Anesthesia for patients undergoing orthopedic oncologic surgeries

Breaking Down Complications With Locoregional Anesthesia: A Game-Changer for Pain Management in Pediatric Emergencies

The management of postoperative pain in pediatric patients undergoing emergency surgical procedures, particularly in non-pediatric hospitals, presents significant challenges due to the unique physiological requirements of children. The utilization of opioid analgesia may result in severe complications, necessitating a transition toward multimodal analgesia, which integrates various pain management strategies to enhance effectiveness while mitigating adverse effects. Locoregional anesthesia techniques, such as fascial plane blocks, provide targeted pain alleviation, reducing dependence on opioids. Recent advancements in ultrasound-guided methodologies have markedly improved safety and precision in this context. This report presents two cases involving pediatric patients aged eight and 12 years who underwent urgent posttraumatic open splenectomy. Both patients exhibited stable hemodynamic parameters and had no significant prior medical history. Following surgery, they received an ultrasound-guided rectus sheath block (RSB) and dynamic transversus abdominis plane blocks (TAPBs) utilizing a mixture of ropivacaine, dexamethasone, and clonidine. Fentanyl was administered before and during the surgical procedures, which lasted approximately 75 minutes. Upon regaining consciousness, both patients indicated a visual analog scale (VAS) pain score of 0. They required only a single dose of intravenous acetaminophen for pain relief, demonstrating effective opioid-free pain management and achieving a high level of parental satisfaction. Combined RSB and TAPB provide adequate and safe postoperative pain management for pediatric patients undergoing emergency splenectomy in a non-pediatric hospital setting. This approach can reduce opioid dependence and improve patient outcomes. Further research is warranted to explore the broader application of locoregional anesthesia techniques for pediatric emergency surgery in non-pediatric settings.

Oxidised cellulose in musculoskeletal oncology procedure: Does it reduce postoperative blood loss?

BACKGROUND

Major musculoskeletal oncology procedures often result in perioperative bleeding. This exposes patients to allogeneic red blood cell transfusion and its potential complications, thus increasing the risk of surgical wound infection and prolonged hospital stay. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of oxidised cellulose, a topical haemostatic agent, in reducing postoperative blood loss and its subsequent risks.

METHODS

In this randomised controlled trial, 40 patients undergoing major musculoskeletal oncology procedures were assigned to control and intervention groups. Oxidised cellulose was inserted into the surgical wound after the resection's conclusion before the wound's closure to reduce postoperative bleeding for patients in the intervention group. Postoperative closed suction drain system (Redivac TM) volume, drop in haemoglobin level, allogeneic red blood cell transfusion rate, duration of surgery, and length of hospital stay were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

The postoperative Redivac volume (Control: 432 MLS vs. Intervention: 431.75 MLS), drop in haemoglobin level (Control: 3.12 g/dL vs. Intervention: 3.06 g/dL), duration of surgery (Control: 134 vs. Intervention: 156 min), and allogeneic red blood cell transfusion were lower in the intervention group (Control: 204 MLS vs. Intervention: 170 MLS), but they were not statistically significant (p > 0.05) (Control: 134 vs. Intervention: 156 min). Mean hospital stay was similar in both groups (Control: 5.45 days vs. Intervention: 5.85 days).

CONCLUSION

Oxidised cellulose use does not significantly affect postoperative blood loss, the rate of allogeneic blood transfusion, and hospital stay. However, we believe its use contributes positively but not considerably towards lower postoperative blood loss in musculoskeletal oncology surgeries.

Perioperative Management for Complex Spine Fusion Surgery

Complex spine surgeries performed worldwide continue to increase in number, as do the age and comorbidity of patients undergoing these operations. Perioperative care protocols related to blood management, postoperative pain control, and intraoperative measures to mitigate morbidity may improve clinical workflows and patient outcomes.

Trajectory of worst pain within the first two weeks following pelvic and sacral tumor surgery and long-term outcome: a pilot observational prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND

Pain management after pelvic and sacral tumor surgery is challenging and requires a multidisciplinary and multimodal approach. Few data on postoperative pain trajectories have been reported after pelvic and sacral tumor surgery. The aim of this pilot study was to determine pain trajectories within the first 2 weeks after surgery and explore the impact on long-term pain outcomes.

METHODS

Patients scheduled for pelvic and sacral tumor surgery were prospectively recruited. Worst/average pain scores were evaluated postoperatively using questions adapted from the Revised American Pain Society Patient Outcome Questionnaire (APS-POQ-R) until pain resolution was reached or up to 6 months after surgery. Pain trajectories over the first 2 weeks were compared using the k-means clustering algorithm. Whether pain trajectories were associated with long-term pain resolution and opioid cessation was assessed using Cox regression analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 59 patients were included. Two distinct groups of trajectories for worst and average pain scores over the first 2 weeks were generated. The median pain duration in the high vs low pain group was 120.0 (95% CI [25.0, 215.0]) days vs 60.0 (95% CI [38.6, 81.4]) days (log rank p = 0.037). The median time to opioid cessation in the high vs low pain group was 60.0 (95% CI [30.0, 90.0]) days vs 7.0 (95% CI [4.7, 9.3]) days (log rank p < 0.001). After adjusting for patient and surgical factors, the high pain group was independently associated with prolonged opioid cessation (hazard ratio [HR] 2.423, 95% CI [1.254, 4.681], p = 0.008) but not pain resolution (HR 1.557, 95% CI [0.748, 3.243], p = 0.237).

CONCLUSIONS

Postoperative pain is a significant problem among patients undergoing pelvic and sacral tumor surgery. High pain trajectories during the first 2 weeks after surgery were associated with delayed opioid cessation. Research is needed to explore interventions targeting pain trajectories and long-term pain outcomes.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT03926858 , 25/04/2019).

Chronic postsurgical pain in children and young adults with cancer and choice of regional anesthesia for amputation and limb-sparing surgery

BACKGROUND

Patients undergoing limb amputation (LA) or limb-sparing (LS) for lower extremity oncologic diagnoses are at similar risk for chronic postsurgical pain of neuropathic nature (CPSP/NP). Regional anesthesia (RA) techniques are pre-emptive measures to prevent the occurrence of the CPS/NP. However, recommendations for epidural (EP) versus peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) lack in pediatric literature.

AIMS

This study investigates the incidence and duration of CPSP/NP and describes NP-directed regimens.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Data on demographics, use of EP or PNB, duration of CPSP/NP, and NP-directed medication were retrospectively collected for LA and LS between 2009 and 2019. Mixed effects logistic regression was used to compare the odds of CPSP/NP between EP and PNB. Cox PH model with adjustment for clustering due to multiple surgeries on patients was used to quantify rate of pain relief between surgery groups (LA vs. LS) and RA groups (EP vs. PNB). The incidence of CPSP/NP was 36 (23.8%) after 165 surgeries (150 patients). The odds of CPSP/NP after PNB were 2.5 times those of CPSP/NP after EP (p = .11). The rate of pain relief at any instant after the EP was 1.2 times that after PNB (p = .3). The rate of pain relief for LS with EP was 1.9 times that of pain relief for LA with EP, a statistically significant difference (p = .03). Gabapentin was used (94.5%), with addition of amitriptyline (24.2%) and both amitriptyline and methadone (12.7%).

CONCLUSION

The LS with the EP group had a significantly higher rate of relief of CPSP/NP than LA with EP. Odds of CPSP/NP after PNB were 2.5 times those of CPSP after EP.

Comparative study of pelvic sarcoma patients undergoing internal and external hemipelvectomy: A meta-analysis study

Introduction

Malignant and giant pelvic tumors are complex and rare, and hemipelvectomies are complex procedures performed for this malignant lesion. Only a few studies had been conducted on the survival and recurrence of pelvic sarcomas patients undergoing internal or external hemipelvectomy. In the present study, we compared internal with external hemipelvectomy in pelvic sarcomas on clinical outcomes by a meta-analysis.

Methods

The survival and recurrence rates of pelvic sarcomas patients were collected from research reports from CNKI, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar until April 2022. The quality of included articles was evaluated by two independent reviewers. Differences between patients undergoing internal and external hemipelvectomy were analyzed based on postoperative survival and recurrence rates.

Results

Five articles were included according to selection criteria. There were 183 patients in total from these studies. Our results showed that there was no significant difference between limb salvage surgery and amputation according to survival; however, patients with internal hemipelvectomy had a lower recurrence rate.

Conclusions

Internal hemipelvectomy results in a lower recurrence rate and similar survival rate, while not increasing the risk of metastasis and complications. This study provided more pieces of evidence to support internal hemipelvectomy as a favorable treatment of pelvic sarcomas.

Effect of Resident and Fellow Involvement on Outcomes of Sarcoma Surgery: A NSQIP Database Cross-Sectional Study

Background

The complexity of sarcoma surgery often justifies surgical assistants of higher levels of academic training: senior residents, fellows, or co-surgeons. The association between the level of training of assistants and outcomes of these procedures has yet to be studied.

Methods

The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes comprising the “core” procedures for musculoskeletal oncology fellowships were gathered. After CPTs primarily capturing nononcologic procedures were excluded, the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database was used to find procedures with these CPTs. The severity of complications was assessed using the Severity Weighting of Postoperative Adverse Events in Orthopedic Surgery (SWORD) score. Resident/fellow presence was analyzed both as a binary variable and stratified by level of training.

Results

In 159 cases meeting inclusion criteria, higher-level assistants were associated with increased rate of any complication (p=0.006) and greater need for transfusion (p=0.001) but also tended to be used in cases of longer duration (p=0.001) and with higher total work relative value units (wRVUs) (p=0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that while higher-wRVU procedures persisted as an independent predictor of increased complications (OR 1.028 per RVU unit, p=0.002), neither the presence nor level of training of assistants had an independent effect on complication rates. Other independent predictors of 30-day complications were treatment comorbidity (OR 3.433, p=0.010) and lower extremity location of the tumor (OR 4.393, p=0.006). Severity of complications did not differ between any of the groups on either univariate or multivariate analysis.

Conclusions

Trainees of higher levels of academic training tend to be present for longer, higher-complexity musculoskeletal oncology cases, but the overall severity of complications from these do not significantly differ from lower-risk cases without trainees. Orthopedic oncologists may reassure patients that the presence of trainees and co-surgeons is not only safe but it may also help reduce the severity of complications in more complex procedures.

Developing an enhanced recovery after surgery program for oncology patients who undergo hip or knee reconstruction surgery

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols are applied in orthopedic surgery and are intended to reduce perioperative stress by implementing combined evidence-based practices with the cooperation of various health professionals as an interdisciplinary team. ERAS pathways include pre-operative patient counselling, regional anesthesia and analgesia techniques, post-operative pain management, early mobilization and early feeding. Studies have shown improvement in the recovery of patients who followed an ERAS program after hip or knee arthroplasty, compared with those who followed a traditional care approach. ERAS protocols reduce post-operative stress, contribute to rapid recovery, shorten length of stay (LOS) without increasing the complications or readmissions, improve patient satisfaction and decrease the hospital costs. We suggest that the ERAS pathway could reduce the LOS in hospital for patients undergoing total hip replacement or total knee replacement. These programs require good organization and handling by the multidisciplinary team. ERAS programs increase patient's satisfaction due to their active participation which they experience as personalized treatment. The aim of the study was to develop an ERAS protocol for oncology patients who undergo bone reconstruction surgeries using massive endoprosthesis, with a view to improving the surgical outcomes.

Comparison of Continuous Epidural Analgesia and Intravenous Patient-Controlled Analgesia with Opioids in Terms of Postoperative Pain and Their Complications in Mega-Prosthesis Total Knee Arthroplasty for Bone Cancers

Total knee arthroplasty with mega-prosthesis in oncologic patients is a painful surgery and may be associated with nerve injury. Epidural analgesia (EA) with local anaesthetics (LA) is routinely used for pain relief in these patients. At our institute, we came across a high incidence of motor weakness in these patients compelling to shift to patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with intravenous opioids. We retrospectively analysed our data to find the incidence and reasons for motor weakness and also to compare the efficacy of EA and PCA as analgesics. Over a period of 15 months, 68 patients were operated; out of these, 41 were in EA and 27 in PCA. Demographic details, level of epidural placement, drug used, pain scores, degree of motor weakness, measures taken to relieve the motor weakness and the improvement in symptoms after treatment were recorded. In the IV PCA group, details of drug used, dose of bolus, pain and sedation scores were analysed. Groups were comparable demographically. Motor weaknesses were present in 9 (22%) and 0 patients in EA and IV PCA groups respectively (p = 0.009). Average and maximum pain scores were significantly higher on day 1 in the IV PCA group (p of 0.00 and 0.001 respectively). Maximum pain scores were also significantly higher in the IV PCA group on day 2 (p = 0.010). Two patients out of 27 in IV PCA were found drowsy. Motor weakness is known with EA but can be managed effectively using a lower concentration of LA or by stopping the infusion of LA.

The role of regional anesthesia in the propagation of cancer: A comprehensive review

New cancer incidences worldwide will eclipse 18 million in 2019, with nearly 10 million cancer-related deaths. It is estimated that in the United States, almost 40% of individuals will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Surgical resection of primary tumors remains a cornerstone of cancer treatment; however, the surgical process can trigger an immune-suppressing sympathetic response, which promotes tumor growth of any residual cancerous cells post surgery. Regional and local anesthesia have become staples of anesthesia and analgesia during and after surgery. Recently, much evidence in the form of retrospective and prospective studies has come to light regarding the protective, antitumor properties of anesthetic and analgesic agents across a wide variety of cancers and patient demographics. It is believed that by blocking afferent pain signals, the body does not mount the sympathetic response that contributes to the perpetuation of disease after surgical treatment. This review, therefore, investigates these studies as they pertain to the treatment and outcomes of cancers treated surgically to elucidate the role of regional anesthesia in the propagation of cancer.

Survival rate and perioperative data of patients who have undergone hemipelvectomy: a retrospective case series

Background

Hemipelvectomy is a major orthopedic surgical procedure indicated in specific situations. Although many studies discuss surgical techniques for hemipelvectomy, few studies have presented survival data, especially in underdeveloped countries. Additionally, there is limited information on anesthesia for orthopedic oncologic surgeries. The primary aim of this study was to determine the survival rate after hemipelvectomy, and the secondary aims were to evaluate anesthesia and perioperative care associated with hemipelvectomy and determine the influence of the surgical technique (external hemipelvectomy [amputation] or internal hemipelvectomy [limb sparing surgery]) on anesthesia and perioperative care in Brazil.

Methods

This retrospective case series collected data from 35 adult patients who underwent hemipelvectomy between 2000 and 2013. Survival rates after surgery were determined, and group comparisons were performed using the Kaplan–Meier method and the log-rank test. Mantel–Cox test and multiple linear regression analysis with stepwise forward selection were performed for univariate and multivariate analyses, respectively.

Results

Mean survival time was 32.8 ± 4.6 months and 5-year survival rate was 27 %. Of the 35 patients, 23 patients (65.7 %) underwent external hemipelvectomy and 12 patients (34.3 %) underwent internal hemipelvectomy. The survival rate was significantly higher in patients with bone tumors than in those with soft tissue sarcomas (P = 0.024). The 5-year cumulative probability of survival was significantly lower in patients who underwent external hemipelvectomy than in those who underwent internal hemipelvectomy (P = 0.043). In the univariate and multivariate analyses, only advanced disease stage (3 and 4) was identified as a significant independent predictor of reduced survival (P = 0.0003). Balanced general anesthesia combined with epidural block was the most frequent anesthesia technique. Median intraoperative crystalloid volume and red blood cell transfusions were 3500 mL and 2 units, respectively.

Conclusions

Overall mean survival time after hemipelvectomy was 32.8 months. Advanced disease stage might be independently associated with reduced survival. Smaller amounts of fluids and transfusions were administered and time to discharge was shorter. Acute and chronic pain as well as wound complications are still important challenges in hemipelvectomy.