Daily Anesthesiology Research Analysis
Three impactful perioperative and critical care studies stand out today: a BMJ systematic review and network meta-analysis clarifies which prehabilitation components most effectively reduce postoperative complications and length of stay; an Intensive Care Medicine expert consensus delivers practical algorithms for non-invasive ICP monitoring when invasive monitoring is unavailable; and a Shock study uses unsupervised learning on 19,177 ICU sepsis cases to define four distinct cardiorespiratory t
Summary
Three impactful perioperative and critical care studies stand out today: a BMJ systematic review and network meta-analysis clarifies which prehabilitation components most effectively reduce postoperative complications and length of stay; an Intensive Care Medicine expert consensus delivers practical algorithms for non-invasive ICP monitoring when invasive monitoring is unavailable; and a Shock study uses unsupervised learning on 19,177 ICU sepsis cases to define four distinct cardiorespiratory trajectories to inform digital twin decision support.
Research Themes
- Perioperative prehabilitation efficacy and components
- Non-invasive neurocritical monitoring guidelines
- Machine learning trajectories for sepsis and digital twins
Selected Articles
1. Relative efficacy of prehabilitation interventions and their components: systematic review with network and component network meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials.
Across 186 RCTs (n=15,684), exercise and nutrition-focused prehabilitation consistently reduced postoperative complications and length of stay versus usual care. Component network meta-analysis identified exercise and nutrition as the key drivers of benefit, while combined exercise+nutrition+psychosocial interventions improved health-related quality of life and six-minute walk distance.
Impact: This synthesis provides decision-grade comparative effectiveness evidence on which prehabilitation components offer the most benefit, informing perioperative pathways and resource allocation.
Clinical Implications: Implement exercise and nutrition-centered prehabilitation widely as part of enhanced recovery programs to reduce complications and hospital stay; consider adding psychosocial support when aiming to improve patient-reported outcomes and functional recovery.
Key Findings
- Isolated exercise prehabilitation reduced complications versus usual care (OR 0.50, 95% CI 0.39–0.64).
- Isolated nutritional prehabilitation reduced complications (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.50–0.77).
- Exercise+psychosocial and exercise+nutrition reduced hospital length of stay (−2.44 and −1.22 days, respectively).
- Exercise+nutrition+psychosocial improved SF-36 physical component (MD 3.48) and 6-minute walk distance (MD 43.43 m).
- Component NMA pinpointed exercise and nutrition as primary contributors to benefit across outcomes.
Methodological Strengths
- Comprehensive network and component network meta-analyses across 186 RCTs
- Use of CINeMA to grade certainty and sensitivity analyses excluding high risk-of-bias trials
Limitations
- Certainty of evidence often low to very low due to trial-level risk of bias and imprecision
- Heterogeneity in interventions and outcomes across trials
Future Directions: Conduct multicentre, adequately powered RCTs with standardized prehabilitation components and core outcome sets to confirm benefits and define optimal duration and delivery models.
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the relative efficacy of individual and combinations of prehabilitation components (exercise, nutrition, cognitive, and psychosocial) on critical outcomes of postoperative complications, length of stay, health related quality of life, and physical recovery for adults who have received surgery. DESIGN: Systematic review with network and component network meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. DATA SOURCES: Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science were initially searched 1 March 2022, and updated on 25 October 2023. Certainty in findings were assessed using the Confidence in Network Meta-Analysis (CINeMA) approach. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: To compare treatments and to compare individual components informed by partnership with patients, clinicians, researchers, and health system leaders using an integrated knowledge translation framework. Eligible studies were any randomised controlled trial including adults preparing for major surgery who were allocated to prehabilitation interventions or usual care, and where critical outcomes were reported. RESULTS: 186 unique randomised controlled trials with 15 684 participants were included. When comparing treatments using random-effects network meta-analysis, isolated exercise (odds ratio 0.50 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.39 to 0.64); very low certainty of evidence), isolated nutritional (0.62 (0.50 to 0.77); very low certainty of evidence), and combined exercise, nutrition, plus psychosocial (0.64 (0.45 to 0.92); very low certainty of evidence) prehabilitation were most likely to reduce complications compared with usual care. Combined exercise and psychosocial (-2.44 days (95% CI -3.85 to -1.04); very low certainty of evidence), combined exercise and nutrition (-1.22 days (-2.54 to 0.10); moderate certainty of evidence), isolated exercise (-0.93 days (-1.27 to -0.58); very low certainty of evidence), and isolated nutritional prehabilitation (-0.99 days (-1.49 to -0.48); very low certainty of evidence) were most likely to decrease length of stay. Combined exercise, nutrition, plus psychosocial prehabilitation was most likely to improve health related quality of life (mean difference on Short Form-36 physical component scale 3.48 (95% CI 0.82 to 6.14); very low certainty of evidence) and physical recovery (mean difference in meters on the six min walk test 43.43 (95% CI 5.96 to 80.91); very low certainty of evidence).When comparing individual components using component network meta-analysis, exercise and nutrition were the individual components most likely to improve all critical outcomes. The certainty of evidence for all comparisons across all outcomes was generally low to very low due to trial level risk of bias and imprecision; however, results for exercise and nutritional prehabilitation were robust with exclusion of high risk of bias trials. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent and potentially meaningful effect estimates suggest that exercise prehabilitation, nutritional prehabilitation, and multicomponent interventions including exercise may benefit adults preparing for surgery and could be considered in clinical care. However, multicentre trials that are appropriately powered for high priority outcomes and that have a low risk of bias are required to have greater certainty in prehabilitation's efficacy. REGISTRATION: International prospective registry of systematic reviews CRD42023353710.
2. The Brussels consensus for non-invasive ICP monitoring when invasive systems are not available in the care of TBI patients (the B-ICONIC consensus, recommendations, and management algorithm).
An international expert panel synthesized evidence through scoping and systematic reviews with meta-analyses and, via a Delphi process, issued 34 recommendations (32 strong) and practical algorithms for non-invasive ICP-guided care in TBI when invasive monitoring is unavailable.
Impact: Provides actionable, consensus-based algorithms for TBI care in resource-limited and heterogeneous settings, potentially standardizing non-invasive ICP-driven management globally.
Clinical Implications: Clinicians can implement structured nICP-based thresholds to escalate/de-escalate ICP therapies when invasive monitoring is not feasible, integrating clinical exam and imaging when available.
Key Findings
- Developed 34 recommendations (32 strong, 2 weak) for nICP use in TBI across three domains.
- Created four escalation algorithms and de-escalation heatmaps based on nICP thresholds.
- Recommendations derived from three scoping and four systematic reviews with meta-analyses and a modified Delphi process.
Methodological Strengths
- Integration of systematic evidence synthesis with expert Delphi consensus
- Explicit strength-of-recommendation thresholds and practical algorithms
Limitations
- Consensus-based recommendations require prospective validation in diverse settings
- Heterogeneity and variable accuracy among nICP technologies
Future Directions: Prospective multicentre validation of nICP thresholds and algorithms against patient-centered outcomes and, where possible, invasive ICP benchmarks.
BACKGROUND: Invasive systems are commonly used for monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and are considered the gold standard. The availability of invasive ICP monitoring is heterogeneous, and in low- and middle-income settings, these systems are not routinely employed due to high cost or limited accessibility. The aim of this consensus was to develop recommendations to guide monitoring and ICP-driven therapies in TBI using non-invasive ICP (nICP) systems. METHODS: A panel of 41 experts, that regularly use nICP systems for guiding TBI care, was established. Three scoping and four systematic reviews with meta-analysis were performed summarizing the current global-literature evidence. A modified Delphi method was applied for the development of recommendations. An in-person meeting with group discussions and voting was conducted. Strong recommendations were defined for an agreement of at least 85%. Weak recommendations were defined for an agreement of 75-85%. RESULTS: A total of 34 recommendations were provided (32 Strong, 2 Weak) divided into three domains: general consideration for nICP use, management of ICP using nICP methods and thresholds of nICP tools for escalating/de-escalating treatment. We developed four clinical algorithms for escalating treatment and heatmaps for de-escalating treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Using a mixed-method approach involving literature review and an in-person consensus by experts, a set of recommendations designed to assist clinicians managing TBI patients using nICP systems plus clinical assessment, in the presence or absence of brain imaging, were built. Further clinical studies are required to validate the potential use of these recommendations in the daily clinical practice.
3. INFORMING INTENSIVE CARE UNIT DIGITAL TWINS: DYNAMIC ASSESSMENT OF CARDIORESPIRATORY FAILURE TRAJECTORIES IN PATIENTS WITH SEPSIS.
Using unsupervised clustering on 19,177 ICU sepsis patients, the authors identified four robust 14-day cardiorespiratory trajectories—two recovery and two high-mortality decline patterns—separable by comorbidity and severity indices, offering a framework for prognostication and digital twin decision support.
Impact: Defines clinically intuitive, high-separation trajectories with extreme-risk phenotypes that can guide triage, family counseling, and development of digital twin models for sepsis.
Clinical Implications: Early classification into recovery vs decline trajectories may inform goals-of-care discussions, escalation/de-escalation of organ support, and ICU resource allocation.
Key Findings
- Four distinct 14-day trajectories: fast recovery (27%, mortality 3.5%), slow recovery (62%, mortality 3.6%), fast decline (4%, mortality 99.7%), delayed decline (7%, mortality 97.9%).
- Trajectories were distinguished by Charlson Comorbidity Index, APACHE III, and day 1/3 SOFA (P<0.001).
- Findings underpin prediction modeling and digital twin decision support tools for sepsis in ICU.
Methodological Strengths
- Very large multicenter EHR cohort (n=19,177) with validated data pipeline
- Unsupervised two-stage clustering capturing dynamic support and discharge status
Limitations
- Retrospective single health system; generalizability to other systems requires external validation
- Potential residual confounding and unmeasured treatment effects influencing trajectories
Future Directions: Prospective validation with real-time trajectory assignment; integrate biologic markers and treatment policies to enable adaptive digital twin simulations and interventional testing.
Understanding clinical trajectories of sepsis patients is crucial for prognostication, resource planning, and to inform digital twin models of critical illness. This study aims to identify common clinical trajectories based on dynamic assessment of cardiorespiratory support using a validated electronic health record data that covers retrospective cohort of 19,177 patients with sepsis admitted to intensive care units (ICUs) of Mayo Clinic Hospitals over 8-year period. Patient trajectories were modeled from ICU admission up to 14 days using an unsupervised machine learning two-stage clustering method based on cardiorespiratory support in ICU and hospital discharge status. Of 19,177 patients, 42% were female with a median age of 65 (interquartile range [IQR], 55-76) years, The Acute Physiology, Age, and Chronic Health Evaluation III score of 70 (IQR, 56-87), hospital length of stay (LOS) of 7 (IQR, 4-12) days, and ICU LOS of 2 (IQR, 1-4) days. Four distinct trajectories were identified: fast recovery (27% with a mortality rate of 3.5% and median hospital LOS of 3 (IQR, 2-15) days), slow recovery (62% with a mortality rate of 3.6% and hospital LOS of 8 (IQR, 6-13) days), fast decline (4% with a mortality rate of 99.7% and hospital LOS of 1 (IQR, 0-1) day), and delayed decline (7% with a mortality rate of 97.9% and hospital LOS of 5 (IQR, 3-8) days). Distinct trajectories remained robust and were distinguished by Charlson Comorbidity Index, The Acute Physiology, Age, and Chronic Health Evaluation III scores, as well as day 1 and day 3 SOFA ( P < 0.001 ANOVA). These findings provide a foundation for developing prediction models and digital twin decision support tools, improving both shared decision making and resource planning.