It studied
10 nurses
All white
9 female
9 elevated BMI, 5 BMI >30 kg/m2
2x 12 hour shifts
N95 +/- surgical mask over it
Unclear whether expiratory valve
Assessed
compliance comfort & physiology
2/15
The compliance and comfort evaluations showed
-lots of minor discomfort
-but rather well tolerated
-most removals at shift end or to drink
-compliance on day 2 better than day 1
3/15
Of note, many of the staff had elevated BMIs
Poor compliance and discomfort was much more common in those with the higher BMI
The authors note of the US population
- 1 in 3 overweight
- 1 in 3 obese
4/15
As for N95 and CO2
-this was measured through the skin
-rose from 32 mmHg (4.3kPa) to 41 (5.5) at end of shift
-rise was more marked if a face mask was worn over the N95
-there were no physiological disturbances associated with the rise
5/15
So does the CO2 rise with N95 mask matter?
-the authors clearly think it does not
(which makes it slightly odd for the review above to quote it)
But it does show that filtering masks are harder to breath through
6/15
Does a 6 mmHg (0.8kPa) CO2 rise have adverse physiological effects?
Much higher rises in a person with poor health might have plausibly have clinical impact
But generally a mildly elevated CO2 is not of itself harmful - more likely its the process causing it
So no!
My thoughts..
19 mid-pregnancy subjects did the main study
Av 30 weeks gestation, BMI 26.6 kg/m2
Exercised to simulate active nursing activity
Then did this level of exercise for 15 minutes on treadmill
With and without "N95 mask apparatus"
9/15
Important limitation is that the study was not of N95 use
Used a tight mask used with N95 material over port
This makes study protocol easier but real concerns whether this experimental set up is valid... (creates excessive respiratory resistance)
10/15
Results
The N95 apparatus
-reduced breathing depth but not rate
-reduced min volume on exercise
-reduced expired O2
-raised expired CO2
-reduced VO2 and VCO2 during exercise
did not change mothers SpO2, HR, lactate or baby HR or variability
11/15
For me the KEY result in all this is that maternal oxygen (saturation) is maintained.
Therefore no alteration to oxygen delivered via placenta to fetus
The maternal CO2 is raised (as expected) but again the clinical impact of this is likely to be negligible or zero
12/15
I differ in my interpretation of the results from the authors
Overall I'm reassured
-N95/FFP3 masks increase breathing resistance compared to no mask or surgical mask
-physiological response is to breathe harder (maintain CO2) or let CO2 rise a bit
-this CO2 rise is not harmful
-there is no impact on oxygenation
-including if pregant
15/15
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Frailty (ie clinical frailty scale score >4) was a big issue in the aetiology of perioperative cardiac arrest
TL/DR
-a high proportion of cases
-frail patients’ more likely
*to be emergency surgery
*to be major surgery
-increased complications
-insufficient illogical monitoring (IMO)
-low rates of DNACPR recommendations
-insufficient risk assessment & communication
-these patients account for a substantial proportion of cardiac arrests
-risk assessment (& communication) poor
-drug dosing an issue in many
-periop cardiac arrest rate ≈8-fold higher than the young & fit
-successful ROSC rate notably lower
-overall early mortality after periop cardiac arrest 40-fold higher then in the young & fit
Frailty arguably a bigger issue than older age
It is a topic relevant t to
-all anaesthetists,
-all perioperative physicians
-orthogeriatricians
- those planning services
& many more
Quick summary 🧵 for amongst others
@JulianCorbettF
NAP5
Awareness
-TIVA was associated with a doubling in frequency of accidental awareness (during general anaesthesia (AAGA)
-what a lot of people missed was that when TIVA was used correctly in a TCI mode there was no signal
-most AAGA during TIVA was due to syringe/delivery errors, programming errors, erroneous use of manual infusions especially when converting from volatile to TIVA (eg to transfer sick pt to ICU or radiology)
-6% of GAs were TIVA. 90% of these in theatre were TCI. Outside theatre 18% were TCI.
-pEEG (BIS) use was low at 2.8%
-much higher with TIVA:
*8% without NMB
*23% with NMB
-report recommended universal use of BIS when TIVA used with paralysis
In NAP6 (anaphylaxis) we took stock of all drugs used during anaesthesia
-use of TIVA rose to 8%
-pEEG monitoring was used in 12%
*rising to 32% with TIVA
*38% with TIVA + NMB
-with variation by specialty, anaesthetist seniority & BMI
In NAP7 (perioperative cardiac arrest) we collected data on TIVA & pEEG use but not on NMB use
-TIVA use rose dramatically to 26%
*a 4-fold rise in a decade
-pEEG rose to 19%
*a 7-fold rise
-pEEG use during TIVA rose to 62% (likely close to 100% during TIVA + NMB though we did not measure this)
-implying good impact of the previous recommendation (which has been repeated by others)
CARDIAC ARREST DURING OR AFTER SURGERY IN UK PRIVATE HOSPITALS
This is a timely reminder that all healthcare has risks & safety is at the heart of everything we should be doing.
Timely also as I was speaking today to the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) about Perioperative Cardiac Arrest in the Independent healthcare sector -based on the findings of the @RCoANews NAP7 report.
A thread on what we found. Not all of which is comfortable. But it is an important discussion.
@bbchealth
@BBCPanorama
@RCoANews
TLDR NAP7: Perioperative cardiac arrest in private hospitals
To be clear much work takes place in all sectors to promote safety. The vast majority of anaesthesia and surgery is very safe and outcomes good. But anaesthesia and surgery has risk, some of which is unpredictable.
Being safe and preparing for unusual events is difficult and it is likely harder in settings that are smaller and more remote than in a large NHS hospital.
The purpose of the NAP7 study was to examine the data on cardiac arrest in or after surgery and to explore areas where care may be improved.
2/15
We studied perioperative cardiac arrest across the UK
-how hospitals prepared for cardiac arrest
-anaesthetists' experience of managing cardiac arrest
-risk of cardiac arrest during or within 24 hours of anaesthesia care (usually surgery)
Controversially, I’ve been chatting about population TRIAGE today
A short 🧵& some polls at the end
Early in the pandemic the risk of healthcare being ‘overwhelmed’ was high on the agenda with population triage a logical consequence. Lockdown was to prevent this.
1/11
I now consider triage to be of three types
Triage by prognosis Normal decision-making led by prognosis (& patient’s goals)
Triage by resource
- by individual
- at population level
The latter is not normal
2/11
Decision-making with patients based on prognosis is a doctor’s job.
The other two are arguably decisions for society (or in an emergency for our politicians)
To paraphrase Clemenceau “life and death is too important to be left to the doctors”