Pro: General anesthesia is superior to regional anesthesia for patients with pulmonary hypertension undergoing non-cardiac surgery

An increasing prevalence of pulmonary hypertension (PH) and a recent change in the definition of PH contribute to a growing population of patients receiving this diagnosis.1 The modification of the definition of PH in 2019 involved lowering the classification threshold of mean pulmonary artery pressure from 25 mmHg to 20 mmHg, the inflection point for poorer patient outcomes.2 Pulmonary hypertension is a risk factor for patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Underlying PH has been independently associated with increased rates of postoperative heart failure, hemodynamic instability, respiratory failure, delayed extubation, prolonged intensive care stay, in-hospital death and 30-day hospital readmission.
Source: Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Pro and Con Source Type: research