Journal of clinical anesthesia
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Carboxyhemoglobin and methemoglobin levels in 312 units of banked blood and their relationship to the duration of storage were determined. The carboxyhemoglobin level decreased as the storage time increased, and its mean was 1.4% +/- 2.0% (SD) with a range from 0% to 9.6%. Methemoglobin increased during storage, showing a mean level of 1.6% +/- 0.4% and a range from 0.5% to 4.2%. ⋯ The mean initial level of carboxyhemoglobin was 4.4% +/- 1.6%, and the mean half-life of carboxyhemoglobin was approximately 47 days. Methemoglobin increased from an initial 1.3% +/- 0.2% to 2.4% +/- 0.6% at the end of storage. The use of banked blood containing high levels of these abnormal hemoglobins could be a potential risk in critically ill patients.
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Case Reports
Management of the difficult pediatric airway in an austere environment using the lightwand.
Increasingly, medical teams are providing sophisticated surgical treatment to pediatric patients in developing nations. Such care is often administered under relatively austere conditions using easily transported equipment. Because some of these patients may present with congenital or acquired airway abnormalities that make direct laryngoscopy difficult or impossible, alternative methods of endotracheal intubation should be available. ⋯ Use of the lightwand has a proven record of success and obviates the need for the heavier, more delicate, and more expensive flexible fiber-optic laryngoscope or pediatric bronchoscope. Two cases are reported in which pediatric patients with difficult airway anatomy due to severe burn scar contractures were successfully and easily intubated using the lightwand. This technique is useful for management of the difficult pediatric airway in the austere environment of the typical medical relief mission.
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Surgical removal of a cerebral hemisphere may be undertaken in patients with intractable seizure disorders. Anesthetic management of such patients has not been reviewed in detail before. This study retrospectively analyzed hospital records of ten patients undergoing cerebral hemispherectomy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital between July 1983 and February 1988. ⋯ Monitoring of intra-arterial pressure and central venous pressure (CVP) is necessary for patient management during the intraoperative and postoperative periods. Intravenous (IV) access should allow rapid intravascular volume administration as it becomes necessary. Patients should remain intubated and observed closely during the immediate postoperative period due to difficulties with hemodynamic stability, seizures, and hemorrhage.
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During whole body radiation therapy of children, treatment may be done in places not equipped with acceptable scavenging systems for anesthetic gases and where clinical observation of the patient may be impossible. In order to solve this problem, the authors have used a total intravenous (IV) anesthetic technique using midazolam, pancuronium, and fentanyl. With midazolam as the only hypnotic agent, the problem with scavenging is solved, and a computer simulation of the plasma concentration of midazolam is presented. ⋯ This anesthetic technique and the stethoscope have been used in seven children. The total IV anesthesia proved to be a useful method for children during whole body radiation. The modified stethoscope functioned very well and was a useful complement to the monitoring equipment.
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Presented here is a case of unilateral pulmonary edema following acute subglottic edema after removal of an endotracheal tube. A 3-year-old boy, diagnosed as having nondiphtheric croup and pectus excavatum deformity, was scheduled for repair of a cleft lip. ⋯ After reintubation of the trachea, frothy pink fluid was discharged from the tube, and chest roentgenogram showed a right-sided alveolar infiltrate. Many factors may cause unilateral pulmonary edema, but it is suggested that acute subglottic edema and unilateral bronchial fragility strongly affected this episode.