Recent advances in nonoperating room anesthesia for cardiac procedures

The number of complex procedures performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory (CCL) is rapidly increasing. Because of their complexity, they frequently require the assistance of an anesthesiologist. The CCL is primarily designed to facilitate a percutaneous cardiac intervention; therefore, it might be a challenging workplace for an anesthesiologist. The aim of this review is to briefly present tasks and challenges of providing anesthesia in the CCL and to provide a concise description of common cardiac procedures performed there.

Recent literature indicates that many complicated cardiac procedures can be performed in CCL under monitored anesthesia care. At the same time several of them (e.g. transcatheter aortic valve replacement) are quickly becoming a viable alternative for surgical valve replacement. The most recent expansion of CCL procedures is related to rapidly growing population of grown-ups with congenital heart disease. All aforementioned developments present new challenges to an anesthesiologist.

New and fast development of percutaneous cardiac interventions has created a new working place for the anesthesiologist - the CCL. Our expertise in complex cardiac pathophysiology allows conduct of complicated procedures outside of the operating theater. For the same reasons, there is ongoing discussion whether anesthesia support in CCL should be provided by a general or cardiac anesthesiologist.