Anesthesiology
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Comment Letter
Are signposts in the woods pointing in the right direction?
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The current study was designed to test the hypothesis that dexmedetomidine added to ropivacaine would increase the duration of antinociception to a thermal stimulus in a dose-dependent fashion in a rat model of sciatic nerve blockade. ⋯ This is the first study showing that dexmedetomidine added to ropivacaine increases the duration of sensory blockade in a dose-dependent fashion in rats. The findings are an essential first step encouraging future efficacy studies in humans.
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Partial carbon dioxide rebreathing noninvasively measures the pulmonary capillary blood flow and estimates the cardiac output with the use of a predicted shunt value. It has been reported that the accuracy of the method is decreased in patients with high pulmonary shunt. The aim of this study was to investigate the agreement between partial rebreathing and thermodilution for the determination of pulmonary capillary blood flow and cardiac output in the setting of acute respiratory distress syndrome. ⋯ In patients with the acute respiratory distress syndrome, partial rebreathing cannot yet replace thermodilution for measuring pulmonary capillary blood flow or cardiac output. However, accuracy of the method is close to the boundary of clinical relevance.