Background Recent guidelines for perioperative care in cardiac surgery recommend multimodal pain management to decrease opioid use. We evaluated the effect of multimodal pain management including parasternal intercostal nerve block on pain control and opioid use in patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) requiring sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass. Study Design Medical records of consecutive patients who underwent CABG from 2018 to 2019 at Huntington Hospital were retrospectively queried. Patients were divided in 2 groups based on whether an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pain management protocol including parasternal intercostal nerve blocks was employed. Outcomes, including length of stay, pain scores, and opioid use, were compared. Results There was no difference in length of stay (days) 5.43 vs. 5.38 ( P = .45 and average pain score 2.23 vs. 3.27 ( P = .137) for patients in the ERAS and non-ERAS groups. Maximum pain score, 7.74 to 6.15 ( P = .015), and opioid use (total morphine mg equivalent), 149.64 to 32.01 ( P < .01), were reduced in the ERAS group. Conclusion The ERAS multimodal pain management protocol utilizing intraoperative parasternal blocks appears to reduce pain and decrease opioid use after CABG.

Deaths related to exsanguination are not rare; however, most are related to large-caliber blood vessel or organ disruption. This article reports 2 deaths from external hemorrhage arising from superficial lower extremity trauma in persons with peripheral vascular disease and anticoagulant therapy. The first involved a 78-year-old woman who was found unconscious in her home by a relative, with a plastic bag tied around her left foot and evidence of profuse hemorrhage arising from a left great toenail partial avulsion injury. The second involved a 48-year-old male resident of an adult group home who was involved in a physical altercation with a group home employee, who reportedly kicked the decedent in the right shin, resulting in extensive hemorrhage and death. The cases highlight the fact that lethal exsanguination can occur from superficial trauma. Persons with peripheral vascular disease and those taking anticoagulants may be at particular risk for such deaths.

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