European journal of anaesthesiology
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Comparative Study
Continuous non-invasive blood pressure monitoring by brachial artery displacement method in high-risk surgical patients.
Continuous non-invasive blood pressure (CNBP) measurements were compared to invasive radial artery pressure recordings in 26 patients with cardiac, vascular and/or pulmonary disease. Patients were studied during general anaesthesia (n = 6), regional anaesthesia (n = 10), or combined technique (n = 10) for abdominal or transurethral surgery. CNBP was obtained from a cuff placed around the upper arm and simultaneously compared to invasive pressure from the ipsilateral radial artery. ⋯ During anaesthesia induction (n = 672) the difference between consecutive measurements (trend of pressure changes) with invasive and CNBP method exceeded 20 mmHg in 90 (13.3%) instances for systolic, in 33 (4.9%) instances for diastolic, and in 45 (6.6%) instances for mean blood pressure. In conclusion, the CNBP method by brachial artery wall displacement failed to measure the blood pressure reliably and to display the trend of pressure changes correctly during anaesthesia induction. In its present form this CNBP method should not replace invasive blood pressure monitoring in high-risk patients neither for anaesthesia induction nor during non-thoracic surgical procedures.
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Venous admixture as a measure of pulmonary gas exchange was studied before and during laparascopic cholecystectomy in 12 patients with normal healthy cardio-pulmonary function. After induction of anaesthesia the patients were studied by radial and pulmonary arterial catheterization and simultaneous arterial and mixed venous blood gas sampling in the horizontal, 15-20 degrees head-down and 15-20 degrees head-up tilt positions. After establishing the pneumoperitoneum (PP) by insufflation of carbon dioxide to an intraabdominal pressure level of 11-12 mmHg, the measurements were repeated in the same positions. ⋯ These changes were maintained during pneumoperitoneum and were not influenced by posture. It is suggested that alterations in the distribution of ventilation and/or lung perfusion results in a reduced venous admixture during PP without surgery. In addition, there was no indication that venous admixture is elevated as a result of laparoscopic surgery in the reversed Trendelenburg position.
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As part of an evaluation of post-operative analgesia for craniotomy patients, a postal questionnaire was sent to 183 consultant members of the Neuroanaesthesia Society of Great Britain and Ireland, inquiring about their current practices for post-operative neurosurgical analgesia. Replies were received from 110 neuroanaesthetists in 37 different neurosurgical centres. ⋯ Post-operative analgesia for craniotomy patients is perceived as inadequate by most neuroanaesthetists, yet traditional prejudice against opioid use prevents this being remedied. We suggest that patient-controlled analgesia with morphine could be a safe alternative to codeine phosphate.