Key Points 1. Maintaining oxygen transport and oxygen delivery appropriately to meet the tissue metabolic needs is the goal of postoperative circulatory control. 2. Cardiac function worsens after cardiac surgical…
Key Points 1. Inadequate postoperative analgesia and/or an uninhibited perioperative surgical stress response has the potential to initiate pathophysiologic changes in all major organ systems, which may lead to substantial…
Key Points 1. Diseases of the thoracic aorta can occasionally be managed with medical treatment and surveillance, whereas others require surgical intervention. Depending on the disease process, some surgeries may…
Key Points 1. Cardiac surgical patients are at significant risk from preventable adverse events. These events occur through human error, by either faulty decision making (diagnosis, decision for treatment) or…
Key Points 1. Despite a progressive decrease in cardiac surgical mortality, the incidence of postoperative neurologic complications has remained relatively unchanged over the decades. 2. The risk for stroke in…
Key Points 1. Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is associated with a number of profound physiologic perturbations. The central nervous system, kidneys, gut, and heart are especially vulnerable to ischemic events associated…
Key Points 1. Cardiac anesthesia has fundamentally shifted from a high-dose narcotic technique to a more balanced approach using moderate-dose narcotics, shorter-acting muscle relaxants, and volatile anesthetic agents. 2. This…
Key Points 1. Two predominant methods of blood propulsion are used: positive displacement roller pumps and constrained vortex centrifugal-type pumps. 2. Modern heart-lung machines are equipped with a number of…
Key Points 1. The key to successful weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is proper preparation. 2. After rewarming the patient, correcting any abnormal blood gases, and inflating the lungs, make…
Key Points 1. It is easiest to think of coagulation as a wave of biologic activity occurring at the site of tissue injury, consisting of initiation, acceleration, control, and lysis….
