2 transmission to medical staff should be established. This mini-review focuses on the preoperative assessment and decision with regard to scheduling surgery in elective and emergency cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. A standardized questionnaire and algorithm regarding COVID-19 should be used to assess surgical patients preoperatively as it increases the reproducibility and accuracy of the decision whether to proceed with surgery.

Purpose: Invasive arterial blood pressure (IAP) and noninvasive blood pressure (NIBP) measurements are both common methods. Recently, a new method of error grid analysis was proposed to compare blood pressure obtained using two measurement methods. This study aimed to compare IAP and NIBP measurements using the error grid analysis and investigate potential confounding factors affecting the discrepancies between IAP and NIBP., Methods: Adult patients who underwent general anesthesia in the supine position with both IAP and NIBP measurements were retrospectively investigated. The error grid analyses were performed to compare IAP and NIBP. In the error grid analysis, the clinical relevance of the discrepancies between IAP and NIBP was evaluated and classified into five zones from no risk (A) to dangerous risk (E)., Results: Overall, data of 1934 IAP/NIBP measurement pairs from 100 patients were collected. The error grid analysis revealed that the proportions of zones A-E for systolic blood pressure were 96.4%, 3.5%, 0.05%, 0%, and 0%, respectively. In contrast, the proportions for mean blood pressure were 82.5%, 16.7%, 0.8%, 0%, and 0%, respectively. The multiple regression analysis revealed that continuous phenylephrine administration (p = 0.016) and age (p = 0.044) were the significant factors of an increased clinical risk of the differences in mean blood pressure., Conclusions: The error grid analysis indicated that the differences between IAP and NIBP for mean blood pressure were not clinically acceptable and had the risk of leading to unnecessary treatments. Continuous phenylephrine administration and age were the significant factors of an increased clinical risk of the discrepancies between IAP and NIBP.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the ClearSight™ system (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA) for reducing the incidence of hypotension compared with the traditional oscillometric blood pressure monitoring in cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia., Methods: Forty patients undergoing cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia were enrolled. The patients were randomly divided into two groups (Control and ClearSight groups). All patients received spinal anesthesia using 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine (11.5 mg) and fentanyl (10 µg). Blood pressure was managed with the same protocol using the ClearSight™ system (ClearSight group) and oscillometric blood pressure monitoring (Control group). Furthermore, we compared the accuracy of the ClearSight™ system with the traditional oscillometric monitoring for blood pressure measurement using Bland-Altman, four-quadrant plot, and polar plot analyses., Results: The incidence of hypotension was significantly lower in the ClearSight group from induction to delivery (45% vs. 0%, p < 0.001) and to the end of surgery (50% vs. 20%, p = 0.049). Intraoperative nausea occurred more frequently in the Control group (45% vs. 10%, p = 0.012). The ClearSight™ system demonstrated acceptable accuracy with a bias of - 4.3 ± 11.7 mmHg throughout the procedure. Four-quadrant analysis revealed an excellent trending ability of the ClearSight™ system with a concordance rate of approximately 95%. In the polar plot analysis, the angular bias and concordance rate were - 13.5° ± 19.0° and 76.9%, respectively., Conclusions: The accuracy and trending ability of the ClearSight™ system for blood pressure measurement was clinically acceptable in cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia, leading to reductions in maternal hypotension and nausea.

Purpose: Hypotension and decreased cardiac output (CO) are common adverse effects during anesthesia induction depending on the patient's pre-anesthetic cardiac condition. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) 130/0.4 to prevent hypotension and decreased CO during the induction of general anesthesia., Methods: Ninety patients undergoing laparoscopic surgery were randomly divided into a HES group and a crystalloid group. Following the insertion of an intravenous line, fluid was administered to each patient at a rate of 25 ml/min using either crystalloid or HES 130/0.4. Five minutes after the initiation of fluid loading, anesthesia was induced using propofol (1.5 mg/kg), rocuronium (0.9 mg/kg), and remifentanil (0.3 mcg/kg/min). Tracheal intubation was performed 5 min after the induction of anesthesia. Following tracheal intubation, general anesthesia was maintained using remifentanil and sevoflurane. Non-invasive blood pressure (BP) level was measured at 1-min intervals and CO was measured continuously using electrical cardiometry from the start of fluid loading until 5 min after tracheal intubation., Results: The number of patients with hypotension (systolic BP < 90 mmHg or 80% of baseline) was significantly lower in the HES group (p < 0.001) than in the crystalloid group. Patients in the HES group showed smaller CO decreases than did patients in the crystalloid group (p < 0.001). The Kaplan-Meier method showed a lower incidence and significantly slower onset of hypotension in the HES group (p = 0.009). Multivariate logistic regression models indicated that the use of HES is an independent factor for the prevention of both hypotension and decreased CO (below 85% of baseline; p < 0.005 for both)., Conclusions: Co-loading using HES 130/0.4 prevented hypotension and decreased CO during general anesthesia induction.

The aim of this study was to assess the current practices of hemodynamic management in high-risk surgical patients among Japanese anesthesiologists. An invitation letter to the survey, which included 35 questions related to hemodynamic monitoring in high-risk surgery, was mailed to every hospital approved by the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists (JSA) (1260 hospitals). Of the 692 JSA respondents, 573 completed the survey. Despite reporting a high rate of cardiac output (CO) and stroke volume variation (SVV) monitoring in JSA members (70 and 74 %, respectively), fluid goal-directed therapy was poorly implemented in high-risk surgery (7.4 %). Also, 47 % of the JSA respondents did not consistently perform CO optimization. SVV was more commonly used (76 %) as an indicator of volume expansion among JSA respondents, while central venous pressure was less frequently used (48 %). Despite a broader use of advanced hemodynamic monitoring, optimization of CO is still poorly protocolized and applied in Japan. The development of guidelines and protocols for hemodynamic management, including the establishment of strong evidence aimed at improving clinical outcomes, is needed to assist anesthesiologists in more universal adoption of perioperative CO optimization.

Purpose: General anesthesia for cesarean delivery is frequently associated with hypertension and tachycardia caused by tracheal intubation, which may lead to cardiac ischemia in susceptible patients or may cause harm due to increased intracranial pressure. To prevent these adverse events, we investigated the efficacy and safety of single-dose intravenous administration of landiolol, a short-acting selective β(1) receptor blocker, just prior to intubation., Methods: Patients scheduled for cesarean delivery under general anesthesia were randomized into two groups: landiolol (group L, n = 32); and nontreated (group N, n = 32) patients. After patients entered the operating room, blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), and fetal heart beats were monitored to ensure no problems were present, then thiopental 5 mg/kg and rocuronium 0.9 mg/kg were given. In addition, group L received a single dose of landiolol 0.2 mg/kg. After tracheal intubation, anesthesia was maintained in both groups using sevoflurane. From before starting anesthesia to the time of delivery, BP, HR, need for additional treatment with uterotonic or vasopressor agents, and neonatal Apgar scores were recorded. Data were compared between groups., Results: Group L showed significantly lower percentage changes in BP and HR than group N (p < 0.05 each). Intraoperative blood loss, frequency of decreased uterine contraction, and fetal Apgar scores did not differ significantly between groups., Conclusions: In our study, landiolol reduced BP and HR changes during anesthesia induction, whereas no adverse effects on uterine contraction or the fetus were seen. These findings suggest landiolol provides adequate hemodynamic regulation during general anesthesia induction in patients undergoing cesarean delivery.

We designed this study to determine the predictive value for fluid responsiveness of stroke volume variation (SVV) in patients undergoing one-lung ventilation (OLV), ventilated at different tidal volumes. All patients scheduled for pulmonary lobectomy were randomized into two groups according to their tidal volume [group H: tidal volume 8 ml/kg (n = 36); group L: tidal volume 6 ml/kg (n = 37)]. After starting OLV, volume loading was performed by administration of 500 ml 6% hydroxyethylated starch for 30 min. Hemodynamic variables were measured before and after volume loading using the Vigileo-FloTrac system. Patients in both groups were divided into fluid responders and non-responders, and responders were defined as those who demonstrated an increase in cardiac index ≥15% after volume expansion. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for SVV to discriminate between responders and non-responders was 0.776 in group H and 0.648 in group L. The optimal threshold value of SVV was 10.5% (sensitivity, 85.7%; specificity, 66.7%) in group H and 8% (sensitivity, 69.5%; specificity, 64.3%) in group L. We found that SVV could predict fluid responsiveness in patients undergoing OLV with acceptable levels of sensitivity and specificity only when tidal volume is at least 8 ml/kg.

Purpose: Single-lung ventilation (SLV) is thought to reduce regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO(2)). In this study, we evaluated changes in rSO(2) during SLV and their correlation with perioperative changes in cognitive function., Methods: Sixty-nine patients participated in this study, each of whom received combined thoracic epidural and general anesthesia. rSO(2) was measured using INVOS 5100 (Somanetics, Troy, MI, USA) before anesthesia (baseline value) and until SLV was completed. Patient cognitive function was assessed using the mini mental state examination (MMSE) on the day before surgery (baseline) and then repeated 4 days after surgery. The patients were classified into two groups: with (desaturation group, group D) and without (nondesaturation group, group N) cerebral desaturation during SLV. Cerebral desaturation was defined as a reduction of rSO(2) during SLV less than 80% of the baseline value. An intergroup comparison was made between perioperative cognitive function findings (MMSE score change between baseline and 4th day after surgery). We also examined the correlation between the duration of desaturation during SLV and perioperative MMSE score changes in group D patients., Results: Seventeen patients were included in group D. The MMSE score decrease was significantly higher in group D as compared to that in group N (P < 0.05). The duration of desaturation time was significantly negatively correlated with MMSE score change (r(2) = 0.444, P < 0.05)., Conclusion: Duration of cerebral desaturation time during SLV correlates with MMSE score. Additional studies are needed to determine whether intervention against cerebral desaturation during SLV can prevent postoperative cognitive dysfunction.

In patients with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), general anesthetic management should be carefully implemented in consideration of difficult intubation and the potential risks of cervical or mandibular fracture associated with tracheal intubation, bone fracture during postural changes, and respiratory dysfunction due to thoracic deformity. To prevent temperature elevation, moreover, many reports have recommended anesthetic management using total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) rather than inhalation anesthetics, which contribute to temperature elevation. In an 8-year-old boy with type II (fatal type) OI (height, 81 cm; body weight, 12.4 kg), we performed general TIVA with remifentanil and propofol, using a laryngeal mask airway for airway management. All possible intra- and postoperative complications were effectively prevented, and the remifentanil requirement was high, as shown by a mean dose of 0.36 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1).

Cantrell syndrome is a congenital malformation with a pentalogy characterized by defects involving the abdominal wall, lower sternum, anterior diaphragm, and diaphragmatic pericardium, as well as congenital cardiac anomalies. We recently managed anesthesia in a patient with this syndrome and herein report our experience. The patient was a 14-day-old male neonate, who had been diagnosed with Cantrell syndrome, including ventricular septal defect, left ventricular diverticulum, abdominal wall defect, omphalocele, and sternal hypoplasia. Surgical interventions to close the ventricular septal defect, resect the left ventricular diverticulum, and close the omphalocele were scheduled. After cardiac surgery, the hernial contents were returned to their original compartment and, subsequently, an attempt was made to suture the abdominal wall. However, blood pressure fell markedly and the attempt was discontinued. The chest was left open postoperatively and the patient was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU), during which time circulatory and respiratory management was very complex. Issues requiring particular attention in the management of anesthesia for patients with this syndrome include complications of diverse cardiac malformations, pulmonary hypertension, pulmonary hypoplasia, and respiratory and circulatory failure associated with increased intraabdominal pressure due to primary closure of the omphalocele. Accordingly, extreme caution must be taken to restore respiratory and circulatory control.