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Objective: Cerebrospinal fluid drains (CSFDs) are efficacious in preventing spinal cord injury after thoracic or thoracoabdominal aortic repair with extensive coverage. Increasingly, fluoroscopy is used to guide placement instead of the traditional landmark-based approach, but it is unknown which approach is associated with fewer complications., Design: A retrospective cohort study., Setting: In the operating room., Participants: Patients having undergone thoracic or thoracoabdominal aortic repair with a CSFD over a 7-year period at a single center., Interventions: No intervention., Measurements and Main Results: Groups were reviewed and statistically compared with respect to baseline characteristics, ease of CSFD placement, and major and minor complications directly related to placement. A total of 150 CSFDs were placed with landmark guidance as opposed to 95 with fluoroscopy guidance. Compared to the landmark group, patients with fluoroscopy-guided CSFDs were older (p < 0.008), had lower American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status scores (p = 0.008), required fewer CSFD placement attempts (p = 0.011), had the CSFD in place for longer duration (p < 0.001), and had a similar incidence of CSFD-related complications (p > 0.999). Composites of both major (4.5% of cases) and minor CSFD-related complications (6.1% of cases), the primary outcomes of the study, occurred with similar incidences between the 2 groups (p > 0.999 for both comparisons) after adjusting potential confounders., Conclusions: In patients undergoing thoracic or thoracoabdominal aortic repairs, there were no significant differences in the risk of major and minor CSFD-related complications between fluoroscopic guidance and the landmark approach. Although the authors' institution is a high-volume center for this type of procedure, the study was limited by a small sample size. Hence, regardless of the technique used for the placement of CSFD, the risks related to the placement should be balanced carefully against the potential benefits resulting from spinal cord injury prevention. Fluoroscopy-aided insertion of CSFD requires fewer attempts and, hence, may be better tolerated by patients., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Perioperative hypothermia (core temperature <36°C) occurs in 50%-to-80% of patients recovering from thoracic aortic surgery, though its effects have not been described fully in this context. The authors, therefore, sought to characterize the incidence of perioperative hypothermia and its association with time from procedure end to extubation in endovascular aortic surgical patients., Design: A retrospective cohort study., Setting: At a single academic tertiary center., Participants: Patients recovering from thoracic aortic surgery with lumbar drains., Intervention: None., Measurements and Main Results: A total of 196 patients were included in this study, 55 of whom were hypothermic with temperatures <35.0°C at the end of surgery. Though the unadjusted time to extubation was not statistically different in the hypothermic group (median 8 minutes, IQR 5-13.5 minutes) compared to the normothermic group (median 7 minutes, IQR 4-12 minutes; p = 0.062), multivariate predictors of increased time from procedure end to extubation included hypothermia (p = 0.011), age (p = 0.009), diabetes (p = 0.015), history of carotid disease (p = 0.040), and crystalloid volume (p = 0.019)., Conclusions: Hypothermia in patients recovering from endovascular aortic surgery was associated with prolonged time from procedure end to extubation. Because of the retrospective observational nature of the authors' analysis, it was not possible to determine the extent to which prolonged mechanical ventilation was influenced by low temperature., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest None.

A heart or liver transplantation procedure performed in isolation itself presents multiple challenges for the perioperative team. Accordingly, combining both transplants yields a vastly more complicated surgery, with many unique multisystem and multidisciplinary considerations. Although combined heart and liver transplantations are being performed with increasing frequency, nationwide experience is relatively limited at most institutions. The aim of this review is to discuss the perioperative challenges presented to the anesthesiology teams and provide evidence-based guidance for the management of these daunting procedures., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None.

Airway surgery poses a host of unique challenges to both the surgical and anesthesiology teams. Accordingly, there are a variety of surgical, anesthetic, and airway management options to be strategically considered. Management can be challenging during multidisciplinary preoperative planning, during the surgical procedure itself, and during recovery. In this review, emphasis is placed on anesthesia challenges for patients undergoing major tracheal or carinal surgery with specific considerations related to perioperative management., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Local anesthetic injected into a wedge-shaped space lateral to the spinal nerves as they emerge from the intervertebral foramina produces somatosensory and sympathetic nerve blockade effective for anesthesia and for managing pain of unilateral origin from the chest and abdomen. Paravertebral blockade (PVB) is versatile and may be applied unilaterally or bilaterally. Unlike thoracic epidural, the PVB technique may be used to avoid contralateral sympathectomy, thereby minimizing hypotension and leading to better preservation of blood pressure. There are no reports on systemic toxicity associated with bilateral PVB despite the need for relatively large doses of local anesthetics. This review includes an important historic background and captures the resurgence of PVB-an almost lost technique. Thoracic PVB provides post-thoracotomy pain relief comparable with thoracic epidural analgesia (TEA) with lower side effects supported by moderate-quality evidence. The feasibility and potential of bilateral thoracic PVB for bilateral thoracic surgery appear practical. However, there is existing controversy in the assumption that thoracic PVB is a satisfactory, safer alternative when anticoagulation status is a contraindication to thoracic epidural placement. During the last 2 decades of systematic reviews and meta-analyses, both TEA and PVB have been deemed appropriate in the management of thoracic surgery. A multimodal approach to analgesia includes regional techniques for thoracic surgery that may reduce the likelihood of the development of postoperative complications and chronic pain., Purpose of This Review: The authors evaluated current opinion, clinical practice, new multimodal adjuvants, regional anesthesia, and innovation and technology related PVB in the thoracic surgery patient population. The review focuses on history, techniques, application, ease of placement, and relative safety of this regional technique. For this review, studies and reference lists were retrieved from the Cochrane library, Embase, and Medline from January 1995 through January 2017., Summary: Existing evidence demonstrates noninferiority of thoracic PVB compared with TEA for postoperative analgesia, with fewer side effects for unilateral and bilateral thoracic surgery, including video-assisted thoracoscopy. The determining factors in selecting the regional technique of choice include the following: (1) tolerance of side effects associated with TEA, (2) consensus on best practice or technique, and (3) operator experience. There is no consensus on the optimal approach for thoracic PVB technique or any standardization when comparing the landmark, ultrasound-guided, or stimulation-based PVB approaches. Moreover, the efficacy of TEA compared with PVB in preventing post-thoracotomy chronic pain syndrome has not been investigated thoroughly and requires future clinical trials., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Health care reimbursement models are transitioning from volume-based to value-based models. Value-based models focus on patient outcomes both during the hospital admission and postdischarge. These models place emphasis on cost, quality of care, and coordination of multidisciplinary services. Perioperative physicians are challenged to evaluate traditional practices to ensure coordinated, cost-effective, and evidence-based care. With the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services planned introduction of bundled payments for coronary artery bypass graft surgery, cardiovascular anesthesiologists are financially responsible for postdischarge outcomes. In order to meet these patient outcomes, multidisciplinary care pathways must be designed, implemented, and sustained, a process that is challenging at best. This review (1) provides a historical perspective of health care reimbursement; (2) defines value as it pertains to quality, service, and cost; (3) reviews the history of value-based care for cardiac surgery; (4) describes the drive toward optimization for vascular surgery patients; and (5) discusses how programs like Enhanced Recovery After Surgery assist with the delivery of value-based care., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)