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Hi, it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM , where we instantly improve the lives of Families of critically ill Patients in Intensive Care, so that you can have PEACE OF MIND, real power, real control and so that you can influence decision making fast, even if you’re not a doctor or a nurse in Intensive Care!
This is another episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” and in last week’s episode I answered another question from our readers and the question last week was
MY AUNTY IS IN INTENSIVE CARE ON ECMO FOR ARDS, WE’RE VERY WORRIED SHE MAY DIE! HELP! (PART 11)
You can check out the answer to last week’s question by clicking on the link here.
In this week’s episode of “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” I want to answer another question from one of our readers and the question this week is
MY FATHER IS IN ICU WITH AAA(Aortic Abdominal Aneurysm) REPAIR AND HE DOESN’T WAKE UP…
Evelyn from Dallas, Texas, USA
My 78 year old father has been admitted to Intensive Care in the last week with an Abdominal Aneurysm Repair and he hasn’t woken up out of the induced coma as yet and he is still ventilated with a breathing tube.
I’m very worried that he might not recover and the doctors are telling me that it might be a while before he gets better.
Furthermore, it looks like his kidneys have taken a hit and the doctors are now talking about dialysing him and putting him on the kidney machine. Out of that I have two questions. Number one, what do you think my father’s chances of recovery are and if he does recover, would he need dialysis for the rest of his life?
Hi Evelyn,
thank you for your question.
In order to answer your question, you need to know that Abdominal Aneurysm Repairs(‘AAA’ or ‘triple A’ repairs in the medical jargon) are usually rarely straightforward and most Patients, especially above the age of 60 do not recover quickly in Intensive Care.
It comes with the territory and ‘AAA repairs’ are a massive event, as the Patients tend to lose large amounts of blood during surgery as the aorta is the major vessel, carrying a lot, if not the vast majority of the human blood.
Patients in Intensive Care can therefore be very unstable and critical after surgery and that generally delays the recovery time. With that in mind, Patients tend to get donor blood during and often after the operation as well in order to make up for the loss of blood. Often Patients might have lost blood on their way to hospital/ surgery as well, as AAA repairs can be emergency cases as well.
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Moreover, AAA repairs tend to be lengthy surgical procedures with some cases lasting up to 12-14 hours surgery time. That’s a long time and generally the older Patients are the longer it takes them to
a) Recover from the surgery in Intensive Care
b) Get out of the induced coma and also get off the ventilator
The other thing that often does go hand in hand after ‘AAA repairs’ is kidney or renal failure. The reason for that is that when the Aorta is being repaired, both ends of this large vessel are being clamped in order to stop blood flowing during surgery for the repair and at the same time, given that the aorta is supplying all major organs including the kidneys with blood, the blood flow to the kidneys is interrupted during surgery.
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Given the long surgery times, the longer the kidneys are without blood supply, the higher the likelihood of your father going into kidney or renal failure after surgery.
You may want to check, maybe your father also has pre- existing kidney impairments, but it’s nothing unusual to go into kidney failure after ‘AAA repair’.
As I have mentioned above, surgery times can be extremely long for ‘AAA repairs’ and that in combination with your father’s age are likely contributing to your father’s recovery time. Keep in mind that Aortic abdominal aneurysms are life threatening and that there is a reason why your father has been admitted to Intensive Care.
Because your father had lots of anesthetics during surgery and he is still in Intensive Care requiring some form of sedation for tolerating ventilation and generally for comfort and for pain relief, would also contribute to him not waking up and he may well need more time. Also contributing to this would be his kidney failure, because if his kidneys aren’t working properly, it takes longer for the body to get rid of and metabolise the sedation and pain medication and therefore he might have too much sedation floating around in his body, prolonging his stay in Intensive Care and not ‘waking up’.
Regarding your father’s kidney failure and whether he would need life long dialysis. It depends on whether your father has had kidney problems in the past and it also depends how much damage has been done to the kidneys during surgery and how long the kidneys have been without sufficient blood supply. Usually, most Patients in Intensive Care requiring (Haemo) dialysis only require the dialysis intermittently and the kidneys recover fully. Having said that, some Patients after ‘AAA repair’ do require dialysis after their stay in Intensive Care for the rest of their lives.
How can you get PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence quickly, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care?
You get to that all important feeling of PEACE OF MIND, CONTROL, POWER AND INFLUENCE when you download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report NOW by entering your email below!
In Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” report you’ll learn quickly how to get PEACE OF MIND, real power and real control and how you can influence decision making fast, whilst your loved one is critically ill in Intensive Care! Your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” Report gives you in-depth insight that you must know whilst your loved one is critically ill or is even dying in Intensive Care! Sign up and download your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT now by entering your email below!
In your FREE “INSTANT IMPACT” REPORT you’ll learn how to speak the “secret” Intensive Care language so that the doctors and the nurses know straight away that you are an insider and that you know and understand what’s really happening in Intensive Care!
In your FREE report you’ll also discover
- How to ask the doctors and the nurses the right questions
- Discover the many competing interests in Intensive Care and how your critically ill loved one’s treatment may depend on those competing interests
- How to eliminate fear, frustration, stress, struggle and vulnerability even if your loved one is dying
- 5 mind blowing tips& strategies helping you to get on the right path to PEACE OF MIND, control, power and influence in your situation
- You’ll get real world examples that you can easily adapt to your and your critically ill loved one’s situation
- How to stop being intimidated by the Intensive Care team and how you will be seen as equals
- You’ll get crucial ‘behind the scenes’ insight so that you know and understand what is really happening in Intensive Care
- How you need to manage doctors and nurses in Intensive Care(it’s not what you think)
Thank you for tuning into this week’s “BLOG” and I’ll see you again in another update next week!
Make sure you also check out our “YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED” section where I answer your questions or send me an email to [email protected] with your questions!
Or you can call us! Find phone numbers on our contact tab.
Also check out our Products section where you get more Ebooks, Videos and Audio recordings and where you can also get 1:1 consulting with me via Skype or over the phone by clicking on the products tab!
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVECAREHOTLINE.COM and I’ll see you again next week with another update!
Your Friend
Patrik Hutzel
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- If my critically ill loved one has a breathing tube(endotracheal tube) do they need a chest x-ray daily?
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