Article of interest: ECMO for Severe ARDS

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Combes A, Hajage D, Capellier G, et al. Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation for Severe Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. N Engl J Med. 2018;378(21):1965–1975.

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Results: At 60 days, 44 of 124 patients (35%) in the ECMO group and 57 of 125 (46%) in the control group had died (relative risk, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55 to 1.04; P=0.09). Crossover to ECMO occurred a mean (±SD) of 6.5±9.7 days after randomization in 35 patients (28%) in the control group, with 20 of these patients (57%) dying. The frequency of complications did not differ significantly between groups, except that there were more bleeding events leading to transfusion in the ECMO group than in the control group (in 46% vs. 28% of patients; absolute risk difference, 18 percentage points; 95% CI, 6 to 30) as well as more cases of severe thrombocytopenia (in 27% vs. 16%; absolute risk difference, 11 percentage points; 95% CI, 0 to 21) and fewer cases of ischemic stroke (in no patients vs. 5%; absolute risk difference, -5 percentage points; 95% CI, -10 to -2).

Extracorporeal liver support systems

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One of the topics of discussion this week was the utilization of Molecular Adsorbent Recirculating System™ (MARS) in patients with acute liver failure.

Saliba F, Camus C, Durand F, et al. Albumin dialysis with a noncell artificial liver support device in patients with acute liver failure: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2013;159(8):522–531.

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Results: 102 patients (mean age, 40.4 years [SD, 13]) were in the modified intention-to-treat (mITT) population. The per-protocol analysis (49 conventional, 39 MARS) included patients with at least 1 session of MARS of 5 hours or more. Six-month survival was 75.5% (95% CI, 60.8% to 86.2%) with conventional treatment and 84.9% (CI, 71.9% to 92.8%) with MARS (P = 0.28) in the mITT population and 75.5% (CI, 60.8% to 86.2%) with conventional treatment and 82.9% (CI, 65.9% to 91.9%) with MARS (P = 0.50) in the per-protocol population. In patients with paracetamol-related ALF, the 6-month survival rate was 68.4% (CI, 43.5% to 86.4%) with conventional treatment and 85.0% (CI, 61.1% to 96.0%) with MARS (P = 0.46) in the mITT population. Sixty-six of 102 patients had transplantation (41.0% among paracetamol-induced ALF; 79.4% among non-paracetamol-induced ALF) (P < 0.001). Adverse events did not significantly differ between groups.

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NEJM Perspective: Learning from the Dead

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De Cock KM, Zielinski-Gutiérrez E, Lucas SB. Learning from the Dead. N Engl J Med. 2019 Nov 14;381(20):1889-1891.

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“Obstacles to exploiting the rich database that the world’s decedents represent include not only the decline in autopsy rates but also a failure to prioritize broader innovative and culturally acceptable research and surveillance. Even information from medicolegal autopsies is not widely shared for auditing or educational purposes. A commitment among the medical and scientific communities to increase research and evaluation involving the dead, including assessments of postmortem investigations short of complete autopsies, could have great public health benefit.” (De Cock, 2019, pgs. 1889-1890)

Risk of Acute Kidney Injury After IV Contrast Media Administration

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Hinson JS, Ehmann MR, Fine DM, et al. Risk of Acute Kidney Injury After Intravenous Contrast Media Administration. Ann Emerg Med. 2017 May;69(5):577-586.e4.

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Results: “Rates of acute kidney injury were similar among all groups. Contrast administration was not associated with increased incidence of acute kidney injury (contrast-induced nephropathy criteria odds ratio=0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.85 to 1.08; and Acute Kidney Injury Network/Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria odds ratio=1.00, 95% confidence interval 0.87 to 1.16). This was true in all subgroup analyses regardless of baseline renal function and whether comparisons were made directly or after propensity matching. Contrast administration was not associated with increased incidence of chronic kidney disease, dialysis, or renal transplant at 6 months. Clinicians were less likely to prescribe contrast to patients with decreased renal function and more likely to prescribe intravenous fluids if contrast was administered.”

Surgical Grand Rounds: Articles of interest

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Dr. Nathan Klingensmith referenced the following citations during his presentation, “The Microbiome in Surgery: Friend or Foe?” on November 22, 2019.

Fay KT, Klingensmith NJ, Chen CW, Zhang W, Sun Y, Morrow KN, Liang Z, Burd EM, Ford ML, Coopersmith CM. The gut microbiome alters immunophenotype and survival from sepsis. FASEB J. 2019 Oct;33(10):11258-11269.

Sender R, Fuchs S, Milo R, et al. Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body. PLoS Biol. 2016 Aug 19;14(8):e1002533.

Lloyd-Price J, Abu-Ali G, Huttenhower C. The healthy human microbiome. Genome Med. 2016 Apr 27;8(1):51.

Vrieze A, et al. Transfer of intestinal microbiota from lean donors increases insulin sensitivity in individuals with metabolic syndrome. Gastroenterology. 2012 Oct;143(4) :913-6.e7.

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The balanced resuscitation approach

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“Balanced resuscitation minimizes coagulopathy through permissive hypotension, restrictive crystalloid use, and high ratios of plasma and platelet to red blood cell transfusion.” (Cantle, 2017, p. 999)

Holcomb JB, Tilley BC, Baraniuk S, et al. Transfusion of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells in a 1:1:1 vs a 1:1:2 ratio and mortality in patients with severe trauma: the PROPPR randomized clinical trial.Transfusion of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells in a 1:1:1 vs a 1:1:2 ratio and mortality in patients with severe trauma: the PROPPR randomized clinical trial. JAMA. 2015 Feb 3;313(5):471-82.

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“Exsanguination, the predominant cause of death within the first 24 hours, was decreased in the 1:1:1 group (9.2%) vs the 1:1:2 group (14.6%) (difference, −5.4% [95% CI, −10.4% to −0.5%], P = .03); the median time to death due to exsanguination was 106 minutes interquartile range [IQR], 54 to 198 minutes) and 96 minutes (IQR, 43 to 194 minutes), respectively. From 24 hours through 30 days, the numbers of additional all-cause deaths were similar (32 for the 1:1:1 group vs 31 for the 1:1:2 group). Over 30 days, deaths due to exsanguination occurred in 10.7% of patients in the 1:1:1 group vs 14.7% in the 1:1:2 group, whereas deaths due to traumatic brain injury were 8.1% vs 10.3%, respectively. Additional causes of death were infrequent and are shown in Table 3. More patients achieved anatomic hemostasis in the 1:1:1 group (86.1% vs 78.1% in the 1:1:2 group, P = .006) with a median time of 105 minutes (IQR, 64 to 179 minutes) vs 100 minutes (IQR, 56 to 181 minutes), respectively (P = .44) in those who achieved anatomic hemostasis (Table 2).” (Holcomb, 2015, p. 475)

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The use of gabapentin in acute alcohol withdrawal

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Levine AR, et al. High-Dose Gabapentin for the Treatment of Severe Alcohol Withdrawal Syndrome: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis. Pharmacotherapy. 2019 Sep;39(9):881-888.

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MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: “Patients who received high-dose gabapentin required a significantly lower overall amount of benzodiazepines (mean ± SD 109.5 ± 53.4 mg vs 88.5 ± 35.6 mg [lorazepam equivalents], p=0.023) and had a significantly lower mean CIWA-Ar score (10.1 ± 4.7 vs 7.7 ± 3.9, p=0.010) and maximum CIWA-Ar score (16.0 ± 7.0 vs 12.6 ± 6.1, p=0.016) on day 3 of hospitalization. The high-dose gabapentin regimen was well tolerated, without an increased risk of oversedation, compared with the control group (Richmond Agitation-Sedation Scale score < -1: 34% in the treatment group vs 20% in the control group, p=0.115). Patients receiving high-dose gabapentin had a shorter length of hospital stay (7.4 ± 4.0 days vs 6.0 ± 2.6 days, p=0.034) and increased likelihood of being discharged home (66% vs 88%, p=0.009) compared with the control group.”

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