Anemia is common in the perioperative period and is associated with poor patient outcomes. Remarkably, anemia is frequently ignored until hemoglobin levels drop low enough to warrant a red blood cell transfusion. This simplified transfusion-based approach has unfortunately shifted clinical focus away from strategies to adequately prevent, diagnose, and treat anemia through direct management of the underlying cause(s). While recommendations have been published for the treatment of anemia before elective surgery, information regarding the design and implementation of evidence-based anemia management strategies is sparse. Moreover, anemia is not solely a concern of the preoperative encounter. Rather, anemia must be actively addressed throughout the perioperative spectrum of patient care. This article provides practical information regarding the implementation of anemia management strategies in surgical patients throughout the perioperative period. This includes evidence-based recommendations for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of anemia, including the utility of iron supplementation and erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs).

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Preoperative carbohydrate loading is a contemporary element of the enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) paradigm. In addition to intraoperative surgical and anesthetic modifications and postoperative care practices, preoperative optimization is essential to good postsurgical outcomes. What was long held as dogma, a period of prolonged fasting prior to the administration of anesthesia, was later re‐examined and challenged. Along with the proposed physiologic effects of decreasing the surgical stress response and insulin resistance, preoperative carbohydrate loading was also demonstrated to improve patient satisfaction and well‐being, without an increase in perioperative complications. The benefits are most strongly observed in abdominal and cardiac surgery patients, but there has also been data which support its use in other specialties and surgeries. Barriers to the adoption of perioperative carbohydrate loading are few, but importantly include overcoming the inertia to modify older and more restrictive fasting guidelines and achieving the multidisciplinary consensus necessary to implement such changes. Despite these challenges, and with an existing body of evidence supporting its benefits, preoperative carbohydrate loading presents a significant contribution to the ERAS programs.

Background Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) attempts to decrease the surgical stress response to minimize postoperative complications and improve functional rehabilitation after major surgery, but it have not been widely utilized in spinal surgery. This study is to evaluate the implementation of an ERAS pathway for patients undergoing oblique lumbar interbody fusion (OLIF) surgery. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of patient who underwent OLIF in 2018 prior to ERAS ("pre-ERAS" ,n=23) and in 2019 after ERAS was instituted ("ERAS", n=24). Major outcomes were collected included demographics, length of hospital stay, nancial cost, postoperative complications, off-bed time and perioperative factors. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the pain. The ERAS pathway and compliance with pathway elements were also recorded. Results After ERAS implementation, we found no signi cant differences in the baseline characteristics between the two groups. In our study, the mean stay in the hospital was signi cantly lower (p= 0.033) in the ERAS group (15.3±3.9 days) compared to the standard pathway group (13.0±3.1 days). In comparison to the standard group, we also found a variation between the nancial costs of surgery and hospitalization [(16446.5±4353.3)vs(14237.7±2784.9) USD, P < 0.05]. The ERAS group manifested a lower blood loss compared with the pre-ERAS group with statistical signi cance [(68.3±57.1)vs(119.3±104.8) ml, P < 0.05]. There was no signi cant difference in operative time, complications, and 30-d readmission rates (P > 0.05). Pain scores between the two groups showed a signi cant difference during the 3th hour and 6th hour (P < 0.05). Conclusion Institution of an ERAS protocol appears to accelerate functional recovery and reduce length of stay, nancial costs and decreased pain.

BackgroundThe perioperative period can be a critical period with long-term implications on cancer-related outcomes. In this study, we evaluate the influence of regional anesthesia on cancer-specific outcomes in a radical cystectomy (RC) cohort of patients.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of patients with clinically-nonmetastatic urothelial carcinoma of the bladder who underwent RC at our institution from 2008 to 2012. Patients were retrospectively registered and stratified based on two anesthetic techniques: perioperative epidural analgesia with general anesthesia (epidural) versus general anesthesia alone (GA). Epidural patients received a sufentanil-based regimen (median intraoperative sufentanil dose 50 mcg (45,85). Propensity-score was used to make 1:1 case-control matching. Cumulative risk of recurrence with competing risks was calculated based on anesthetic technique. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to compare recurrence-free (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed with Cox proportional hazard regression models for RFS and CSS.ResultsOnly patients with complete data on anesthetic technique were included. Out of 439 patients, 215-pair samples with complete follow-up were included in the analysis. Median follow-up was 41.4 months (range: 0.20–101). Patients with epidurals received higher median total intravenous morphine equivalents (ivMEQ) versus those in the GA group (75 (11–235) vs. 50 ivMEQ (7–277), p < 0.0001). Cumulative risk of recurrence at two years was 25.2% (19.6, 31.2) for epidural patients vs. 20.0% (15.0, 25.7) for GA patients (Gray test p = 0.0508). Epidural analgesic technique was a significant predictor of worse RFS (adjusted HR = 1.67, 1.14–2.45; p = 0.009) and CSS (HR = 1.53, 1.04–2.25; p = 0.030) on multivariable analyses.ConclusionsEpidural anesthesia using sufentanil was associated with worse recurrence and disease-free survival in bladder cancer patients treated with surgery. This may be due use of epidural sufentanil or due to the increased total morphine equivalents patient received as a consequence of this drug.

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The identification in a patient of 1 of the 50 variants in the RYR1 or CACNA1S genes reviewed here should lead to a presumption of malignant hyperthermia susceptibility (MHS). MHS can lead to life‐threatening reactions to potent volatile anesthetic agents or succinylcholine. We summarize evidence from the literature supporting this association and provide therapeutic recommendations for the use of these agents in patients with these RYR1 or CACNA1S variants (updates at https://cpicpgx.org/guidelines and http://www.pharmgkb.org).

With the increasing popularity, frequency, and acceptance of the robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy procedure, an awareness of unique intra- and postoperative complications is heightened, including that of increases in intraocular pressure. The steep Trendelenburg positioning required for operative exposure has been shown to increase this value. While the literature is infrequent and undeveloped, certain anesthetic parameters including deep neuromuscular blockade, modified positioning, and the use of dexmedetomidine have been shown to have mild-to-modest decreases in intraocular pressure for baseline. In the four randomized control trials and four observational studies that were found via PubMed/Medline search, the aforementioned techniques demonstrate some preliminary evidence of operative considerations in this unique patient population. These modifications may prove to have even greater significance in patients with pre-existing ophthalmologic pathologies, such as glaucoma, which were excluded from the studies' analyses. This review summarizes the early literature obtained in this subject, with the intent of emphasizing the initial hypotheses and identifying areas for future study.