Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Rapid induction sequence with vecuronium: should we intubate after 60 or 90 seconds?
The purpose of the study was to determine intubating conditions after administration of either succinylcholine or vecuronium in a rapid induction sequence. Patients received either succinylcholine 1.5 mg.kg-1 (Groups I and II) after d-tubocurarine 0.05 mg.kg-1 four minutes earlier, or vecuronium (Groups III and IV) in an initial dose of 0.01 mg.kg-1 followed four minutes later by 0.1 mg.kg-1. In Groups I and III an apnoeic delay of one minute was allowed before intubation whereas in Groups II and IV the delay was 90 sec. ⋯ A delay of 90 sec after succinylcholine improved intubating conditions in male patients. Considering that intubating conditions obtained after 90 sec in patients given a priming sequence with vecuronium (Group IV) were not different from those obtained 60 sec after succinylcholine (Group I), the authors conclude that vecuronium is an acceptable alternative for rapid tracheal intubation. In the doses used in this study, intubating conditions 60 sec after vecuronium were unacceptable for rapid induction of anaesthesia.
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To determine the accuracy of end-tidal PCO2 (PETCO2) measurements analyzed with a sidestream capnometer in infants and children whose lungs were ventilated with a Sechrist infant ventilator and an Ayre's t-piece, we compared PETCO2 measurements obtained from the proximal (PETCO2-p) and distal (PETCO2-d) ends of the tracheal tube to arterial PCO2 (PaCO2) in 37 healthy infants and children between 1.3 and 24.5 kg. Both PETCO2-p and PETCO2-d accurately approximated PaCO2, however, the mean (+/- SD) arterial to end-tidal PCO2 difference (delta(a-ET)PCO2) was significantly greater with proximal (1.27 +/- 1.54 mmHg) than with distal sampling (0.64 +/- 1.64 mmHg) (P less than 0.01). In the subgroup of patients who weighted less than 12 kg, the delta(a-ET)PCO2 using proximal gas sampling (1.94 +/- 1.29 mmHg) was also significantly greater than it was using distal sampling (0.74 +/- 1.31 mmHg) (P less than 0.001). We conclude that although statistically different, both proximal and distal estimates of PETCO2 provide acceptable estimates of PaCO2 in healthy infants and children who are ventilated with a Sechrist infant ventilator and an Ayre's t-piece system.