Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Oct 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialComparison of isoflurane, halothane and fentanyl in patients with decreased ejection fraction undergoing coronary surgery.
The aim of the study was to compare three anaesthetic agents in patients with ejection fraction below 0.40 subjected to coronary revascularization surgery. Twenty five elective coronary surgical patients with ejection fraction below 0.40 were prospectively studied. Premedication was pethidine 1 mg/kg and induction was fentanyl 0.03 mg/kg and pancuronium 0.1 mg/kg. ⋯ Neither pressure nor flow decreased in patients receiving fentanyl. Following weaning from cardiopulmonary bypass, systemic vascular resistance decreased significantly in all groups. Cardiac index, however, did not increase above control values and arterial pressure consequently decreased; there was no significant difference between groups.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Oct 1996
Biography Historical ArticleWilliam Morton and the first successful demonstration of anaesthesia.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Oct 1996
A simple method for frequent monitoring of gastric carbon dioxide.
Intragastric PCO2 has been recognized to rise in states of gastric hypoperfusion. A device including a gas-permeable balloon on a conventional sump nasogastric tube (TRIP catheter, Tonometrics) has permitted simple measurement of the intragastric PCO2 following equilibration of intragastric PCO2 with saline in the balloon. ⋯ We describe an automated method using air instead of saline in the balloon with measurement using capnography. Equilibration is much faster using air and the automated system permits measurements to be taken at regular intervals (10 minutes) without additional workload.