Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2012
Review Historical ArticleSpecial article: mandragora: anesthetic of the ancients.
Initial attempts at surgical anesthesia began many centuries ago, with the plants of antiquity. The mandragora, or mandrake, was used as a sedative and to induce pain relief for surgical procedures. It has been depicted in tablets and friezes since the 16th century before the common era (BCE) and used for its sedative effects by Hannibal (second century BCE) against his enemies. ⋯ The Arabs translated the scientific work of the Ancients and expanded on their knowledge. They developed the Spongia Somnifera, which contained the juice of the mandrake plant. After the fall of the Islamic cities of Europe to the Christians, scientific work was translated into Latin and the Spongia Somnifera was used in Europe until the discovery of the use of ether for surgical anesthesia.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyPhenylephrine infusion versus bolus regimens during cesarean delivery under spinal anesthesia: a double-blind randomized clinical trial to assess hemodynamic changes.
This small study (N=60) found no significant clinical difference between bolus phenylephrine and phenylephrine infusion when used to maintain maternal blood pressure during caesarean section conducted under spinal anaesthesia.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialReduction in intraoperative bacterial contamination of peripheral intravenous tubing through the use of a passive catheter care system.
Bacterial contamination of intravascular devices has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality in various hospital settings, including the perioperative environment. Catheter hub disinfection has been shown in an ex vivo model to attenuate intraoperative injection of bacterial organisms originating from the anesthesia provider's hands, providing the impetus for improvement in intraoperative disinfection techniques and compliance. In the current study, we investigated the clinical effectiveness of a new, passive catheter care station in reducing the incidence of bacterial contamination of open lumen patient IV stopcock sets. The secondary aim was to evaluate the impact of this novel intervention on the combined incidence of 30-day postoperative infections and IV catheter-associated phlebitis. ⋯ Intraoperative use of a passive catheter care station significantly reduced open lumen bacterial contamination and the combined incidence of 30-day postoperative infections and phlebitis.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2012
Biography Historical ArticleSpecial Article: Howard Dittrick: curator to the McMechans' legacy journal.
A noted medical historian and museum curator, Canadian American Howard Dittrick was a Cleveland gynecologist who served as Directing Editor of Current Researches in Anesthesia and Analgesia (1940-1954). In the aftermath of World War II, even after Congresses of Anesthetists had resumed, Dittrick and his editorial board allowed their yellow, then tan-covered journal, the so-called "yellow peril," to languish into near irrelevance.