Aim. Sarcopenia, a core component of physical frailty, is an independent risk factor for suboptimal health outcomes in hospitalized patients, especially in the intensive care patients. Psoas muscle areas can be assessed to identify sarcopenia. The aim of this study was to determine the prognostic value of psoas muscle area measured with CT for the prediction of in‐hospital mortality in patients with pulmonary embolism at admission to the intensive care unit. Methods. Patients with an admission abdominal computed tomography scan and requiring intensive care unit (ICU) stay were reviewed. Selected clinical data of patients admitted to intensive care unit for the management of pulmonary embolism were collected. Using CT scan images at the level of L3 vertebra, the psoas muscle area value was obtained by dividing the sum of the right and left psoas muscle areas into the body surface area. Results. In‐hospital mortality rate was 22.5% in 89 patients. The pulmonary embolism patients with in‐hospital mortality had higher PESI and lower value of psoas muscle area, in addition to the lower systolic blood pressure and arterial oxygen saturation at admission. The increase in the value of psoas muscle area is associated with a decrease in the rate of in‐hospital mortality. In patients with in‐hospital mortality related to pulmonary embolism, the higher PESI and the lower value of psoas muscle area were considered in accordance with the outcome of patients. Conclusions. For the prediction of in‐hospital mortality risk in patients with pulmonary embolism managed in intensive care unit, the psoas muscle area value has a merit to be used among the routine diagnostic procedures after further studies conducted with different severity of pulmonary embolism.

Prone position during general anesthesia for special surgical operations may be related with increased airway pressure, decreased pulmonary and thoracic compliance that may be explained by restriction of chest expansion and compression of abdomen. The optimum ventilation mode for anesthetized patients on prone position was not described and studies comparing volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) and pressure-controlled ventilation (PCV) during prone position are limited. We hypothesized that PCV instead of VCV during prone position could achieve lower airway pressures and reduce the systemic stress response. In this study, we aimed to compare the effects of PCV and VCV modes during prone position on respiratory mechanics, oxygenation, and hemodynamics, as well as blood cortisol and insulin levels, which has not been investigated before. Fifty-four ASA I-II patients, 18–70 years of age, who underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy on prone position, were randomly selected to receive either the PCV (Group PC, n = 27) or VCV (Group VC, n = 27) under general anesthesia with sevoflurane and fentanyl. Blood sampling was made for baseline arterial blood gases (ABG), cortisol, insulin, and glucose levels. After anesthesia induction and endotracheal intubation, patients in Group PC were given pressure support to form 8 mL/kg tidal volume and patients in Group VC was maintained at 8 mL/kg tidal volume calculated using predicted body weight. All patients were maintained with 5 cmH2O PEEP. Respiratory parameters were recorded during supine and prone position. Assessment of ABG and sampling for cortisol, insulin and glucose levels were repeated during surgery and 60 min after extubation. P-peak and P-plateau levels during supine and prone positions were significantly higher and P-mean and compliance levels during prone position were significantly lower in Group VC when compared with Group PC. Postoperative PaO2 level was significantly higher in Group PC compared with Group VC. Cortisol levels were increased with surgery in both groups (p < 0.05) and decreased to baseline levels in Group PC while remained high in Group VC in the early postoperative period. Cortisol levels were significantly higher in Group VC during surgery and in the early postoperative period compared with Group PC. When compared with VCV mode, PCV mode is associated with lower P-peak and P-plateau levels during both supine and prone positions, better oxygenation postoperatively, lower blood cortisol levels during surgery in prone position and in the early postoperative period. We concluded that PCV mode might be more appropriate in prone position during anesthesia.

Aim. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels in patients presenting to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain and its use in differentiating acute surgical abdomen. Methods. This single-center prospective cross-sectional study included 334 adult patients who presented to the emergency department. These consisted of 194 patients (Group 1) with nontraumatic abdominal pain commencing in the preceding week, who were definitely diagnosed and either hospitalized in a specific department or planned for discharge, and a control group of 140 patients (Group 2). Results. The mean IMA value of the patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis was statistically significantly higher than that of the control group. The mean IMA value of the patients diagnosed with acute appendicitis, ovarian pathologies, and gastritis-peptic ulcer was statistically significantly higher than that of the nonspecific abdominal pain group. Conclusion. Serum IMA levels can be used as a diagnostic marker in patients with acute appendicitis. Furthermore, serum IMA levels in patients presenting to the emergency department with abdominal pain may be indicative of patients requiring surgery or of complicated cases, particularly in terms of acute appendicitis and ovarian pathologies.

Background: The intraoperative attending anaesthesiologist ultimately makes decisions about the anaesthesiology technique to be performed, but the attitudes of surgeons and preferences of patients on this subject may affect their choice. In this questionnaire-based study, we aimed to evaluate the attitudes and behaviors of surgeons about the use of regional anaesthesia (RA) in surgical operations. Methods: Surgeons from different surgical branches with residencies at 4 different hospitals were asked to complete questionnaires that included reasons for preferring (12 reasons) and not preferring (13 reasons) the use of RA techniques for surgeries, using a 5-point Likert scale. Results: A total of 156 surgeons from 4 hospitals, out of 167 surgeons who were approached to participate in the study, completed the questionnaire. The most commonly observed reason for a preference towards regional anaesthesia among the surgeons was the risk of general anaesthesia for patients with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) risk class of III and above. The second most commonly observed reason was for protection from the complications of general anaesthesia, and the third most commonly observed reason was the lower risk of thromboembolisms with regional anaesthesia. The most commonly observed reasons for not choosing regional anaesthesia were found to be incompatibility of the patients and patients' fears of feeling pain during surgery. Conclusion: We conclude that programmes for informing surgeons and educating patients about the advantages of RA may increase the preference ratio among surgeons and decrease patients' refusals to choose this procedure.

Objective: To examine publication rates of the full texts of abstracts presented at the 2010 World Congress on Pain (WCP) of the International Association for the Study of Pain. Methods: Poster presentations published in the abstract booklet of the 13th WCP in 2010 were examined. The post-congress status of each abstract was investigated by searching titles, first author, and co-authors, in order, using local search engines. The year of publication, country, index, impact factor (IF) of the publishing journal, and name and title consistencies between the abstract and published text were recorded. Results: A total 1907 poster presentations were investigated. Of these, 525 (27.5%) were published in scientific journals. The most poster presentations (402, 37%) were from the United States. The most published presentations appeared in scientific journals in 2011. Science Citation Index (SCI), SCI Expanded, and Emerging Sources Citation Index published 491 abstracts as full texts. The mean IF of journals in which articles were published was 3.90 ± 3.64. Conclusions: As with scientific journals, a communication process should be established with authors during assessment of poster presentations at congresses regarding critical progression and rectification of deficiencies, which will increase the likelihood of presentation abstracts being published.

Background: Cardiac catheterization may be required in the management of congenital heart diseases. The use of risk scoring or grading systems in these procedures can assist in planning the intervention and predicting potential complications. This study aimed to evaluate the use of risk scores in grading cardiac catheterization procedures in pediatric patients and to investigate their predictive value for serious adverse events (SAEs). Material and Methods: A total of 700 pediatric patients (350 male; median age 1 year [IQR 6 months–2 years]) who underwent cardiac catheterization in our catheterization laboratory between 1 January 2023 and 1 January 2025 were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic and clinical data of the patients, including procedure duration, anesthesia management, Catheterization Risk in Pediatrics Score (CRISP), and serious adverse events related to the procedure, were recorded. The results were analyzed statistically. Results: In total, 50% of the patients were male (n = 350), and 58% (n = 406) had single-ventricle physiology. Interventional procedures were performed in 72% of the cases. The median CRISP score was 8 (IQR 6–10). SAEs occurred in 7.7% of the patients (n = 54), most of which were arrhythmia-related. The incidence of SAEs was analyzed according to CRISP score categories. The rates of SAEs in patients with CRISP Categories 1 through 5 were 2.9%, 4.3%, 11%, 17.3%, and 41%, respectively. As the CRISP score and category increased, the incidence of SAEs also increased [area under the curve of 0.84 (95% confidence interval, 0.76–0.92; p < 0.05)]. Conclusions: CRISP may serve as an effective benchmarking and risk classification tool in pediatric cardiac catheterization procedures and can predict SAE occurrence. Therefore, it may have a positive impact on patient care by assisting in the planning of pre- and post-catheterization care.