Among patients at increased risk for complications during major abdominal surgery, a restrictive fluid regimen was not associated with a higher rate of disability-free survival than a liberal fluid regimen and was associated with a higher rate of acute kidney injury. (Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and others; RELIEF ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01424150 .).

Avoidance of nitrous oxide and the concomitant increase in inspired oxygen concentration decreases the incidence of complications after major surgery, but does not significantly affect the duration of hospital stay. The routine use of nitrous oxide in patients undergoing major surgery should be questioned.

When assessing the accuracy and precision of a new technique for cardiac output measurement, the commonly quoted criterion for acceptability of agreement with a reference standard is that the percentage error (95% limits of agreement/mean cardiac output) should be 30% or less. We reviewed published data on four different