Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThe addition of a tramadol infusion to morphine patient-controlled analgesia after abdominal surgery: a double-blinded, placebo-controlled randomized trial.
In this double-blinded, randomized controlled trial, we tested whether the addition of tramadol to morphine for patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) resulted in improved analgesia efficacy and smaller morphine requirements compared with morphine PCA alone after abdominal surgery in adults. Sixty-nine patients were randomly allocated into two groups, each receiving morphine 1 mg/mL via PCA after surgery. The tramadol group received an intraoperative initial loading dose of tramadol (1 mg/kg) and a postoperative infusion of tramadol at 0.2 mg. kg(-1). h(-1). The control group received an intraoperative equivalent volume of normal saline and a postoperative saline infusion. Postoperatively, tramadol was associated with improved subjective analgesic efficacy (P = 0.031) and there was significantly less PCA morphine use in the tramadol group (P = 0.023). No differences between the groups were found with regard to nausea, antiemetic use, sedation, or quality of recovery (all P > 0.05). We conclude that a tramadol infusion combined with PCA morphine improves analgesia and reduces morphine requirements after abdominal surgery compared with morphine PCA alone. ⋯ In this study, we determined whether adding a second pain-killing drug, tramadol, could improve pain relief after major surgery in patients receiving morphine patient-controlled analgesia. We found that patients receiving tramadol had significantly better opinions of their pain relief and used significantly less morphine with no increase in side effects.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2002
Development and analysis of a new certifying examination in perioperative transesophageal echocardiography.
A key element in developing a process to determine knowledge and ability in applying perioperative echocardiography has included an examination. We report on the development of a certifying examination in perioperative echocardiography. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that examination performance is related to clinical experience in echocardiography. Since 1995, more than 1200 participants have taken the examination, and more than 70% have passed. Overall examination performance was related positively to longer than 3 mo of training (or equivalent) in echocardiography and performance and interpretation of at least six examinations a week. We concluded that the certifying examination in perioperative echocardiography is a valid tool to help determine individual knowledge in perioperative echocardiography application. ⋯ This report describes the process involved in developing the certifying transesophageal echocardiography examination and identifies correlates with examination performance.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2002
The effects of intrathecal administration of an antagonist for prostaglandin E receptor subtype EP(1) on mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in a rat model of postoperative pain.
Despite substantial advances in understanding acute pain mechanisms and in the treatment of pain, postoperative pain, especially mechanically evoked pain (incident pain), is generally not effectively treated. Tissue injury and inflammation increase the release of prostaglandin E(2) in the spinal cord, contributing to the development of hyperalgesia. We designed the present study to determine whether the intrathecal administration of an antagonist for prostaglandin E(2) receptor subtype EP(1), ONO-8711, has an analgesic effect on incision-induced mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia. A 1-cm longitudinal skin incision was made in the plantar aspect of the rat foot. The withdrawal threshold to mechanical stimulation and the withdrawal latency to thermal stimulation applied adjacent to the wound of the hindpaw were investigated. Both mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia were observed at 2 h and 24 h after the incision had been made. ONO-8711 (50, 80, 100 micro g) or saline was administered intrathecally. ONO-8711 significantly increased the withdrawal thresholds to mechanical stimulation, but not to thermal stimulation, in a dose- and time-dependent manner. We conclude that EP(1) receptor-mediated sensitization of the spinal dorsal horn may contribute to the generation of mechanical, but not thermal, hyperalgesia and that an EP(1) receptor antagonist administered intrathecally is a potential analgesic for postoperative pain, especially mechanically evoked pain (incident pain). ⋯ We examined the effects of an intrathecally administered selective EP(1) receptor antagonist on mechanical and thermal hyperalgesia in a postoperative pain model. The intrathecal EP(1) receptor antagonist inhibited the mechanical, but not thermal, hyperalgesia, indicating the potential for an EP(1) receptor antagonist to be used as an analgesic for postoperative pain, especially incident pain.