Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jun 2002
Review Comparative StudyHigh dependency units: issues to consider in their planning.
This review discusses the issues to be considered in establishing new or extending existing high dependency unit (HDU) services. A defined high dependency service becomes cost-effective when patient care requires more than one nurse for three patients. Professional guidelines for HDUs vary and there are no national accreditation criteria. ⋯ Establishing a new HDU service requires changes to care delivery. Many potential HDU patients are currently managed in general wards or in the intensive care unit. The service should be discussed widely and marketed within the institution, and the development of defined working relationships with the ICU and primary care teams on the wards is mandatory.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jun 2002
Comparative StudyImplementation and evaluation of guidelines for preoperative testing in a tertiary hospital.
The aim of this study was to determine the extent of unnecessary investigation performed as part of the preoperative preparation of elective surgical patients in a teaching hospital and to audit the effect of guidelines and education designed to reduce unnecessary investigation. Guidelines were developed for preoperative anaesthetic investigation for elective surgical procedures in patients over one year of age according to internationally accepted criteria, with some adjustment for local differences in patient morbidity. Forrms outlining these criteria were placed in all operating theatres and anaesthetists were asked to determine whether tests performed were indicated or not, according to these criteria, over a two-week period, in each patient undergoing elective surgery. ⋯ The audit was repeated six months later and results compared. The incidence of over-investigation decreased from 13.8% to 11.6% (P = 0.03) without a significant increase in under-investigation (0.7 v 1.0%; P = 0.2). This study highlights the incidence of unwarranted screening tests in patients presenting for elective surgery and the role of protocols and ongoing education in reducing this incidence.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jun 2002
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEffectiveness of intravenous ephedrine infusion during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section based on maternal hypotension, neonatal acid-base status and lactate levels.
Maternal cardiovascular changes and neonatal acid-base status, including lactate levels, were assessed in 30 healthy women undergoing elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia. Patients were allocated randomly to receive IV ephedrine infusion (n = 15) (5 mg.min(-1) immediately after the spinal injection or bolus administration of IV ephedrine (n = 15) (10 mg) in case of development of hypotension. ⋯ Nausea was observed in one patient (6%) in the infusion group and nausea and vomiting were observed in 10 patients (66%) in the bolus group. Although umbilical arterial pH values were significantly lower in the bolus group, lactate levels were similar In conclusion, ephedrine infusion prevented maternal hypotension, reduced the incidence of nausea and vomiting and led to improved umbilical blood pH during spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section.
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Ketamine hydrochloride is a safe and rapid-acting non-opioid, lipid soluble anaesthetic with a short elimination half-life that is used for medical and veterinary purposes. It produces a state of "dissociative anaesthesia", probably from action on N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. The psychotropic effects of ketamine range from dissociation and depersonalization to psychotic experiences and include a sensation of feeling light, body distortion, absence of time sense, novel experiences of cosmic oneness and out-of-body experiences. ⋯ This case demonstrates the effects of large doses of ketamine in a person with polysubstance abuse. The case also highlights development of significant tolerance to ketamine without prominent withdrawal symptoms. Caution in use of ketamine is reiterated in light of its abuse liability.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jun 2002
Prospective independent validation of APACHE III models in an Australian tertiary adult intensive care unit.
Evaluation of the performance of the APACHE III (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation) ICU (intensive care unit) and hospital mortality models at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane is reported. Prospective collection of demographic, diagnostic, physiological, laboratory, admission and discharge data of 5681 consecutive eligible admissions (1 January 1995 to 1 January 2000) was conducted at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, a metropolitan Australian tertiary referral medical/surgical adult ICU ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curve areas for the APACHE III ICU mortality and hospital mortality models demonstrated excellent discrimination. Observed ICU mortality (9.1%) was significantly overestimated by the APACHE III model adjusted for hospital characteristics (10.1%), but did not significantly differ from the prediction of the generic APACHE III model (8.6%). ⋯ This trend was present in each of the non-surgical, emergency and elective surgical diagnostic groups, and the change was temporally related to increased specialist staffing levels. This study demonstrates that the APACHE III model performs well on independent assessment in an Australian hospital. Changes observed in annual SMR using such a validated model support an hypothesis of improved survival outcomes 1995-1999.