European journal of anaesthesiology
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Letter Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Lidocaine vs. mepivacaine for peribulbar anaesthesia in cataract surgery: a randomized double-blind study.
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The centrally acting alpha2-adrenoceptor agonists clonidine and dexmedetomidine have been used with success to provide haemodynamic stability for patients undergoing surgery. Particularly in the case of patients with overt or underlying cardiac disease the actions of alpha2-adrenoceptor agonists, which include maintenance of stable systemic blood pressure and low heart rate and a reduction in overall oxygen consumption, can be expected to reduce the risk of procedure-related cardiac events. This expectation has been corroborated in clinical trials with clonidine, dexmedetomidine and mivazerol and meta-analyses; additional large controlled trials would be instructive in establishing a robust estimate of the scale of the benefit. ⋯ Dexmedetomidine is the only alpha2-adrenoceptor agonist currently approved for use in the intensive care unit. A distinctive feature of dexmedetomidine in that setting is that in addition to haemodynamic stability it confers a distinctive and advantageous quality of sedation: patients are tranquil but responsive to requests from attending staff. This review examines the pharmacological principles underlying the use of alpha2-adrenoceptor agonists as adjuncts to surgery and clinical experience in that indication.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of topical tranexamic acid in open heart surgery.
Cardiopulmonary bypass is known to induce postoperative coagulopathy including fibrinolysis. We have evaluated the effect of the topical use of tranexamic acid in the pericardial cavity on postoperative bleeding following open heart surgery. ⋯ Topical application of tranexamic acid in patients undergoing primary open heart surgery led to a significant reduction of both postoperative mediastinal bleeding, and rate of re-exploration for haemostasis.