: Dynamic changes of arterial waveform-derived variables during mechanical ventilation are highly accurate in predicting volume responsiveness in critically ill patients with an accuracy greater than that of traditional static indices of volume responsiveness. This technique, however, is limited to patients who receive controlled ventilation and who are not breathing spontaneously.

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common sleep related breathing disorder. Its prevalence is estimated to be between 2% and 25% in the general population. However, the prevalence of sleep apnea is much higher in patients undergoing elective surgery. Sedation and anesthesia have been shown to increase the upper airway collapsibility and therefore increasing the risk of having postoperative complications in these patients. Furthermore, the majority of patients with sleep apnea are undiagnosed and therefore are at risk during the perioperative period. It is important to identify these patients so that appropriate actions can be taken in a timely fashion. In this review article, we will discuss the epidemiology of sleep apnea in the surgical population. We will also discuss why these patients are at a higher risk of having postoperative complications, with the special emphasis on the role of anesthesia, opioids, sedation, and the phenomenon of REM sleep rebound. We will also review how to identify these patients preoperatively and the steps that can be taken for their perioperative management. OSAS has been shown to be associated with various healthrelated consequences, including increased rate of motor vehicle accidents, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, congestive heart failure, stroke, and all-cause mortality. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] Recently, numerous studies have demonstrated that surgical patients with sleep apnea are at increased risk of having perioperative complications, including hypoxemia, pneumonia, diffi cult intubation, myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolism, atelectasis, cardiac arrhythmias, and unanticipated admission to the ICU. The majority of patients with OSA are undiagnosed upon admission and are at risk during the perioperative period, presumably due to their underlying sleep apnea. Therefore, it is very important to identify these patients preoperatively so that one can initiate appropriate perioperative measures. EpidemiologyOSAS is an extremely common sleep related breathing disorder, and its prevalence has been increasing throughout the world because of obesity and increasing age of the general population. Its prevalence is between 2% and 25% in the general population, depending upon how sleep apnea is defi ned. In an epidemiological study, Young et al. noted that the prevalence of sleep apnea, defi ned as apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) ≥ 5/h was 9% for women and 24% for men. 10 However, the prevalence of OSAS (defi ned as AHI ≥ 5/h and daytime sleepiness) was 2% in women and 4% in men. 10 The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) Sleep in America 2005Poll found that 1 in 4 Americans are at high risk of having sleep apnea based on the Berlin Questionnaire. 11 The prevalence of sleep apnea is much higher in surgical patients and depends on the type of surgery. In the bariatric surgery population, the prevalence of sleep apnea has been found to be > 70%. 12,13 It is the standard of care for these patients to get a formal sleep evaluation prior to undergoing the bariatric surgery. Howev...

The results of this meta-analysis suggest that, in those patients receiving enteral nutrition, stress ulcer prophylaxis may not be required and, indeed, such therapy may increase the risk of pneumonia and death. However, because no clinical study has prospectively tested the influence of enteral nutrition on the risk of stress ulcer prophylaxis, our findings should be considered exploratory and interpreted with some caution.

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The STOP-BANG questionnaire is useful for preoperative identification of patients at higher than normal risk for surgical complications, probably because it identifies patients with occult OSAS.

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The results of this meta-analysis indicate that BNP and NT-proBNP are associated with the diagnosis of right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) in patients with an acute PE and are significant predictors of all-cause in-hospital or short-term mortality in these patients.

This urban population of HIV-infected persons has a relatively high prevalence of obstructive lung disease as assessed by spirometry. Furthermore, the high prevalence of obstructive lung disease in never smokers may suggest a possible association between HIV infection and emphysema. In addition the SGRQ total score was comparatively higher in patients with obstruction on spirometry. Our data suggests that potentially all patients with HIV should be screened a for OLD.