We carried out a retrospective analysis of all emergency referrals to the neurosurgery department of the Wentworth Hospital from 1996 to 1999. The hospital provided a service to seven peripheral hospitals with computerized tomography (CT) scanners and 46 hospitals without, in the province of KwaZulu Natal. By the end of the study, six of the hospitals with CT scanners had facilities for teleradiology and the mean patient return rate had fallen to 17%. In comparison, almost half the patients seen from the hospitals with no CT scanners were returned to hospital after assessment at the Wentworth Hospital. We also carried out a prospective analysis of 100 consecutive teleradiology-assisted consultations from January to March 2000. Of the 57 patients (79%) who remained at their referral hospitals, 45 had a good outcome, while the other 12 (21%) patients had a poor outcome. The implementation of teleradiology-assisted consultation decreased the number of inappropriate inter-hospital transfers while maintaining appropriate patient care and improving outcome.

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OBJECTIVES Coronavirus disease 2019 is a new contagious disease that has spread rapidly across the world. It is associated with high mortality in those who develop respiratory complications and require admission to intensive care. Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a supportive therapy option for selected severely ill patients who deteriorate despite the best supportive care. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, extra demand led to staff reorganization; hence, cardiac surgery consultants joined the ECMO retrieval team. This article describes how we increased service provisions to adapt to the changes in activity and staffing. METHODS The data were collected from 16 March 2020 to 8 May 2020. The patients were referred through a dedicated Web-based referral portal to cope with increasing demand. The retrieval team attended the referring hospital, reviewed the patients and made the final decision to proceed with ECMO. RESULTS We reported 41 ECMO retrieval runs during this study period. Apart from staffing changes, other retrieval protocols were maintained. The preferred cannulation method for veno-venous ECMO was drainage via the femoral vein and return to the right internal jugular vein. There were no complications reported during cannulation or transport. CONCLUSIONS Staff reorganization in a crisis is of paramount importance. For those with precise transferrable skills, experience can be gained quickly with appropriate supervision. Therefore, the team members were selected based on skill mix rather than on roles that are more traditional. We have demonstrated that an ECMO retrieval service can be reorganized swiftly and successfully to cope with the sudden increase in demand by spending cardiac surgeons services to supplement the anaesthetic-intensivist roles.

Background The dose of protamine required following cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is often determined by the dose of heparin required pre-CPB, expressed as a fixed ratio. Dosing based on mathematical models of heparin clearance is postulated to improve protamine dosing precision and coagulation. We hypothesised that protamine dosing based on a 2-compartment model would improve thromboelastography (TEG) parameters and reduce the dose of protamine administered, relative to a fixed ratio. Methods and findings We undertook a 2-stage, adaptive randomised controlled trial, allocating 228 participants to receive protamine dosed according to a mathematical model of heparin clearance or a fixed ratio of 1 mg of protamine for every 100 IU of heparin required to establish anticoagulation pre-CPB. A planned, blinded interim analysis was undertaken after the recruitment of 50% of the study cohort. Following this, the randomisation ratio was adapted from 1:1 to 1:1.33 to increase recruitment to the superior arm while maintaining study power. At the conclusion of trial recruitment, we had randomised 121 patients to the intervention arm and 107 patients to the control arm. The primary endpoint was kaolin TEG r-time measured 3 minutes after protamine administration at the end of CPB. Secondary endpoints included ratio of kaolin TEG r-time pre-CPB to the same metric following protamine administration, requirement for allogeneic red cell transfusion, intercostal catheter drainage at 4 hours postoperatively, and the requirement for reoperation due to bleeding. The trial was listed on a clinical trial registry (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03532594). Participants were recruited between April 2018 and August 2019. Those in the intervention/model group had a shorter mean kaolin r-time (6.58 [SD 2.50] vs. 8.08 [SD 3.98] minutes; p = 0.0016) post-CPB. The post-protamine thromboelastogram of the model group was closer to pre-CPB parameters (median pre-CPB to post-protamine kaolin r-time ratio 0.96 [IQR 0.78–1.14] vs. 0.75 [IQR 0.57–0.99]; p < 0.001). We found no evidence of a difference in median mediastinal/pleural drainage at 4 hours postoperatively (140 [IQR 75–245] vs. 135 [IQR 94–222] mL; p = 0.85) or requirement (as a binary outcome) for packed red blood cell transfusion at 24 hours postoperatively (19 [15.8%] vs. 14 [13.1%] p = 0.69). Those in the model group had a lower median protamine dose (180 [IQR 160–210] vs. 280 [IQR 250–300] mg; p < 0.001). Important limitations of this study include an unblinded design and lack of generalisability to certain populations deliberately excluded from the study (specifically children, patients with a total body weight >120 kg, and patients requiring therapeutic hypothermia to <28°C). Conclusions Using a mathematical model to guide protamine dosing in patients following CPB improved TEG r-time and reduced the dose administered relative to a fixed ratio. No differences were detected in postoperative mediastinal/pleural drainage or red blood cell transfusion requirement in our cohort of low-risk patients. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov Unique identifier NCT03532594.

Natriuretic peptides (NP) are strongly associated with perioperative cardiovascular events. However, in patients with raised NP, it remains unknown whether treatment to reduce NP levels prior to surgery results in better perioperative outcomes. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we investigate NP-directed medical therapy in non-surgical patients to provide guidance for NP-directed medical therapy in surgical patients. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42017051468). The database search included MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL (EBSCO host), EMBASE (EBSCO host), ProQuest, Web of Science, and Cochrane database. The primary outcome was to determine whether NP-directed medical therapy is effective in reducing NP levels within 6 months, compared to standard of care. The secondary outcome was to determine whether reducing NP levels is associated with decreased mortality. Full texts of 18 trials were reviewed. NP-directed medical therapy showed no significant difference compared to standard care in decreasing NP levels (standardized mean difference − 0.04 (− 0.16, 0.07)), but was associated with a 6-month (relative risk (RR) 0.82 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68-0.99)) reduction in mortality.