Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Comparative StudyLower bispectral index values in children who are intellectually disabled.
Very few data are available on the use of bispectral index (BIS) monitoring in children who are intellectually disabled. Epileptiform electroencephalogram activity, underlying cerebral pathology, or anticonvulsant/spasmolytic therapy might influence BIS monitoring. Our aim in this exploratory study was to first compare BIS values at 4 different stages of anesthesia between intellectually disabled children and controls. Our second aim was to investigate the discriminative properties of BIS between consciousness and unconsciousness for intellectually disabled children and for controls. ⋯ We advise anesthesiologists to be alert to possible lower BIS values in intellectually disabled children. There is a risk that they will inadvertently misinterpret the state of consciousness in intellectually disabled children. New multicenter studies must find the optimal manner of evaluating (un)consciousness in intellectually disabled patients with documented and confirmed specific etiologies of their intellectual disability.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Comparative StudyAn in vitro analysis of central venous drug delivery by continuous infusion: the effect of manifold design and port selection.
Central venous catheters are used extensively in anesthesia and critical care. Multiport manifolds allow for simultaneous administration of multiple medication infusions into a common central venous catheter lumen. The structures of such manifolds vary considerably. In this study, we quantitatively compared, in a laboratory model of continuous drug infusion, the drug delivery dynamics of a traditional stopcock manifold and a microinfusion manifold constructed to minimize dead volume. ⋯ Using a traditional stopcock manifold, port selection significantly affects drug delivery dynamics for continuous infusions. The findings provide quantitative support for the concept that the most critical infusion should join the system at the manifold port closest to the patient. Port selection was less important for the microinfusion manifold and dynamics were faster compared with the second and fourth ports of the stopcock manifold. The smaller dead volumes of the microinfusion manifold minimize unwanted delays in drug delivery onset and offset allowing more precise control over drug delivery by continuous infusion.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Late-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia in nontrauma intensive care unit patients.
Most studies designed to determine the factors associated with the acquisition of late-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) were performed in critically ill trauma patients. The impact of enteral nutrition (EN) on the risk of acquiring VAP has been discussed. In this study, we assessed factors associated with late-onset VAP in nontrauma patients and determined whether nutrition provided early was associated with development of late-onset VAP in this population. ⋯ In our nontrauma patient population, early EN was not associated with development of late-onset VAP. In this population, severity of the disease during the first 5 days of MV seemed to be associated with late-onset VAP. In addition, our results suggest that the risk of late-onset VAP is higher in patients with a tube size >or=7.5 than in patients with a tube size <7.5.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
The prevalence of perioperative visual loss in the United States: a 10-year study from 1996 to 2005 of spinal, orthopedic, cardiac, and general surgery.
Perioperative visual loss (POVL) accompanying nonocular surgery is a rare and potentially devastating complication but its frequency in commonly performed inpatient surgery is not well defined. We used the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to estimate the rate of POVL in the United States among the eight most common nonocular surgeries. ⋯ The results confirm the clinical suspicion that the risk of POVL is higher in cardiac and spine fusion surgery and show for the first time a higher risk of this complication in patients undergoing lower extremity joint replacement surgery. The prevalence of POVL in the eight most commonly performed surgical operations in the United States has decreased between 1996 and 2005. Increased odds of POVL with male gender and comorbidity index indicate that some risk factors for POVL may not presently be modifiable. The conclusions of this study are limited by factors affecting data accuracy, such as lack of data on the intraoperative course and inability to confirm the diagnostic coding of any of the discharges in the database.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Cricoid pressure results in compression of the postcricoid hypopharynx: the esophageal position is irrelevant.
Sellick described cricoid pressure (CP) as pinching the esophagus between the cricoid ring and the cervical spine. A recent report noted that with the application of CP, the esophagus moved laterally more than 90% of the time, questioning the efficacy of this maneuver. We designed this study to accurately define the anatomy of the Sellick maneuver and to investigate its efficacy. ⋯ The location and movement of the esophagus is irrelevant to the efficiency of the Sellick's maneuver (CP) in regard to prevention of gastric regurgitation into the pharynx. The hypopharynx and cricoid ring move together as an anatomic unit. This relationship is essential to the efficacy and reliability of Sellick's maneuver. The magnetic resonance images show that compression of the alimentary tract occurs with midline and lateral displacement of the cricoid cartilage relative to the underlying vertebral body.