Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2013
Airway trauma in a high patient volume academic cardiac electrophysiology laboratory center.
Providing anesthesia and managing airways in the electrophysiology suite can be challenging because of its unique setting outside of the conventional operating room. We report our experience of several cases of reported airway trauma including tongue and pharyngeal hematoma and vocal cord paralysis in this setting. ⋯ The overall incidence of reported airway trauma was 0.7% in our study population. Tongue injury was the most common airway trauma. The cause seems to have been multifactorial; however, airway management without muscle relaxant emerged as a potential risk factor. Intubation with muscle relaxant is recommended, as is placing a soft bite block and ensuring no soft tissue is between the teeth before cardioversion.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2013
Repolarization abnormalities in patients with subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhage: predisposing factors and association with outcome.
Electrocardiographic (ECG) abnormalities are frequent in patients with intracranial insult. In this study, we evaluated the factors predisposing to the repolarization abnormalities, i.e., prolonged corrected QT (QTc) interval, ischemic-like ECG changes and morphologic end-repolarization abnormalities, and examined the prognostic value of these abnormalities in patients with subarachnoid and intracerebral hemorrhages requiring intensive care. ⋯ Each repolarization abnormality has characteristic predisposing factors. Ischemic-like ECG changes are common and are associated with a poorer 1-year functional outcome.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2013
Estimate of the relative risk of succinylcholine for triggering malignant hyperthermia.
Facilities with volatile anesthetic agents stock dantrolene for the treatment of malignant hyperthermia (MH). The availability of dantrolene at these facilities satisfies cost-utility norms even for sites with as few as 1 anesthetic per workday, based on the overall incidence of MH per anesthetic. We considered the stocking of dantrolene at facilities with succinylcholine alone (i.e., where volatile anesthetics are not available), by using registry data and estimates of the frequency of administration of succinylcholine during anesthesia. We determine the magnitude of the relative risk of the administration of succinylcholine for triggering MH. ⋯ Our results provide no insight into the triggering mechanism for MH (i.e., succinylcholine could in isolation have an extremely low incidence of inducing MH, yet markedly increase the risk when administered in combination with volatile anesthetics). Until more epidemiologic data are collected and analyzed, having dantrolene available, where succinylcholine may be used, is reasonable, and this practice should be maintained.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 2013
Editorial CommentGenotyping without phenotyping: does it really matter?