Anesthesiology
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To evaluate the impact of anesthetics on the evolution of a cerebral injury, 33 rabbits were subjected to a cryogenic brain lesion, followed by 10 h of anesthesia with 1 MAC halothane or isoflurane (n = 11 each) or with an equipotent dose of pentobarbital (n = 11). The lungs were ventilated to a PaCO2 = 30-35 mmHg with O2/air and normothermia was maintained. Intracranial pressure (ICP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), central venous pressure (CVP), arterial blood gases, and pH, osmolality, and other blood chemistries were recorded. ⋯ ICP increased in all animals, but with no significant intergroup differences (ICP in halothane animals was numerically lower). There were no clear differences in the incidence of ventricular drainage (1 halothane, 5 isoflurane, 3 pentobarbital; P = 0.16). In spite of CSF drainage and angiotensin, CPP
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Anesthesiologist-reviewers examined 1,175 anesthetic-related closed malpractice claims from 17 professional liability insurance companies. The claims were filed between 1974 and 1988. The reviewers were asked to determine if the negative outcome was preventable by proper use of additional monitoring devices available at the time of the review even if not available at the time the incident occurred, and if so, which devices could have been preventative. ⋯ The judgements or settlements of the incidents judged preventable by additional monitoring were 11 times more costly (P less than 0.01) than those mishaps not judged preventable. The monitors determined by the reviewers to be most useful in mishap prevention were pulse oximetry plus capnometry. Applied together, these two technologies were considered potentially preventative in 93% of the preventable mishaps.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Despite evidence from animal experiments to the contrary, nitrous oxide (N2O) reportedly does not induce myocardial ischemia when used as an adjunct to fentanyl anesthesia in patients with coronary artery disease who have well-preserved left ventricular (LV) function. However, the incidence of ischemia with N2O administration in similar patients with poor LV function may be different. The effects of N2O on segmental LV function, as determined by two-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography, changes in the ST-segment of the electrocardiogram were compared with the effects of an equal concentration of nitrogen (N2) (crossover design) in 70 patients who required elective coronary artery bypass grafting. ⋯ Preoperative calcium channel blockers made no such differences. Onset of ischemia was not closely associated with hemodynamic changes. Thus, N2O does not induce clinically detectable myocardial ischemia in patients who have coronary artery disease, and poor LV function in situations in which the effects of deepening anesthetic depth and mild depression of global myocardial function are deemed desirable or harmless.