Current opinion in anaesthesiology
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Changes in practice and the development of new anesthetic drugs have influenced the use of muscle relaxants in children. This article reviews these developments, and defines the current role and factors affecting the choice of muscle relaxant drugs in pediatric anesthesia. ⋯ Recent developments in clinical practice have reduced or obviated the need for muscle relaxants in pediatric anesthesia. Muscle relaxants are still indicated for intubation and procedures requiring profound muscle relaxation, and to minimize the amounts of anesthetic drugs given to infants and sick children. Specific relaxants and doses can be chosen to suit the clinical circumstances.
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Cancer is beginning to outpace cardiovascular disease as the primary cause of death in the developed world. A majority of cancer patients will require anaesthesia either for primary debulking tumour removal or to treat an adverse consequence of the malignant process or its treatment. Therefore we outline here the pathophysiology of cancer, generalized metastatic disease and systemic chemotherapy and radiotherapy on major organ systems. The anaesthetic considerations for optimum perioperative management of cancer patients are discussed, and the possibility of anaesthetic technique at primary cancer surgery affecting long-term cancer outcome is mentioned. ⋯ Optimum perioperative patient care requires individual assessment of the impact of cancer and its treatment on the functional reserve of all major organ systems. The potential of anaesthetic technique at cancer surgery to influence long-term cancer outcome merits investigation.
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There are several commercially available electroencephalogram-derived devices for monitoring anaesthesia depth. This article reviews all published studies describing their use in children; first assessing studies of performance in measuring anaesthesia depth in observational, physiological studies and then describing relevant outcome studies. There is also a brief discussion of why they might be useful, what physiological problems may arise and what the reader should be wary of in the methodology of these studies. The subject is approached from a clinical perspective. ⋯ The bispectral index is the most widely studied, but at this stage there is no evidence to suggest any one device is substantially superior to any other. There may be a role emerging for their use in older children, but their use in infants cannot be supported.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2007
ReviewPerioperative medical management of ischemic heart disease in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery.
Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death after anesthesia and surgery. The preoperative identification of patients with underlying coronary artery disease is important to initiate appropriate treatment strategies in order to reduce the risk of perioperative complications. The current review will discuss new insights in the field of perioperative medicine that can be applied to clinical practice or stimulate further investigation. ⋯ New perceptions in perioperative medical management and novel developments in surgical and anesthesiology techniques continue to improve the cardiovascular outcome of patents undergoing major noncardiac surgery.