European journal of anaesthesiology
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Pentobarbital and ketamine are commonly used in animal experiments, including studies on the effects of ageing on the central nervous system. The electroencephalogram is a sensitive measure of brain activity. The present study investigated, under anaesthesia induced by the two drugs, whether cortical electroencephalogram in aged rats differs from that in young rats. ⋯ (a) Pentobarbital and ketamine modified cortical electrical activity in a different manner as a function of age; (b) the modification of electroencephalogram relative power with anaesthesia was identical in young and aged rats but quantitatively more marked in aged rats. These findings will be useful in designing experiments that assess pathological changes in the central nervous system during ageing.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Infiltration of the sternotomy wound and the mediastinal tube sites with 0.25% levobupivacaine as adjunctive treatment for postoperative pain after cardiac surgery.
This study aimed to investigate the effect of 0.25% levobupivacaine infiltration of the sternotomy wound and the mediastinal tube sites on postoperative pain, morphine consumption and side-effects in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. ⋯ Infiltration of the median sternotomy incision and the mediastinal tube insertion sites with 0.25% levobupivacaine in addition to morphine patient-controlled analgesia was found to be effective in reducing postoperative morphine consumption when compared with morphine patient-controlled analgesia alone during the initial 24 h after cardiac surgery.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Advantageous effects of dexmedetomidine on haemodynamic and recovery responses during extubation for intracranial surgery.
The anaesthetic method for intracranial neurosurgery must provide haemodynamic stability on emergence and allow early evaluation of the neurological status. In this study, we examined the effects of the alpha-2 agonist dexmedetomidine given at the end of the procedure to prevent hyperdynamic responses during extubation and to allow a comfortable and high-quality recovery. ⋯ Without interfering in recovery time, dexmedetomidine 0.5 microg kg(-1) administered 5 min before the end of surgery stabilizes haemodynamics, allows easy extubation, provides a more comfortable recovery and early neurological examination following intracranial operations.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Omitting fentanyl reduces nausea and vomiting, without increasing pain, after sevoflurane for day surgery.
Despite advantages of induction and maintenance of anaesthesia with sevoflurane, postoperative nausea and vomiting occurs frequently. Fentanyl is a commonly used supplement that may contribute to this, although it may also improve analgesia. ⋯ As fentanyl exacerbated postoperative nausea and vomiting without an improvement in postoperative pain and also had adverse cardiorespiratory effects, it appears to be an unnecessary and possibly detrimental supplement to sevoflurane in day surgery.
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Despite evidence of their prognostic power for non-surgical patients, the value of perioperative natriuretic peptides and cardiac troponins as markers of cardiac events is incompletely defined. This study sought to examine whether perioperative N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and cardiac troponin T (cTnT) levels could be used for the prediction of in-hospital cardiac events in elderly patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting. ⋯ In elderly patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting surgery, high values of NT-proBNP and cTnT measured 24 h after the end of surgery were independently associated with in-hospital cardiac events.