Skip to main content

PE thromobolysis in recent surgery and brain tumors ...ACCP updates

What is the risk of thrombolysis in a patient with recent surgery, previous stroke or intracranial space-occupying lesion? 

Thrombolysis after recent surgeryThey identified 25 reports, including 64 patients, thrombolysed (the majority for PE) following major recent surgery. Major bleeding occurred in >50% of patients receiving thrombolysis within 1week of surgery and in 20% of patients thrombolysed 12 weeks post- operatively. American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guidelines suggest that recent surgery (excluding recent brain or spinal surgery or trauma) is a relative contraindication and that the bleeding risk reduces significantly 2 weeks after surgery.

Thrombolysis in the presence of intracranial space-occupying lesions?
A review of 12 patients with intracranial neoplasms thrombolysed for various indications identified ICH in a single patient (8.3%).Guillan et al identified five cases (five meningiomas, one choles- teatoma and one paranasal tumour) receiving systemic thromboly- sis for stroke without complications. The risk of ICH is dependent on tumour type and localisation. A clinicopathological study showed the risk of microscopic and macroscopic spontaneous bleeding to be 50% in metastatic melanoma and ranging from 29.2% in oligodendroglioma to 2.8% in meningioma.



  1. Wright HJ, Campbell R, Ellis S, et al. Thrombolysis for postoperative pulmonary embolism: limiting the risk of haemorrhage. Thorax 2010;66:452.
  2. Etgen T, Steinich I, Gsottschneider L. Thrombolysis for ischemic stroke in patients with brain tumors. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis 2013 Published Online First 11 June 2013 doi:10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2013.05.004
  3. Guillan M, Alonso-Canovas A, Garcia-Caldentey J, et al. Off-label intravenous thrombolysis in acute stroke. Eur J Neurol 2012;19:3904.
  4. Kondziolka D, Bernstein M, Resch L, et al. Significance of hemorrhage into brain tumors: clinicopathological study. J Neurosurg 1987;67:8527. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The pressure volume loop...

In the pressure-volume loop below, cardiac work is best represented by:   the area of the curve  the slope of the line from points C to D  the distance of the line from points C to D  the slope of a line from points A to D .. .. ... .... ... .... .... .... In the pressure-volume loop below, cardiac work is best represented by:  the area of the curve Cardiac work is the product of pressure and volume and is linearly related to myocardial oxygen consumption. Cardiac work is best represented by the area of the curve of a pressure-volume loop.

Anaphylaxis updates part 2- Empty Ventricle Syndrome

Patients with anaphylaxis should not suddenly sit, stand, or be placed in the upright position. Instead, they should be placed on the back with their lower extremities elevated or, if they are experiencing respiratory distress or vomiting, they should be placed in a position of comfort with their lower extremities elevated. This accomplishes 2 therapeutic goals: 1) preservation of fluid in the circulation (the central vascular compartment), an important step in managing distributive shock; and 2) prevention of the empty vena cava/empty ventricle syndrome, which can occur within seconds when patients with anaphylaxis suddenly assume or are placed in an upright position. Patients with this syndrome are at high risk for sudden death. They are unlikely to respond to epinephrine regardless of route of administration, because it does not reach the heart and therefore cannot be circulated throughout the body

Steroids In Perioperative period...The Multi-purpose Drugs

1-Steroids are not Bronchodilator ,but have well established usefulness in hyper-reactive airway. They are also said to have a permissive role for bronchodilator medication. They can be administered orally, parenterally or in aerosol form 2- Steroids have been commonly used in chemotherapy for prevention of nausea along with other anti-emetic agents . Dexamethasone was found to be highly effective when given immediately before induction rather than at the end of anesthesia . 3- Steroids do exert analgesic effects. Various routes of administration of steroids include parentral, local infiltration at operated site , as an adjuvant in nerve blocks and central-neuraxial blockade. 4 - Steroids cannot be the mainstay of therapy in anaphylaxis because of the delayed onset of action, so they are used as adjunct after initial treatment with epinephrine. 5- Steroids (Dexamethsone) are of value in reduction or prevention of cerebral edema associated with parasitic infections and neopla...