Introduction. Tracheostomy can help weaning in long-term ventilated patients, reducing the duration of mechanical ventilation and intensive care unit length of stay, and decreasing complications from prolonged tracheal intubation. In traumatic brain injury (TBI), ideal timing for tracheostomy is still debated. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of timing (early vs. late) of tracheostomy on mortality and incidence of VAP in traumatic brain-injured patients. Methods. This study was conducted in conformity with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline. We performed a search in PubMed, using an association between heading terms: early, tracheostomy, TBI, prognosis, recovery, impact, mortality, morbidity, and brain trauma OR brain injury. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of eligible studies using the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS). Comparative analyses were made among Early Tracheostomy (ET) and late tracheostomy (LT) groups. Our primary outcome was the odds ratio of mortality and incidence of VAP between the ET and LT groups in acute brain injury patients. Secondary outcomes included the standardized mean difference (MD) of the duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU length of stay (LOS), and hospital LOS. Results. We included two randomized controlled trials, three observational trials, one cross-sectional study, and three retrospective cohort studies. The total number of participants in the ET group was 2509, while in the LT group it was 2597. Early tracheostomy reduced risk for incidence of pneumonia, ICU length of stay, hospital length of stay and duration of mechanical ventilation, but not mortality. Conclusions. In TBI patients, early tracheostomy compared with late tracheostomy might reduce risk for VAP, ICU and hospital LOS, and duration of mechanical ventilation, but increase the risk of mortality.

Background: An adequate early mobilization followed by an effective and pain-free rehabilitation are critical for clinical and functional recovery after hip and proximal femur fracture. A multimodal approach is always recommended so as to reduce the administered dose of analgesics, drug interactions, and possible side effects. Peripheral nerve blocks should always be considered in addition to spinal or general anesthesia to prolong postoperative analgesia. The pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block appears to be a less invasive and more effective analgesia technique compared to other methods. Methods: We conducted multicenter retrospective clinical research, including 98 patients with proximal femur fracture undergoing osteosynthesis surgery within 48 h of occurrence of the fracture. Thirty minutes before performing spinal anesthesia, 49 patients underwent a femoral nerve (FN) block plus a lateral femoral cutaneous nerve (LCFN) block, and the other 49 patients received a PENG block. A non-parametric Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney (α = 0.05) test was performed to evaluate the difference in resting and dynamic numerical rating scale (NRS) at 30 min, 6 h, 12 h, and 24 h. Results: the PENG block administration was more effective in reducing pain intensity compared to the FN block in association with the LFCN block, as seen in the resting and dynamic NRS at thirty minutes and 12 h follow-up. Conclusion: the PENG block was more effective in reducing pain intensity than the femoral nerve block associated with the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve block in patients with proximal femur fracture undergoing to osteosynthesis.

Background: Our hospital became a referral center for COVID-19-positive obstetric patients from 1 May 2020. The aim of our study is to illustrate our management protocols for COVID-19-positive obstetric patients, to maintain safety standards for patients and healthcare workers. Methods: Women who underwent vaginal or operative delivery and induced or spontaneous abortion with a SARS-CoV-2-positive nasopharyngeal swab using real-time PCR (RT-PCR) were included in the study. Severity and onset of new symptoms were carefully monitored in the postoperative period. All the healthcare workers received a nasopharyngeal swab for SARS-CoV-2 using RT-PCR serially every five days. Results: We included 152 parturients with COVID-19 infection. None of the included women had general anesthesia, an increase of severe symptoms or onset of new symptoms. The RT-PCR test was “negative” for the healthcare workers. Conclusions: In our study, neuraxial anesthesia for parturients’ management with SARS-CoV-2 infection has been proven to be safe for patients and healthcare workers. Neuraxial anesthesia decreases aerosolization during preoxygenation, face-mask ventilation, endotracheal intubation, oral or tracheal suctioning and extubation. This anesthesia management protocol can be generalizable.

The aim of our study was to assess and compare postoperative nausea and pain after one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Patients undergoing OAGB and LSG at our institution between November 2018 and November 2021 have been prospectively asked to report postoperative nausea and pain on a numeric analogic scale. Medical records were retrospectively reviewed to collect scores of these symptoms at the 6th and 12th postoperative hour. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate effect of type of surgery on postoperative nausea and pain scores. To adjust for baseline differences between cohorts, a propensity score algorithm was used to match LSG patients to MGB/OAGB patients in a 1:1 ratio with a 0.1 tolerance. A total number of 228 (119 SGs and 109 OAGBs) subjects were included in our study. Nausea after OAGB was significantly less severe than after LSG both at the 6th and 12th hour assessment; pain was less strong after OAGB at the 6th hour but not after 12 h. Fifty-three individuals had a rescue administration of metoclopramide after LSG and 34 after OAGB (44.5% vs 31.2%, p = 0.04); additional painkillers were required by 41 patients after LSG and 23 after OAGB (34.5% vs 21.1%, p = 0.04). Early postoperative nausea was significantly less severe after OAGB, while pain was comparable especially at the 12th hour.

Proximal Femur Fractures (PFF) are common among the elderly and can lead to significant disability. Anesthesiological management typically involves Spinal