Journal of anesthesia
-
Journal of anesthesia · Feb 2013
The anesthetic urethane blocks excitatory amino acid responses but not GABA responses in isolated frog spinal cords.
The anesthetic urethane is commonly used in physiological experiments. We tested urethane's actions on GABA receptors on the primary afferents in the spinal cord, which are one of the few areas in the adult central nervous system (CNS) that are depolarized by GABA, and on ligand-gated excitatory amino acid (EAA) receptors located on motoneurons. Both receptor types are critically important during anesthetic immobilization. ⋯ Urethane appears to be selective for EAA-, sparing GABA responses at a clinical anesthetic concentration. Only a 10 % reduction of EAA activity seems to be necessary to induce anesthesia.
-
Journal of anesthesia · Feb 2013
Microglial activation involved in morphine tolerance is not mediated by toll-like receptor 4.
Morphine is a powerful analgesic but its effect is often diminished owing to the development of tolerance. It has been suggested that morphine activates microglia through its action on the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) in the spinal cord, leading to suppression of the morphine effect. However, it has not been examined whether the development of morphine tolerance is affected by the deletion and mutation of the TLR4 gene. ⋯ Microglial activation caused by a mechanism independent of TLR4 is involved in the development of morphine tolerance. Further studies are necessary to clarify the cellular mechanisms of morphine-induced microglial activation.
-
Journal of anesthesia · Feb 2013
Effects of epidural analgesia on labor length, instrumental delivery, and neonatal short-term outcome.
We aimed to clarify whether the short-term adverse neonatal outcomes associated with epidural analgesia are due to the epidural analgesia itself or to the instrumental delivery. ⋯ Epidural analgesia was associated with slowly progressing labor, thus resulting in an increased rate of instrumental delivery. This instrumental delivery appears to adversely affect the neonatal outcomes more strongly than the analgesia itself.
-
Celiac plexus block (CPB) can be used for treating intra-abdominal visceral pain syndromes. The celiac plexus is the largest plexus of the sympathetic nervous system. Several nerve blocks have a marked effect on autonomic nervous activity. Furthermore, stellate ganglion block changes cardiac autonomic nervous activity. Thus, CPB could influence the sympathetic activity of the cardiac plexus. The aim of the present study was to see whether CPB modulated heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with pancreatic cancer. ⋯ CPB did not induce any significant changes in HRV or hemodynamics.