Anesthesiology
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Review Meta Analysis
Perioperative systemic magnesium to minimize postoperative pain: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Peri-operative systemic magnesium reduces postoperative pain and opioid consumption, although it is of uncertain clinical significance.
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Neuraxial anesthesia is utilized in children of all ages. Local anesthetics produce dose-dependent toxicity in certain adult models, but the developing spinal cord may also be susceptible to drug-induced apoptosis. In postnatal rodents, we examined the effects of intrathecal levobupivacaine on neuropathology and long-term sensorimotor outcomes. ⋯ Single dose intrathecal levobupivacaine 0.5% did not increase apoptosis or produce spinal toxicity in neonatal rat pups. This study provides preclinical safety data relevant to neonatal use of neuraxial local anesthesia.
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Mutations within the gene encoding the skeletal muscle calcium channel ryanodine receptor can result in malignant hyperthermia. Although it is important to characterize the functional effects of candidate mutations to establish a genetic test for diagnosis, ex vivo methods are limited because of the low incidence of the disorder and sample unavailability. More than 250 candidate mutations have been identified, but only a few mutations have been functionally characterized. ⋯ These six mutations cause functional abnormality of the calcium channel, leading to higher sensitivity to a specific agonist, and therefore could be considered potentially causative of malignant hyperthermia reactions.