Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
Resistive polymer versus forced-air warming: comparable heat transfer and core rewarming rates in volunteers.
Mild perioperative hypothermia increases the risk of several severe complications. Perioperative patient warming to preserve normothermia has thus become routine, with forced-air warming being used most often. In previous studies, various resistive warming systems have shown mixed results in comparison with forced-air. Recently, a polymer-based resistive patient warming system has been developed. We compared the efficacy of a standard forced-air warming system with the resistive polymer system in volunteers. ⋯ Heating efficacy and core rewarming rates were similar with full-body forced-air and full-body resistive polymer heating in healthy volunteers.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
Case ReportsEndobrochial blockade through a tracheostomy tube for lung isolation.
We present an alternative technique for one-lung ventilation as safe way of treating patients with tracheostomy using a fiberoptic bronchoscope and a Fogarty catheter.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
Emergency airway management with fiberoptic intubation in the prone position with a fixed flexed neck.
We describe emergency airway management with fiberoptic intubation in a patient in the prone position with her neck flexed by a head pin holder during a neurosurgical procedure. Laryngeal mask airway is suggested in emergency difficult airway algorithms; however, this was not feasible in this patient because of her edematous upper airway and limited mouth opening resulting from extreme neck flexion by a head pin holder. The case illustrates the role of fiberoptic intubation in emergency airway management in this critical situation. Maneuvers to facilitate fiberoptic technique are also described.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
The influence of age on the dynamic relationship between end-tidal sevoflurane concentrations and bispectral index.
Age is an important determinant of the pharmacokinetic profile of inhaled anesthetics. The influence of age on the dynamic profile of sevoflurane's effect has not been well described. We performed this study to characterize the influence of age and other covariates on the dynamic relationship between sevoflurane end-tidal concentration (C(ET)) and its effect measured by bispectral index (BIS). ⋯ Age significantly affects the dynamic relationship between sevoflurane C(ET) and its effect measured with BIS.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
The effects of volatile aromatic anesthetics on voltage-gated Na+ channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes.
Many inhaled anesthetics inhibit voltage-gated sodium channels at clinically relevant concentrations, and suppression of neurotransmitter release by these anesthetics results, at least partly, from decreased presynaptic sodium channel activity. Volatile aromatic anesthetics can inhibit N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor function and enhance gamma-amino butyric acid A receptor function, but these effects depend strongly on the chemical properties of the aromatic compounds. In the present study we tested whether diverse aromatic anesthetics consistently inhibit sodium channel function. ⋯ Aromatic compounds vary in their actions on the kinetics of sodium channel gating and this may underlie their variable inhibition. The range of inhibition produced by minimum alveolar anesthetic concentration concentrations of inhaled anesthetics indicates that sodium channel inhibition may underlie the action of some of these anesthetics, but not others.