Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialNocebo-induced hyperalgesia during local anesthetic injection.
Common practice during local anesthetic injection is to warn the patient using words such as: "You will feel a big bee sting; this is the worst part." Our hypothesis was that using gentler words for administration of the local anesthetic improves pain perception and patient comfort. One hundred forty healthy women at term gestation requesting neuraxial analgesia were randomized to either a "placebo" ("We are going to give you a local anesthetic that will numb the area and you will be comfortable during the procedure") or "nocebo" ("You are going to feel a big bee sting; this is the worst part of the procedure") group. ⋯ Median verbal analog scale pain scores were lower when reassuring words were used compared with the harsher nocebo words (3 [2-4] vs 5 [3-6]; P < 0.001). Our data suggest that using gentler, more reassuring words improves the subjective experience during invasive procedures.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2010
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe effect of bispectral index monitoring on long-term survival in the B-aware trial.
When anesthesia is titrated using bispectral index (BIS) monitoring, patients generally receive lower doses of hypnotic drugs. Intraoperative hypotension and organ toxicity might be avoided if lower doses of anesthetics are administered, but whether this translates into a reduction in serious morbidity or mortality remains controversial. The B-Aware Trial randomly allocated 2463 patients at high risk of awareness to BIS-guided anesthesia or routine care. We tested the hypothesis that the risks of death, myocardial infarction (MI), and stroke would be lower in patients allocated to BIS-guided management than in those allocated to routine care. ⋯ Monitoring with BIS and absence of BIS values <40 for >5 min were associated with improved survival and reduced morbidity in patients enrolled in the B-Aware Trial.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2010
Controlled Clinical TrialA point-of-care assessment of the effects of desmopressin on impaired platelet function using multiple electrode whole-blood aggregometry in patients after cardiac surgery.
Blood loss after cardiac surgery can be caused by acquired platelet dysfunction after cardiopulmonary bypass. Monitoring of platelet function is clinically important for the identification of patients experiencing such platelet dysfunction. 1-Deamino-8-D-arginine vasopressin (desmopressin acetate, DDAVP) has been shown to augment platelet function and to reduce blood loss in patients with platelet dysfunction. In this study, we examined the feasibility of whole blood multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA) for the detection of cardiopulmonary bypass-induced platelet dysfunction and investigated its ability to monitor DDAVP treatment. ⋯ Impaired platelet function after cardiac surgery can be assessed at the bedside using MEA. The effect of DDAVP on impaired platelet function can also be detected as significant improvement in platelet aggregation to all activators. This device might be helpful for the identification of patients who may benefit from DDAVP therapy.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2010
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyResistive-polymer versus forced-air warming: comparable efficacy in orthopedic patients.
Several adverse consequences are caused by mild perioperative hypothermia. Maintaining normothermia with patient warming systems, today mostly with forced air (FA), has thus become a standard procedure during anesthesia. Recently, a polymer-based resistive patient warming system was developed. We compared the efficacy of a widely distributed FA system with the resistive-polymer (RP) system in a prospective, randomized clinical study. ⋯ RP warming performed as efficiently as FA warming in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2010
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyLocal administration of morphine for analgesia after autogenous anterior or posterior iliac crest bone graft harvest for spinal fusion: a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Harvesting of iliac crest graft for spinal fusions is associated with a number of patients reporting residual or chronic pain at the harvest site. Various interventions, including morphine infiltration, have been proposed to minimize the associated pain. ⋯ This study has demonstrated that there are no additional benefits for the use of intraoperative infiltration of morphine into the iliac crest harvest site during spinal fusions.