Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Oral ketamine preanesthetic medication in children.
The authors sought to define a dose of oral ketamine that would facilitate induction of anesthesia without causing significant side effects. Forty-five children (ASA Physical Status 1 and 2; aged 1-7 yr) were assigned randomly in a prospective, double-blind fashion to three separate groups that received either 3 mg/kg, 6 mg/kg, or no ketamine mixed in 0.2 ml/kg cola-flavored soft drink. They also were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively for acceptance of oral ketamine as a premedicant, reaction to separation from parents, emotional state, and emergence phenomena. ⋯ The 3 mg/kg dose did not always cause sedation and calm separation from parents. Neither dose of ketamine increased the incidence of laryngospasm, prolonged recovery times, or caused emergence phenomena. The authors conclude that an oral dose of 6 mg/kg ketamine is easily administered and well accepted in young children and provides predictable, satisfactory premedication without significant side effects.
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Review
Management of the difficult adult airway. With special emphasis on awake tracheal intubation.
Difficulty in managing the airway is the single most important cause of major anesthesia-related morbidity and mortality. Successful management of a difficult airway begins with recognizing the potential problem. All patients should be examined for their ability to open their mouth widely and for the structures visible upon mouth opening, the size of the mandibular space, and ability to assume the sniff position. ⋯ Eighty percent of the 127 references in this article were published after 1985. However, there is much more to learn with regard to recognition of the difficult airway, preparation of the patient for an awake intubation, new techniques of endotracheal intubation, and establishment of gas exchange in patients who cannot be intubated or ventilated by mask. As the anesthesiologist's ability to manage the difficult airway significantly improves, respiratory-related morbidity and mortality will decrease.
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We sought to determine the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) and hemodynamic responses to desflurane in 72 fasting and unpremedicated full-term neonates, infants, and children up to 12 yr of age. The patients were divided into six groups (n = 12) according to age. After awake tracheal intubation, neonates were anesthetized with desflurane in oxygen and air. ⋯ We found that the relationship between MAC (mean +/- standard deviation) as determined by the up-and-down technique and age was quadratic, reaching a maximum value in infants 6-12 months of age: in neonates 0-1 month MAC was 9.16 +/- 0.02%, in infants 1-6 months 9.42 +/- 0.06%, in infants 6-12 months 9.92 +/- 0.44%, in children 1-3 yr 8.72 +/- 0.59%, in children 3-5 yr 8.62 +/- 0.45%, and in children 5-12 yr 7.98 +/- 0.43%. MAC values obtained using logistic regression were similar. Heart rate decreased an average of 16% before skin incision in infants 6-12 months of age and children 1-3 and 3-5 yr of age when compared to awake values (P less than 0.025) but did not change significantly in the remaining three groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Although epinephrine increases cerebral blood flow (CBF) and left ventricular blood flow (LVBF) during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), the effects of high dosages on LVBF and CBF and cerebral O2 uptake have not been examined during prolonged CPR. We determined whether log increment dosages of epinephrine would enhance LVBF and CBF and cerebral O2 uptake in an infant swine CPR model. We compared these responses with epinephrine to those with the alpha-adrenergic agonist, phenylephrine. ⋯ Incremental dosages of epinephrine did not statistically increase cerebral O2 uptake or lower the cerebral fractional O2 extraction when compared with the control group, despite the higher CBF that was generated. In this immature animal CPR model, 10 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 epinephrine is an optimal dosage for maximizing both CBF and LVBF, a dosage that substantially exceeds the current recommended epinephrine dosage for human infant CPR. In addition, for short periods of CPR, 40 micrograms.kg-1.min-1 phenylephrine increases CBF and LVBF to levels similar to those generated by high dosages of epinephrine.