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JAMA Neurology May 2024Multiple continuous intravenous anesthetic drugs (CIVADs) are available for the treatment of refractory status epilepticus (RSE). There is a paucity of data comparing...
IMPORTANCE
Multiple continuous intravenous anesthetic drugs (CIVADs) are available for the treatment of refractory status epilepticus (RSE). There is a paucity of data comparing the different types of CIVADs used for RSE.
OBJECTIVE
To systematically review and compare outcome measures associated with the initial CIVAD choice in RSE in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.
EVIDENCE REVIEW
Data sources included English and non-English articles using Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Web of Science (January 1994-June 2023) as well as manual search. Study selection included peer-reviewed studies of 5 or more patients and at least 1 patient older than 12 years with status epilepticus refractory to a benzodiazepine and at least 1 standard antiseizure medication, treated with continuously infused midazolam, ketamine, propofol, pentobarbital, or thiopental. Independent extraction of articles was performed using prespecified data items. The association between outcome variables and CIVAD was examined with an analysis of variance or χ2 test where appropriate. Binary logistic regressions were used to examine the association between outcome variables and CIVAD with etiology, change in mortality over time, electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring (continuous vs intermittent), and treatment goal (seizure vs burst suppression) included as covariates. Risk of bias was addressed by listing the population and type of each study.
FINDINGS
A total of 66 studies with 1637 patients were included. Significant differences among CIVAD groups in short-term failure, hypotension, and CIVAD substitution during treatment were observed. Non-epilepsy-related RSE (vs epilepsy-related RSE) was associated with a higher rate of CIVAD substitution (60 of 120 [50.0%] vs 11 of 43 [25.6%]; odds ratio [OR], 3.11; 95% CI, 1.44-7.11; P = .006) and mortality (98 of 227 [43.2%] vs 7 of 63 [11.1%]; OR, 17.0; 95% CI, 4.71-109.35; P < .001). Seizure suppression was associated with mortality (OR, 7.72; 95% CI, 1.77-39.23; P = .005), but only a small subgroup was available for analysis (seizure suppression: 17 of 22 [77.3%] from 3 publications vs burst suppression: 25 of 98 [25.5%] from 12 publications). CIVAD choice and EEG type were not predictors of mortality. Earlier publication year was associated with mortality, although the observation was no longer statistically significant after adjusting SEs for clustering.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Epilepsy-related RSE was associated with lower mortality compared with other RSE etiologies. A trend of decreasing mortality over time was observed, which may suggest an effect of advances in neurocritical care. The overall data are heterogeneous, which limits definitive conclusions on the choice of optimal initial CIVAD in RSE treatment.
Topics: Humans; Status Epilepticus; Anesthetics, Intravenous; Drug Resistant Epilepsy; Anticonvulsants
PubMed: 38466294
DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2024.0108 -
The Canadian Journal of Neurological... Nov 2023The blood brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective permeable barrier that separates the blood and the central nervous system. Anesthesia is an integral part of surgery,...
BACKGROUND
The blood brain barrier (BBB) is a highly selective permeable barrier that separates the blood and the central nervous system. Anesthesia is an integral part of surgery, and there is little known about the impact of anesthetics on the BBB. Therefore, it is imperative to explore reversible or modifiable variables such as anesthetic agents that influence BBB integrity. We aimed to synthesize the literature pertaining to the various effects of anesthetics on the BBB.
METHODS
MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane were searched from inception up to September 2022.
RESULTS
A total of 14 articles met inclusion into the review. The articles included nine randomized control studies (64.3%) and five quasi-experimental studies (35.7%). Twelve studies used volatile anesthetics, one study used fentanyl intravenously, and one study used pentobarbital or ketamine intraperitoneally. BBB structural deficits following the administration of an anesthetic agent included ultrastructural deficits, decreases in tight junctions, and decreases in BBB components. BBB functional deficits included permeability increases following exposure to volatile anesthetics. However, two studies found decreased permeability after fentanyl, pentobarbital, or ketamine exposure. Moreover, the impact of anesthetics on the BBB seems to be related to the duration of exposure. Notably, study findings also suggest that changes following anesthetic exposure demonstrate some reversibility over the short-term.
CONCLUSION
Overall, our systematic review highlights interesting findings pertaining to the impact of anesthetic agents on BBB integrity in previously healthy models. These findings and mechanisms should inspire future work to aid practitioners and healthcare teams potentially better care for patients.
PubMed: 36353901
DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2022.319