BACKGROUND Cardiac surgery-related pulmonary complications include alterations in lung mechanics and anomalies in gas exchange. Higher levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) have been suggested to benefit cardiac surgical patients. We compared respiratory compliance, arterial oxygenation and time till tracheal extubation in 2 cohorts of patients weaned from mechanical ventilation wit...

BACKGROUND Cleft surgery in infants includes special risks due to the kind of the malformation. These risks can be attributed in part to the age and the weight of the patient. Whereas a lot of studies investigated the long-term facial outcome of cleft surgery depending on the age at operation, less is known about the complications arising during a cleft surgery in early infancy. METHODS We in...

BACKGROUND Emergence from anaesthesia and tracheal extubation can be associated with hyperdynamic circulatory responses. We examined the effects of maintaining a remifentanil infusion on recovery profiles such as coughing and cardiovascular responses after general anaesthesia. METHODS Forty patients undergoing endoscopic sinus surgery under general anaesthesia using total i.v. anaesthesia (pr...

An important cause of pulmonary oedema is Negative Pressure Pulmonary Oedema (NPPE) which characteristically develops soon after extubation from an endo-tracheal intubation. In this case report we identified a case of previously healthy man who was intubated for General Anaesthesia for extraction of impacted molar tooth. Soon after extubation he developed severe respiratory distress. Immediate ...

BACKGROUND Continuous aspiration of subglottic secretions is effective in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia, but it involves a risk of mucosal damage. The main objective of our study was to determine the incidence of airway complications related to continuous aspiration of subglottic secretions. METHODS In consecutive adult patients with continuous aspiration of subglottic secretions...

Tracheal stenosis is an uncommon but serious complication of prolonged intubation and tracheostomy patients. Treatment is often provided by otorhinolaryngologists or interventional pulmonologists, but because symptoms may not appear for weeks or months after extubation, primary care physicians are frequently the first to encounter this complication. On presentation, tracheal stenosis may be mis...

Our quality improvement program began in 2004 to improve cardiac surgery outcomes. Early tracheal extubation in the cardiovascular intensive unit was utilized as a multidisciplinary driver for the quality improvement program. Continuous improvement in the rate of early extubation to drive multidisciplinary quality improvement in cardiac critical care correlated with decreased mortality, morbidi...

The aim of this randomised controlled study was to determine whether an esmolol infusion affected the incidence of ST segment changes during weaning from intermittent positive pressure ventilation and tracheal extubation after coronary artery surgery. Thirty-one patients received an infusion of esmolol 0-300 microg x kg(-1) x min(-1) and 37 patients comprised the control group. ST segment chang...