Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2015
Observational StudyThe Relationship Between Plasma Inflammatory Cytokines and Labor Pain.
Proinflammatory cytokines are increased in maternal blood at term pregnancy and are associated with cervical ripening and the initiation of labor. We hypothesize that maternal plasma cytokines also affect the sensitivity to labor pain. ⋯ Inflammatory cytokines including IL-1β play a role in cervical ripening. High maternal plasma concentrations of IL-1β may serve as a marker of advanced cervical ripening and readiness for labor that proceeds with less pain.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2015
Prior Podcast Experience Moderates Improvement in Electroencephalography Evaluation After Educational Podcast Module.
There is continued interest in using technology to enhance medical education and the variables that may affect its success. ⋯ In reviewing the improvement in EEG evaluation after a podcast education module, those with more podcast experience achieved greater gains in EEG evaluation scores. For EEG education, those receiving the podcast education module showed greater increases in scores compared with those receiving didactic teaching without podcasting, as measured by change in a mean EEG evaluation scores.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2015
The Feasibility of Simultaneous Orthogonal Plane Imaging with Tilt for Short-Axis Evaluation of the Pulmonic Valve by Transesophageal Echocardiography.
Simultaneous orthogonal plane imaging with tilt enables the display of two 2D, real-time images and the evaluation of structures that cannot be seen by conventional single-plane transesophageal echocardiographic (TEE) imaging. After a step-wise examination protocol, we used simultaneous orthogonal plane imaging to obtain the short-axis view of the pulmonic valve (PV) and assessed flow in both images simultaneously using color Doppler imaging in 100 consecutive patients undergoing intraoperative TEE. Our goals were to assess the ability of this technique to visualize all 3 leaflets of the PV, assess feasibility of planimetry to measure valve area, and assess flow using color Doppler imaging. ⋯ Planimetry for valve area was possible when all 3 leaflets were seen. It is important to inspect the PV during a routine TEE examination; however, the orientation of the PV in respect to the esophagus makes this evaluation challenging. We present a simple protocol to evaluate the PV in long-axis and short-axis views simultaneously that can potentially help evaluate for pathologies involving the PV.