Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2011
Historical ArticleChloroform for the King? Joseph Clover, Henry Thompson and the King of the Belgians.
In May 1863 the British surgeon, Henry Thompson, departed for Belgium to attend Leopold, King of the Belgians. The King was in agony: he had suffered with bladder stones for months and multiple procedures, without anaesthesia, had failed to relieve his symptoms. Henry Thompson was therefore consulted about the possibility of operating under the influence of chloroform. ⋯ History records that the successful operation was performed under chloroform anaesthesia administered by Joseph Clover. But a letter from Henry Thompson, discovered in Clover's personal papers, raises a number of questions about this operation. This was the procedure that made Henry Thompson rich and famous, but was it actually performed under anaesthesia? And if not, why not?
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2011
Case ReportsCalcitonin for acute neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury.
Neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury is caused by complex neural mechanisms and is often refractory to standard therapy. Salmon calcitonin was an effective treatment for neuropathic symptoms in this case series of three patients with recent spinal cord injury. ⋯ Calcitonin is thought to exert its effect by modulation of the serotonergic system and is generally well tolerated and convenient to administer. This underutilised drug may be a very useful adjuvant for neuropathic pain associated with spinal cord injury.