Needleless inhaled anesthesia with sevoflurane: Advantages of a simplified approach for children with spinal muscular atrophy undergoing intrathecal administration of nusinersen

BACKGROUND

Intrathecal nusinersen administration, a fundamental step in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, is challenging in children.

AIMS

This retrospective monocentric analysis of prospectively collected data evaluated the feasibility of needleless general anesthesia exclusively with sevoflurane, without imaging guidance, for children undergoing nusinersen administration in a 24-month period.

METHODS

Clinical data included demographics, type of spinal muscular atrophy, presence and severity of scoliosis. Primary outcome was defined by the number of predefined sentinel adverse events related to anesthesia. Secondary outcomes were assessed by duration of the procedure, number of lumbar puncture attempts, and number of failures. Other measures included number and type of moderate, minor and minimal adverse events, as well as number and type of puncture-related adverse events.

RESULTS

116 patients (mean age: 8.7 (SD 6.9) years; with scoliosis: 49.1%) underwent 250 lumbar punctures; two cases of prolonged desaturation, considered as sentinel adverse events, (0.8%) were recorded during anesthesia (primary outcome). None of the patients underwent orotracheal intubation nor required an unplanned admission in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. No patient required an unplanned or prolonged hospitalization after the procedure. Mean number of puncture attempts was 1.6 (SD 1.3), and mean duration of the procedure was 14.1 (SD 8.3) minutes. No failure in the drug administration occurred (secondary outcomes).

CONCLUSION

In this single-center experience, needleless general anesthesia with inhaled sevoflurane without imaging guidance has been shown to be feasible for children with spinal muscular atrophy undergoing lumbar puncture for nusinersen administration.

Total versus inhaled intravenous anesthesia methods for prognosis of patients with lung, breast, or esophageal cancer: A cohort study

Objective

To explore the influences of total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and inhaled-intravenous anesthesia on the prognosis of patients with lung, breast, or esophageal cancer.

Methods

In this retrospective cohort study, patients with lung, breast, or esophageal cancer who underwent surgical treatments at Beijing Shijitan Hospital between January 2010 and December 2019 were included. The patients were categorized into the TIVA group and inhaled-intravenous anesthesia group, according to the anesthesia methods used for the patients for surgery of the primary cancer. The primary outcome of this study included overall survival (OS) and recurrence/metastasis.

Results

Totally, 336 patients were included in this study, 119 in the TIVA group and 217 in the inhaled-intravenous anesthesia group. The OS of patients in the TIVA group was higher than in the inhaled-intravenous anesthesia group (P = 0.042). There were no significant differences in the recurrence/metastasis-free survival between the two groups (P = 0.296). Inhaled-intravenous anesthesia (HR = 1.88, 95%CI: 1.15-3.07, P = 0.012), stage III cancer (HR = 5.88, 95%CI: 2.57-13.43, P < 0.001), and stage IV cancer (HR = 22.60, 95%CI: 8.97-56.95, P < 0.001) were independently associated with recurrence/ metastasis. Comorbidities (HR = 1.75, 95%CI: 1.05-2.92, P = 0.033), the use of ephedrine, noradrenaline or phenylephrine during surgery (HR = 2.12, 95%CI: 1.11-4.06, P = 0.024), stage II cancer (HR = 3.24, 95%CI: 1.08-9.68, P = 0.035), stage III cancer (HR = 7.60, 95%CI: 2.64-21.86, P < 0.001), and stage IV cancer (HR = 26.61, 95%CI: 8.57-82.64, P < 0.001) were independently associated with OS.

Conclusion

In patients with breast, lung, or esophageal cancer, TIVA is preferable than inhaled-intravenous anesthesia group for longer OS,, but TIVA was not associated with the recurrence/metastasis-free survival of patients.

Evaluating the Role of Anesthesia on Intraoperative Blood Loss and Visibility during Endoscopic Sinus Surgery: A Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Previous studies and meta analyses have led to incongruent and incomplete results respectively when total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and inhalational anesthesia (IA) are compared in endoscopic sinus surgeries in regards to intraoperative bleeding and visibility.

OBJECTIVE

To perform a more comprehensive meta-analysis on randomized controlled trial (RCTs) comparing TIVA with IA in endoscopic sinus surgery to evaluate their effects on intraoperative bleeding and visibility.

METHODS

A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies comparing TIVA and IA in endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis was completed in May 2020. Utilizing databases, articles were systematically screened for analysis and 19 studies met our inclusion criteria. The primary outcome included intraoperative visibility scores combining Boezaart, Wormald and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes included rate of blood loss (mL/kg/min), estimated total blood loss (mL), Boezaart, Wormald scores, VAS, heart rate, and mean arterial pressure (MAP).

RESULTS

19 RCTs with 1,010 patients were analyzed. TIVA had a significantly lower intraoperative bleeding score indicating better endoscopic visibility (Boezaart, VAS, and Wormald) than IA (-0.514, p = 0.020). IA had a significantly higher average rate of blood loss than TIVA by 0.563 mL/kg/min (p = 0.016). Estimated total blood loss was significantly lower in TIVA than IA (-0.853 mL, p = 0.002). There were no significant differences between TIVA and IA in the mean heart rate (-0.225, p = 0.63) and MAP values (-0.126, p = 0.634). The subgroup analyses revealed no significant difference between TIVA and IA when remifentanil was not utilized and whenever desflurane was the IA agent.

CONCLUSION

TIVA seemed to have superior intraoperative visibility scores and blood loss during endoscopic sinus surgery when compared to IA. However, the results are not consistent when stratifying the results based on the use of remifentanil and different inhaled anesthetics. Therefore, the conclusion cannot be made that one approach is superior to the other.

Sevoflurane enhances neuromuscular blockade by increasing the sensitivity of skeletal muscle to neuromuscular blockers

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sevoflurane on skeletal muscle contractility. In the first part, twenty-two American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA I-II) female adult patients undergoing elective hysterectomy surgery inhaled sevoflurane 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 minimum alveolar concentrations (MAC) in succession. Neuromuscular function was assessed at each dose. In the second part, forty-four ASA I-II female adult patients were randomized into four groups: group 1 (propofol + atracurium, sevoflurane 0 MAC), and groups 2 to 4 (atracurium + sevoflurane 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 MAC, respectively). In group 1, patients were anesthetized by propofol. Then 0.01 mg/kg atracurium was injected into the tested arm intravenously after the arterial blood flow was blocked using a tourniquet. For the other 3 groups, patients inhaled 1.0 MAC, 1.5 MAC, or 2.0 MAC of sevoflurane. Then 0.01 mg/kg atracurium was injected. Neuromuscular function was recorded for the 4 groups. Neuromuscular function was assessed by acceleromyography measurement of evoked responses to train-of four (TOF) stimuli (2 Hz for 2 s applied every 12 s) at the adductor pollicis using a TOF-Guard(TM) neuromuscular transmission monitor. Amplitudes of first response (T1) in each TOF sequence and the ratios of fourth TOF response (T4) to the first were similar at 1.0 MAC, 1.5 MAC, and 2.0 MAC sevoflurane. Compared to baseline, there was no significant change in the TOF value after inhaling 1.0 MAC, 1.5 MAC, or 2.0 MAC sevoflurane. Compared to group 1, there was no significant difference in atracurium onset time (time to reach TOF ratio = 0.25) in group 2 ( 5.6 ± 1.8 min vs. 6.5 ± 1.7 min, P>0.05), or degree of adductor pollicis block (subject number with TOF ratio = 0, 5 vs. 2 subjects, p = 0.3). However, inhaling 1.5 or 2.0 MAC sevoflurane decreased atracurium onset time (4.6 ± 1.5 min and 4.0 ± 1.3 min vs. 6.5 ± 1.7 min, P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively), and enhanced the block degree (9 and 10 vs. 2 subjects, P<0.001) compared with group 1. Sevoflurane has no direct effects on the adductor pollicis contractility, but increased the skeletal muscle sensitivity to atracurium.