Anesthesiologists' Intraoperative Analgesic Practices for Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to ascertain the international practice patterns of cardiac anesthesiologists pertaining to analgesic prescription in the intraoperative period for patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

DESIGN

Survey was conducted in 2024.

SETTING

International, focusing on Australia, New Zealand, and North America.

PARTICIPANTS

Members of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists and members of the Cardiac, Thoracic, Vascular and Perfusion Special Interest Group of the Australian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists distributed the survey among its 2,134 members, and the Australian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Clinical Trials Network distributed it to its 802 members.

INTERVENTIONS: None.

MEASUREMENTS: Perceptions and practice patterns regarding opioid and non-opioid analgesic practices within the intraoperative cardiac surgery period.

MAIN

RESULTS

There were 377 participants who responded, with fentanyl being the primary opioid analgesic of choice (73.5%), and acetaminophen (72.3%) being the adjunct of choice. Most respondents agree that there is a role for intraoperative multimodal analgesia in cardiac surgery (79.1%). Conventional practice was principally mentioned as a barrier to utilizing an opioid-sparing technique (50%), followed by a lack of institutional policy (35.1%), and a lack of familiarity or comfort with the technique (34.8%)

CONCLUSIONS

The efficacy of non-opioid drugs, in addition to comparisons between opioids, needs to be further established with longer-term, patient-centered clinical outcomes in mind. Educational and institutional policy interventions may play a ole in standardizing the use of intraoperative opioid use.