Comorbid conditions appear to be common among individuals hospitalised with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) but estimates of prevalence vary and little is known about the prior medication use of patients. Here, we describe the characteristics of adults hospitalised with COVID-19 and compare them with influenza patients. We include 34,128 (US: 8362, South Korea: 7341, Spain: 18,425) COVID-19 patients, summarising between 4811 and 11,643 unique aggregate characteristics. COVID-19 patients have been majority male in the US and Spain, but predominantly female in South Korea. Age profiles vary across data sources. Compared to 84,585 individuals hospitalised with influenza in 2014-19, COVID-19 patients have more typically been male, younger, and with fewer comorbidities and lower medication use. While protecting groups vulnerable to influenza is likely a useful starting point in the response to COVID-19, strategies will likely need to be broadened to reflect the particular characteristics of individuals being hospitalised with COVID-19.

Traumatic placement of a needle during a neuraxial blockade has been related to many complications such as postdural puncture headache, trauma to neural structures and even spinal hematoma, causing permanent neurologic deficits. Although efforts to minimize the complications caused by traumatic neuraxial blockade have been made, nothing was found to be clear. The authors investigated the predictors of difficult neuraxial blockade using the first puncture success and number of attempts as measures to assess the difficulty. In this prospective observational study, 253 patients scheduled for elective surgery underwent spinal or epidural anesthesia. Patient data (age, sex, height, weight, body mass index, and quality of anatomical landmarks), the provider's level of experience, type of blockade (spinal or epidural), needle type/gauge and the distance from skin to subarachnoid or epidural space were recorded. Significant variables were first determined by Student's t-test and Pearson's chi square test and then logistic and Poisson regression tested the association of the first puncture success and number of attempts with the significant variables. The provider's level of experience and the distance from skin to subarachnoid or epidural space were significant in logistic and Poisson regression. Body mass index was significant only in Poisson regression and the quality of anatomical landmarks was significant only in logistic regression. Provider's level of experience and the distance from skin to subarachnoid or epidural space influenced the difficulty in performing a neuraxial blockade.

Ryu T, et al. Korean J Anesthesiol. 2017 Feb;70(1):3-12. https://doi.org/10.4097/kjae.2017.70.1.3

The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in airway pressure and arterial oxygenation between ventilation modes during one-lung ventilation (OLV) in patients undergoing thoracic surgery. We enrolled 27 patients for thoracic surgery with OLV in the lateral decubitus position. The subjects received various modes of ventilation in random sequences during surgery, including volume-controlled ventilation (VCV) and pressure-controlled ventilation-volume guaranteed (PCV-VG) with a tidal volume (TV) of 8 ml/kg of actual body weight. Target-controlled infusion (TCI) with propofol and remifentanil was used for anesthesia induction and maintenance. After double-lumen endobronchial tube (DLT) insertion, the proper positioning of the DLT was assessed using a fiberoptic bronchoscope. Peak inspiratory pressure (Ppeak), exhaled TV, and arterial blood gas were measured 30 min after each ventilation mode. Ppeak was significantly reduced with the PCV-VG mode (19.6 ± 2.5 cmH2O) compared with the VCV mode (23.2 ± 3.1 cmH2O) (P < 0.000). However, no difference in arterial oxygen tension was noted between the groups (PCV-VG, 375.8 ± 145.1 mmHg; VCV, 328.1 ± 123.7 mmHg) (P = 0.063). The exhaled TV was also significantly increased in PCV-VG compared with VCV (451.4 ± 85.4 vs. 443.9 ± 85.9 ml; P = 0.035). During OLV in patients with normal lung function, although PCV-VG did not provide significantly improved arterial oxygen tension compared with VCV, PCV-VG provided significantly attenuated airway pressure despite significantly increased exhaled TV compared with VCV.

Sudden, profound hypotensive and bradycardic events (HBEs) have been reported in more than 20% of patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopy in the sitting position. Although HBEs may be associated with the adverse effects of interscalene brachial plexus block (ISBPB) in the sitting position, the underlying mechanisms responsible for HBEs during the course of shoulder surgery are not well understood. The basic mechanisms of HBEs may be associated with the underlying mechanisms responsible for vasovagal syncope, carotid sinus hypersensitivity or orthostatic syncope. In this review, we discussed the possible mechanisms of HBEs during shoulder arthroscopic surgery, in the sitting position, under ISBPB. In particular, we focused on the relationship between HBEs and various types of syncopal reactions, the relationship between HBEs and the Bezold-Jarisch reflex, and the new contributing factors for the occurrence of HBEs, such as stellate ganglion block or the intraoperative administration of intravenous fentanyl.

Purpose: Routinely collected real world data (RWD) have great utility in aiding the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response. Here we present the international Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics (OHDSI) Characterizing Health Associated Risks and Your Baseline Disease In SARS-COV-2 (CHARYBDIS) framework for standardisation and analysis of COVID-19 RWD. Patients and Methods: We conducted a descriptive retrospective database study using a federated network of data partners in the United States, Europe (the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Germany, France and Italy) and Asia (South Korea and China). The study protocol and analytical package were released on 11th June 2020 and are iteratively updated via GitHub. We identified three non-mutually exclusive cohorts of 4,537,153 individuals with a clinical COVID-19 diagnosis or positive test, 886,193 hospitalized with COVID-19, and 113,627 hospitalized with COVID-19 requiring intensive services. Results: We aggregated over 22,000 unique characteristics describing patients with COVID-19. All comorbidities, symptoms, medications, and outcomes are described by cohort in aggregate counts and are readily available online. Globally, we observed similarities in the USA and Europe: more women diagnosed than men but more men hospitalized than women, most diagnosed cases between 25 and 60 years of age versus most hospitalized cases between 60 and 80 years of age. South Korea differed with more women than men hospitalized. Common comorbidities included type 2 diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and heart disease. Common presenting symptoms were dyspnea, cough and fever. Symptom data availability was more common in hospitalized cohorts than diagnosed. Conclusion: We constructed a global, multi-centre view to describe trends in COVID-19 progression, management and evolution over time. By characterising baseline variability in patients and geography, our work provides critical context that may otherwise be misconstrued as data quality issues. This is important as we perform studies on adverse events of special interest in COVID-19 vaccine surveillance.