Anesthesiology
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
General Anesthesia versus Sedation, Both with Hemodynamic Control, during Intraarterial Treatment for Stroke: The GASS Randomized Trial.
It is speculated that the anesthetic strategy during endovascular therapy for stroke may have an impact on the outcome of the patients. The authors hypothesized that conscious sedation is associated with a better functional outcome 3 months after endovascular therapy for the treatment of stroke compared with general anesthesia. ⋯ The functional outcomes 3 months after endovascular treatment for stroke were similar with general anesthesia and sedation. Our results, therefore, suggest that clinicians can use either approach.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Prophylactic Penehyclidine Inhalation for Prevention of Postoperative Pulmonary Complications in High-risk Patients: A Double-blind Randomized Trial.
Postoperative pulmonary complications are common. Aging and respiratory disease provoke airway hyperresponsiveness, high-risk surgery induces diaphragmatic dysfunction, and general anesthesia contributes to atelectasis and peripheral airway injury. This study therefore tested the hypothesis that inhalation of penehyclidine, a long-acting muscarinic antagonist, reduces the incidence of pulmonary complications in high-risk patients over the initial 30 postoperative days. ⋯ In high-risk patients having major upper-abdominal or noncardiac thoracic surgery, prophylactic penehyclidine inhalation reduced the incidence of pulmonary complications without provoking complications.
-
Opioids may produce life-threatening respiratory depression and death from their actions at the opioid receptors within the brainstem respiratory neuronal network. Since there is an increasing number of conditions where the administration of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone is inadequate or undesired, there is an increased interest in the development of novel reversal and prevention strategies aimed at providing efficacy close to that of the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone but with fewer of its drawbacks such as its short duration of action and lesser ability to reverse high-affinity opioids, such as carfentanil, or drug combinations. To give an overview of this highly relevant topic, the authors systematically discuss predominantly experimental pharmacotherapies, published in the last 5 yr, aimed at reversal of opioid-induced respiratory depression as alternatives to naloxone. ⋯ The authors argue that none of these often still experimental therapies are sufficiently tested with respect to efficacy and safety, and many of the agents presented have a lesser efficacy at deeper levels of respiratory depression, i.e., inability to overcome apnea, or have ample side effects. The authors suggest development of reversal strategies that combine respiratory stimulants with naloxone. Furthermore, they encourage collaborations between research groups to expedite development of viable reversal strategies of potent synthetic opioid-induced respiratory depression.