Anesthetic care for cardiac surgery has evolved to include fast-track protocols, new monitoring techniques, and novel drugs to reduce costs and hospital stay while maintaining quality.
May support evaluation of fast-track protocols in cardiac anesthesia; leaves open prospective trials to confirm outcome benefits.
Anesthetic care for patients undergoing cardiac surgery has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Examples of such change include same-day admissions, "fast-track" protocols, selective use of pulmonary artery catheters, transesophageal echocardiography, and the introduction of new drugs such as phosphodiesterase inhibitors and antifibrinolytic agents. Under pressure from our peers and those funding health care, we are making major efforts to reduce costs and the length of hospitalization while maintaining high quality of care.
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Staples et al. (1997) studied this question.
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