Anesthesia and analgesia
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The low solubility of desflurane contributes to rapid emergence after outpatient anesthesia. Compared with isoflurane, recovery times to eye opening, response to verbal commands, and orientation to person, place, and time have been significantly shorter. Even when compared with the rapid, short-acting intravenous anesthetic propofol for induction and maintenance of outpatient anesthesia, desflurane displayed more favorable early recovery characteristics. ⋯ As desflurane is pungent and possesses respiratory irritant properties, propofol will likely remain the induction agent of choice in the outpatient setting. In conclusion, desflurane appears to have few adverse effects on recovery after ambulatory surgery, but nausea and emesis were lower with propofol. Desflurane's relative ease of administration versus propofol may be an important determinant of its future role in outpatient anesthesia.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 1992
Intraoperative monitoring of tibialis anterior muscle motor evoked responses to transcranial electrical stimulation during partial neuromuscular blockade.
We studied the feasibility of recording motor evoked responses to transcranial electrical stimulation (tce-MERs) during partial neuromuscular blockade (NMB). In 11 patients, compound muscle action potentials were recorded from the tibialis anterior muscle in response to transcranial electrical stimulation during various levels of vecuronium-induced NMB. The level of NMB was assessed by accelerometry of the adductor pollicis muscle after train-of-four stimulation of the ulnar nerve. ⋯ Before administration of vecuronium, the M-response amplitude was 9.6 +/- 3.6 (mean +/- SD) mV, and the tce-MER amplitude was 1.21 +/- 0.66 mV. Although administration of vecuronium (0.05 mg/kg) resulted in loss of the mechanical adductor pollicis response in 8 of the 11 patients, the M-response and the tce-MER remained recordable. Subsequently, during an infusion of vecuronium, adjusted to maintain one or two mechanical responses to train-of-four stimulation, the average M-response to peroneal nerve stimulation was 5.2 +/- 2.5 mV (53% of the control value), and tce-MER amplitude was 0.59 +/- 0.36 mV (59% of the control value).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 1992
Comment Letter Comparative StudyPreemptive analgesia: an early observation.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 1992
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEpidural clonidine enhances postoperative analgesia from a combined low-dose epidural bupivacaine and morphine regimen.
In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the value of adding clonidine to a low-dose epidural regimen for postoperative pain treatment was assessed. Twenty-four patients scheduled for hysterectomy during combined thoracic epidural (bupivacaine and morphine) and general anesthesia were studied. Postoperative analgesia consisted of epidural bupivacaine (5 mg/h) and morphine (0.1 mg/h) for 12 h. ⋯ We found no significant difference in pain scores at rest between the clonidine and placebo groups but an enhanced analgesic effect by clonidine during cough and mobilization (P less than 0.05). Arterial blood pressure decreased significantly during clonidine infusion and remained lower than in the control group throughout the study. We conclude that a continuous low-dose epidural clonidine infusion enhances analgesia from a combined low-dose epidural bupivacaine and morphine regimen after hysterectomy; however, the concomitant decrease in arterial blood pressure during epidural clonidine deserves further study before such a regimen can be recommended.
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Desflurane causes dose-dependent decreases in cerebrovascular resistance and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO2), suggesting that desflurane is a cerebral arteriolar dilator with global flow-metabolism coupling similar to halothane and isoflurane. Desflurane is also similar to isoflurane in that cerebrovascular responsivity to carbon dioxide appears to be maintained. In the dog, arterial hypotension to 40 mm Hg induced with 2.4 MAC desflurane resulted in global decreases in cerebral blood flow of 60% and CMRO2 of 20%. ⋯ The electroencephalographic effects of desflurane are similar to those of isoflurane in humans, and burst suppression is easily achieved. There are no data available concerning possible interactions between desflurane and the outcome of a cerebral ischemic event. Similar to other potent volatile agents, desflurane can cause cerebral vasodilation and may result in intracranial pressure changes in vulnerable patients, but if adequate hyperventilation and depth of anesthesia are maintained, it is probably safe to use desflurane in a manner similar to isoflurane in patients with decreased intracranial compliance.