Anesthesiology
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Failed or difficult tracheal intubation is an important cause of morbidity and mortality during anesthesia. Although a number of fiberoptic devices are available to circumvent this problem, many do not allow manual control of the flexion of the tip and necessitate time-consuming preparation, special training, or the use of an external light source. To improve these limitations, the authors designed a new fiberoptic stylet scope (FSS) that has a simple form of a standard stylet with the fiberoptic view and maneuverability of its tip. This study was undertaken to prospectively evaluate the effectiveness of the FSS in tracheal intubation. ⋯ Tracheal intubation using the FSS proved to be a simple and effective technique for airway management.
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Clinical Trial
Experimental pain augments experimental dyspnea, but not vice versa in human volunteers.
Pain and dyspnea frequently coexist in many clinical situations. However, whether the two different symptoms interact with each other has not been elucidated. To elucidate the interaction between pain and dyspneic sensations, the authors investigated separately the effects of pain on dyspnea and the effects of dyspnea on pain in 15 healthy subjects. ⋯ The authors' findings suggest that pain intensifies the dyspneic sensation, presumably by increasing the respiratory drive, whereas dyspnea may not intensify the pain sensation.
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Recent years have seen the introduction of innovative additive therapies for acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, because there are no reliable predictors of response to a particular therapy, potential responders to a specific therapeutic intervention may be lost. Therefore, the authors evaluated the effect of a combined therapeutic approach on the survival of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, when treated according to a strict algorithm. ⋯ The 80% overall survival rate achieved in this group of patients with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome may in part reflect the additive beneficial effects of combined treatment methods, such as airway pressure control, nitric oxide inhalation, prone position, and early triage of nonresponders to extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.