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Background: In perioperative pain control, adjuvants such as lidocaine can reduce opioid consumption in a specific type of surgery. The aim of this single-center prospective double-blinded randomized controlled trial was to determine opioid consumption in the perioperative period in patients receiving continuous lidocaine infusion. Methods: Patients undergoing elective abdominal aorta and/or iliac arteries open surgery were randomized into two groups to receive 1% lidocaine or placebo at the same infusion rate based on ideal body weight (bolus of 0.15 mL/kg during the induction of anesthesia followed by continuous infusion of 0.2 mL/kg/h during surgery; postoperatively 0.1 mL/kg/h for 24 h) additionally to standard opioid analgesia. Results: Total opioid consumption within 24 h after surgery was 89.2 mg (95%CI 80.9–97.4) in the lidocaine and 113.1 mg (95%CI 102.5–123.6) in the placebo group (p = 0.0007). Similar findings were observed in opioid consumption intraoperatively (26.7 mg (95%CI 22.2–31.3) vs. 35.1 mg (95%CI 29.1–41.2), respectively, p = 0.029) and six hours postoperatively (47.5 mg (IQR 37.5–59.5) vs. 60 mg (IQR 44–83), respectively, p = 0.01). Conclusions: In high-risk vascular surgery, lidocaine infusion as an adjunct to standard perioperative analgesia is effective. It may decrease opioid consumption by more than 20% during the first 24 h after surgery, with no serious adverse effects noted during the study period.

Background: Weaning from mechanical ventilation is a growing and challenging issue in modern intensive care medicine. We aimed to describe a 7-year experience in weaning from mechanical ventilation of a single centre in Germany. Methods: We retrospectively analysed data regarding 403 patients admitted between 2007 and 2013 with difficult or prolonged mechanical ventilation weaning. Results: There were 261 men (64.8%) in the population. The median age was 72 (IQR 63; 77) years. The underlying reasons for ventilator dependence comprised: post-operative respiratory failure (56.3%), exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (14.4%) and pneumonia (7.4%). A tracheostomy was performed about 9 (IQR 7; 14) days after the last attempt of a spontaneous breathing trial, usually with the percutaneous method (89.3%). The median length of stay was 28 (IQR 20; 41) days. Sixty-five (16.1%) patients died. Among the survivors, complete ventilator independence was achieved in 316 (78.4%) subjects while 94 (29.7%) of subjects required a tracheal tube on discharge. The vast majority of patients were discharged to rehabilitation clinics (56.1%). All of the analysed parameters did not statistically significantly differ between consecutive years in the investigated period. Conclusion: Our initial experience with weaning from mechanical ventilation are encouraging, repeatable in subsequent years of observation and consistent with the literature data. Assessing the predictors of successful mechanical ventilation weaning requires further research.

Background. The incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm has been estimated at 20-40 cases per 100,000 per annum. The disease is often asymptomatic; in many cases, its first symptom is shock caused by a ruptured aneurysm. The aim of the present study was to assess retrospectively the selected perioperative factors in patients hospitalised in the intensive care unit (ICU) after repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Methods. Analysis involved medical records of patients after repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm treated in ICU in the years 2009-2010. Patients were divided into two groups: group I -survivors who were discharged from ICU and group II -non-survivors. Demographic factors, intraoperative data, vital parameters, laboratory results and severity of patient's state on admission to ICU were analysed. Results. Analysis of laboratory results on admission to ICU showed lower values of pH and HCO 3 -concentrations