2021: Perioperative and critical care year in review for the cardiothoracic surgery team

For yet another year, our lives have been dominated by a pandemic. This year in review, we feature an expert panel opinion regarding extracorporeal support in the context of COVID-19, challenging previously held standards. We also feature survey results assessing the impact of the pandemic on cardiac surgical volume. Furthermore, we focus on a single center experience that evaluated the use of pulmonary artery catheters and the comparison of transfusion strategies in the Restrictive and Liberal Transfusion Strategies in Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction (REALITY) trial. Additionally, we address the impact of acute kidney injury on cardiac surgery and highlight the controversy regarding the choice of fluid resuscitation. We close with an evaluation of dysphagia in cardiac surgery and the impact of prehabilitation to optimize surgical outcomes.

Automated summary

This article reviews various issues arising from the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, including discussions and research on topics such as extracorporeal support, the impact of the pandemic on cardiac surgical volume, transfusion strategies, acute kidney injury in cardiac surgery, controversy surrounding fluid resuscitation, and the influence of prehabilitation on surgical outcomes.