Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2012
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyDreaming during sevoflurane or propofol short-term sedation: a randomised controlled trial.
Prior reports suggest that dreaming during anaesthesia is dependent on recovery time. Dreaming during sedation may impact patient satisfaction. The current study explores the incidence and content of dreaming during short-term sedation with sevoflurane or propofol and investigates whether dreaming is affected by recovery time. ⋯ Anaesthesia administered had no effect on patient satisfaction. The results suggest that the incidence of dreaming was not affected by recovery time. Patient satisfaction was not influenced by choice of sedative and/or by the occurrence of dreaming during sevoflurane or propofol short-term sedation.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialAssessing the performance of a continuous infusion for potassium supplementation in the critically ill.
Hypokalaemia is a common problem in critically ill patients, which if untreated, can result in dysrhythmia or another adverse outcome. We assessed the safety and efficacy of a continuous infusion of potassium chloride versus an existing intermittent infusion regimen. In this open-label randomised parallel-arm active-controlled pilot study, critically ill adults with plasma potassium concentration between 2.5 and 3.8 mmol/l were randomised to receive either a continuous infusion or intermittent infusions of potassium chloride for establishment and maintenance of normokalaemia. ⋯ We recorded no adverse events directly attributable to infusion of potassium chloride in either study arm. Although titrated continuous infusion did not demonstrate a clinically important difference by comparison with intermittent infusions for the maintenance of normokalaemia, there was more consistent control of plasma potassium with no observed complications or adverse events. Therefore, this trial showed an acceptable efficacy and safety profile for the continuous infusion regimen, suggesting scope for further study.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialEfficacy of an intravenous bolus of morphine 2.5 versus morphine 7.5 mg for procedural pain relief in postoperative cardiothoracic patients in the intensive care unit: a randomised double-blind controlled trial.
As pain in the intensive care unit (ICU) is still common despite important progress in pain management, we studied the efficacy of an intravenous bolus of morphine 2.5 vs 7.5 mg for procedural pain relief in patients after cardiothoracic surgery in the ICU. In a prospective double-blind randomised study, 117 ICU patients after cardiothoracic surgery were included. All patients were treated according a pain titration protocol for pain at rest, consisting of continuous morphine infusions and paracetamol, applied during the entire ICU stay. ⋯ At rest (baseline), overall incidence of unacceptable pain (Numeric Rating Scale ≥4) was low (Numeric Rating Scale >4; 14 vs 17%, P=0.81) for patients allocated to morphine 2.5 and 7.5 mg respectively. For procedure-related pain, there was no difference in incidence of unacceptable pain (28 vs 22%, P=0.53) mean pain scores (2.6 [95% confidence interval 2.0 to 3.2] vs 2.7 [95% confidence interval 2.0 to 3.4]) between patients receiving morphine 2.5 and 7.5 mg respectively. In intensive care patients after cardiothoracic surgery with low pain levels for pain at rest, there was no difference in efficacy between intravenous morphine 2.5 mg or morphine 7.5 mg for pain relief during a painful intervention.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · May 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialThe effect of body mass index on spinal anaesthesia for total knee replacement arthroplasty: a dose-response study.
The aim of this study was to compare the duration of spinal anaesthesia in obese and non-obese subjects. We also quantified the effect of body mass index (BMI) on spinal anaesthesia by comparing the median effective dose (ED50) of intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine required in the two cohorts. One hundred and eight patients undergoing elective total knee replacement arthroplasty under combined spinal-epidural anaesthesia were enrolled as a non-obese group (BMI <27.5 kg/m(2)) or obese (O) group (BMI ≥ 27.5 kg/m(2)). ⋯ However, the incidence of tourniquet pain was lower in group O and the ED50 for block of tourniquet pain was less in group O. This study suggests that bupivacaine dose reduction is not necessary, but analgesic duration may be prolonged in patients with higher BMI. These patients require careful consideration of spinal anaesthetic dose to minimise the risk of unnecessary prolongation of anaesthesia.