Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Pharyngeal mucosal pressure and perfusion: a fiberoptic evaluation of the posterior pharynx in anesthetized adult patients with a modified cuffed oropharyngeal airway.
Pharyngeal airway devices can exert substantial pressures against the pharyngeal mucosa. The authors assess the relation between pharyngeal mucosal perfusion and directly measured mucosal pressure (MP) in the posterior pharynx using a fiberoptic technique with a modified cuffed oropharyngeal airway (COPA). The authors also measure in vivo intracuff pressure (CP), airway sealing pressure and MP at four locations using an unmodified COPA. ⋯ Pharyngeal mucosal perfusion is reduced progressively in the posterior pharynx when MP is increased from 34 to 80 cm H2O with the COPA. CP provides reliable information about MP and should be less than 120 cm H2O to prevent mucosal ischemia.
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The authors used a nursing task inventory system to assess nursing resources for patients with and without adverse postoperative events in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU). ⋯ Nursing care documentation based on requirements for individual patients demonstrates that the rate of postoperative adverse events affects the amount of nursing resources needed in the PACU.
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The principal site for elimination of propofol is the liver. The clearance of propofol exceeds hepatic blood flow; therefore, extrahepatic clearance is thought to contribute to its elimination. This study examined the pulmonary kinetics of propofol using part of an indocyanine green (ICG) recirculatory model. ⋯ Recirculatory modeling of ICG allows modeling of the first-pass pulmonary kinetics of propofol concurrently. Propofol undergoes extensive uptake and first-pass elimination in the lungs.
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Although several anterior approaches to sciatic nerve block have been described, they are used infrequently. The authors describe a new anterior approach that allows access to the sciatic nerve with the patient in the supine position. ⋯ This approach represents an easy and reliable anterior technique for performing sciatic nerve blocks.