Anesthesia and analgesia
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPropofol in a modified cyclodextrin formulation: first human study of dose-response with emphasis on injection pain.
A new lipid-free preparation of propofol has been developed containing the drug, sulfobutylether ß-cyclodextrin and water. The primary objective of this study was to compare the effects of propofol in the lipid formulation with those of the new cyclodextrin formulation, particularly with regard to pain on injection. We hypothesized that the propofol in cyclodextrin would be associated with less pain on injection than propofol in lipid. ⋯ The propofol in cyclodextrin formulation failed to reduce the pain on injection associated with propofol.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2011
Point-of-care electronic prompts: an effective means of increasing compliance, demonstrating quality, and improving outcome.
Incentives based on quality indicators such as the Surgical Care Improvement Project core measures (SCIP 1) encourage implementation of evidence-based guidelines consistently into clinical practice. Information systems with point-of-care electronic prompts (POCEPs) can facilitate adoption of processes and benchmark performance. We evaluated the effectiveness of POCEPs on rates of antibiotic administration within 60 minutes of surgical incision and effect on outcome in a prospective observational trial. ⋯ POCEPs increased compliance with SCIP indicators by >30% and were associated with a 0.4% absolute risk reduction in the incidence of SSI. POCEPs may be useful to modulate provider behavior and demonstrate intraoperative quality and value.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2011
ReviewContinuous peripheral nerve blocks: a review of the published evidence.
A continuous peripheral nerve block, also termed "perineural local anesthetic infusion," involves the percutaneous insertion of a catheter adjacent to a peripheral nerve, followed by local anesthetic administration via the catheter, providing anesthesia/analgesia for multiple days or even months. Continuous peripheral nerve blocks may be provided in the hospital setting, but the use of lightweight, portable pumps permits ambulatory infusion as well. This technique's most common application is providing analgesia after surgical procedures. ⋯ Nearly all benefits occur during the infusion itself, but several randomized controlled trials suggest that in some situations there are prolonged benefits after catheter removal as well. Easily rectified minor complications occur somewhat frequently, but major risks including clinically relevant infection and nerve injury are relatively rare. This article is an evidence-based review of the published literature involving continuous peripheral nerve blocks.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2011
Analysis of variance of communication latencies in anesthesia: comparing means of multiple log-normal distributions.
Anesthesiologists rely on communication over periods of minutes. The analysis of latencies between when messages are sent and responses obtained is an essential component of practical and regulatory assessment of clinical and managerial decision-support systems. Latency data including times for anesthesia providers to respond to messages have moderate (> n = 20) sample sizes, large coefficients of variation (e.g., 0.60 to 2.50), and heterogeneous coefficients of variation among groups. ⋯ Pivotal inference does not assume that the coefficients of variation of the studied log-normal distributions are the same, and can be used to assess the proportional effects of 2 factors and their interaction. Latency data can also include a human behavioral component (e.g., complete other activity first), resulting in a bimodal distribution in the log-domain (i.e., a mixture of distributions). An ANOVA can be performed on a homogeneous segment of the data, followed by a single group analysis applied to all or portions of the data using a robust method, insensitive to the probability distribution.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2011
Pharmacokinetics and tissue penetration of cefoxitin in obesity: implications for risk of surgical site infection.
Obesity is a significant risk factor for surgical site infections (SSIs), for poorly understood reasons. SSIs are a major cause of morbidity, prolonged hospitalization, and increased health care cost. Drug disposition in general is frequently altered in the obese. Preoperative antibiotic administration, achieving adequate tissue concentrations at the time of incision, is an essential strategy to prevent SSIs. Nonetheless, there is little information regarding antibiotic concentrations in obese surgical patients. This investigation tested the hypothesis that the prophylactic antibiotic cefoxitin may have delayed and/or diminished tissue penetration in the obese. ⋯ Obese surgical patients have impaired tissue penetration of the prophylactic antibiotic cefoxitin, and inadequate tissue concentrations despite increased clinical dose (2 g). Inadequate tissue antibiotic concentrations may be a factor in the increased risk of SSIs in obese surgical patients. Additional studies are needed to define doses achieving adequate tissue concentrations.