Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
-
The effects of halothane, isoflurane, and enflurane on background neuronal activity and reactive capability in the central nervous system were studied in cats. The background neuronal activity was assessed by midbrain reticular cell firing, which was measured by the method of multi-unit activity, and the EEG in the cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus. The reactive capability was assessed by evoked responses in the visual neuronal pathway. ⋯ These results indicate that all the agents studied had suppressive actions on background neuronal activity in the order halothane < isoflurane = enflurane. The effects on reactive capability were divergent among agents, e.g., enflurane enhanced, halothane suppressed, and the actions of isoflurane were intermediate. We conclude that the anaesthetic effects on background activity and on reactive capability are divergent and that suppression of reactive capability is a factor in determining the ease of clinical application of the anaesthetics.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
EMLA partially relieves the pain of EMG needling.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the topical analgesic cream EMLA in alleviating the pains caused by needling in electromyography (EMG). During the course of regular neurophysiology clinics, 34 Caucasian patients of both sexes, aged 21 to 69 yr (mean 38.5 +/- 11.4 SD), scheduled for electromyography, were studied. The EMLA was spread thickly on two EMG sites on each arm: E site, on the lateral dorsal aspect of the forearm and A site, on the thenar eminence. ⋯ The untreated E site (placebo) was less sensitive than the untreated A site (VAS = 3.10 +/- 1.75 vs 6.09 +/- 1.96, P = 0.0001). Muscle insertion on E site was less painful on the EMLA sites than placebo (VAS = 2.83 +/- 2.45 vs 5.73 +/- 2.30, P = 0.0001). The VAS scores for skin and muscle insertion on A site were identical whether EMLA or placebo had been applied.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)