Anesthesia and analgesia
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2013
Review Meta AnalysisPreventive analgesia by local anesthetics: the reduction of postoperative pain by peripheral nerve blocks and intravenous drugs.
Barreveld et al. show that LA administered either IV or via block; before, during or after surgery, significantly reduces postoperative pain and opioid consumption.
Specifically in:
- Total knee arthroplasty (femoral, sciatic and lumbar plexus b., single-shot or continuous)
- Total hip arthroplasty (continuous lumbar plexus; intra-articular LA)
- Knee arthroscopy (single-shot lumbar plexus; IA LA; single-shot femoral nerve ± sciatic).
- Arthroscopic shoulder surgery - interscalene b., single-shot or continuous. IA is not beneficial.
- Hand & forearm surgery - axillary b. offers analgesic benefits only on day of surgery.
- TAP block is beneficial for laparoscopic, open appendectomy, abdominal surgery, cesarean section, and TAH.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2013
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyNitrous oxide and serious morbidity and mortality in the POISE trial.
Nitrous oxide exposure was not associated with 30-day MI, stroke, death or hypotension in an observational analysis of POISE subjects.
pearl -
Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2013
Multicenter StudyA multicenter evaluation of a compact, sterile, single-use pressure transducer for central venous catheter placement.
Inadvertent arterial placement of a large-bore catheter during attempted placement of a central venous catheter (CVC) occurs at a rate of 0.1% to 1.0% and may result in hemorrhage, pseudoaneurysm, stroke, or death. Ultrasound guidance or observation of color and pulsatility of blood are not reliable methods for avoiding this serious complication. Measurement of pressure in the needle or short plastic catheter before insertion of the guidewire has been shown to be highly reliable; however, traditional pressure measurement methodology is cumbersome. Recently a compact, sterile, single-use pressure transducer with an integrated digital display has become available. In this study, we evaluated the performance of this new device (Compass® Vascular Access). ⋯ The Compass pressure transducer for CVC placement performed as intended in 298 cases from 4 academic medical centers. There were 5 inadvertent arterial punctures despite the use of ultrasound guidance, all of which were correctly identified by pressure measurement using the Compass. The device was easily used by trainees, and users expressed a positive level of satisfaction.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2013
The association between nitrous oxide and postoperative mortality and morbidity after noncardiac surgery.
Nitrous oxide (N2O) has been widely used in clinical anesthesia for >150 years. However, use of N2O has decreased in recent years because of concern about the drug's metabolic side effects. But evidence that routine use of N2O causes clinically important toxicity remains elusive. We therefore evaluated the relationship between intraoperative N2O administration and 30-day mortality as well as a set of major inpatient postoperative complications (including mortality) in adults who had general anesthesia for noncardiac surgery. ⋯ Intraoperative N2O administration was associated with decreased odds of 30-day mortality and decreased odds of in-hospital mortality/morbidity. Aside from its specific and well-known contraindications, the results of this study do not support eliminating N2O from anesthetic practice.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2013
Review Meta AnalysisRegional scalp block for postcraniotomy analgesia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Meta-analysis suggests regional scalp block may reduce post-operative pain after craniotomy, although relies on small, low-quality studies.
pearl