The response rate of the survey was 38% and 25% for APA and ADARPEF members, respectively. Forty-one percent of APA members reported a reduced use of albumin containing solutions following the publication of the Cochrane report compared to eight percent in the ADARPEF group (P < 0.0001). Albumin continues to be the most frequently used plasma expander in premature babies and neonates, whereas many colleagues use alternative colloids in infants and older children. A clear difference was observed in the 1-12-year-old age group between APA members favouring the use of gelatines and ADARPEF members who instead frequently use hetastarch solutions. ADARPEF members appeared to have a slightly more restrictive attitude towards blood transfusion and also reported more widespread use of erythropoetin (56% versus 9%, P < 0.0001) and predilution techniques (40% versus 23%, P < 0.04) compared with APA members. Regarding intraoperative maintenance solutions, a large proportion of both APA and ADARPEF members still use high concentrations of glucose intraoperatively, even in older children.

Hypnosis has been proven to be a powerful tool in the management of anxiety and pain. It allows for an increase of pain threshold, which can reach the level of surgical analgesia. Recently injection of local anesthetics around the serratus muscle has been presented as an alternative to paravertebral block for cancer breast surgery. We report the successful use of hypnosis in combination with an axillary compartment block for lumpectomy and axillary lymph node dissection.

Objectives: In 2015, we evaluated our practices regarding pain after breast-conserving surgery. Thereafter, we have adapted our practices by performing a systematic deep serratus plane block before the surgical incision. In 2019, we assessed the impact of these changes in terms of chronic pain. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of chronic pain 3 months after this type of surgery.Materials and Methods: All patients treated with breast-conserving surgery as outpatients were included in this prospective study between April and July 2019. After inducing general anesthesia, 20 mL of ropivacaine 3.75 mg/mL were injected under the serratus muscle. Morphine titration was performed in the recovery room according to pain scores. A pain and quality of life questionnaire was sent 3 months after surgery. A backward logistic regression model was applied to calculate the adjusted odds ratios. Results:The final analysis involved 137 patients. Three months after surgery, 43 patients (31%) reported persistent pain related to the surgery. Maximum pain in the last 24 hours was moderate to severe in 60% of cases, 16 patients (35%) took painkillers. Morphine titration in the recovery room was required in 25 patients (18%). Younger age and the use of lidocaine to prevent after injection of propofol during general anesthesia induction appeared to be protective factors for the risk of pain at 3 months (secondary endpoints).Discussion: No persistent pain at 3 months was reported in 69% of cases. Furthermore, the use of a deep serratus anterior plane block before the surgical incision has limited the need for morphine titration in the recovery room to <1 patient in 5. These evaluations of professional practices should be encouraged.

Patient harm is often due to medication errors related to neuraxial and peripheral misconnection. We report a case of inadvertent injection of ciprofloxacin into the epidural space and discuss the strategies that could prevent such an incident. An adult patient presented a recurrence of an ovarian cancer. The recent discovery of an intrabdominal recurrence on CT-scan led us to propose a new surgical procedure. A thoracic epidural analgesia was performed prior to general anesthesia. Postoperative pain was controlled with patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) with ropivacaine-epinephrine. During the first night, abdominal pain appeared. During the second day, a nurse discovered that the bag connected to the pump contained ciprofloxacin and not ropivacaine. After aspiration of 2.5 ml sent to laboratory for analysis, the epidural catheter was removed. The investigation revealed the different causes leading to such an error. Three days after, the patient returned home, without any adverse symptom. This is the first report of the inadvertent administration of ciprofloxacin into the epidural space via a patient-controlled epidural analgesia technique. As there is no effective treatment for such errors, we discuss the neurological risk of ciprofloxacin and prevention strategy mainly based on organizational and human factors.

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