Journal of anesthesia
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Journal of anesthesia · Oct 2015
Observational StudyEstimation of the success rate of anesthetic management for thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis treated without muscle relaxants: a retrospective observational cohort study.
Although maintaining anesthesia for myasthenia gravis (MG) with minimal muscle relaxants (MR) is common, the success rate of anesthetic management for MG without MR is not clear. We therefore retrospectively examined the success rate of anesthetic management for MG without MR among 66 consecutive cases of thymectomy for MG performed at our hospital between January 2004 and April 2010, before approval of using sugammadex. A total of 60 patients (90.9 %) were treated without MR (N group). ⋯ The reasons for using MR included coughing at intubation in one case, bucking during surgery in two cases, and MR was considered to be safer by the attending anesthesiologist in three cases. The number of cases of impossible extubation requiring ventilation on that day was three in the N group and none in the R group. Finally, the success rate of anesthetic management for MG without MR was estimated to be 71.1 % (95 % CI: 65.9-77.5 %).
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Journal of anesthesia · Oct 2015
D-dimer testing cannot rule out thromboembolism after major lower extremity arthroplasties and thromboprophylaxis treatment.
Our previous study showed, for the first time, that a guideline-recommended thromboprophylactic strategy reduced the prevalence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) including venous thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism after arthroplasties of the major lower extremities, such as total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total or partial knee arthroplasty (TPKA), to 4.4 %. In this retrospective study, we examined the diagnostic value of D-dimer for VTE and try to confirm the low prevalence of VTE after THA or TPKA. ⋯ The low incidence of postoperative VTE with the strict anticoagulation strategy was confirmed in this validation study. D-dimer testing is not useful for excluding VTE postoperatively in patients who undergo THA or TPKA.
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Journal of anesthesia · Oct 2015
Current status of anesthesia residency in Taiwan: a questionnaire survey.
There are 26 teaching hospitals in Taiwan that provide anesthesia residency training programs (one program per hospital), and only an average of 40 medical graduates are accepted for residency training per year. The aim of this study is to understand how this situation affects the learning and working conditions of anesthesia residents in Taiwan. ⋯ Anesthesia residents in Taiwan are treated as an integral part of hospital manpower. This may limit the effectiveness of their learning and cause dissatisfaction with their training environment. To improve the current status, anesthesia residents should perform anesthesia in one operating room at a time and some of the anesthesia training hospitals should be suggested for removal.
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Journal of anesthesia · Oct 2015
Effect of sevoflurane on human hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cells under conditions of high glucose and insulin.
Diabetes mellitus is associated with morbidity and progression of some cancers, such as hepatocellular carcinoma. It has been reported that sevoflurane, a volatile anesthetic agent commonly used in cancer surgery, can lead to lower overall survival rates than those observed when propofol is used to treat cancer patients, and sevoflurane increases cancer cell proliferation in in vitro studies. It has been also reported that glucose levels in rats anesthetized with sevoflurane were higher than those in rats anesthetized with propofol. ⋯ Subsequently, to mimic diabetic conditions observed during surgery, HepG2 cells were exposed to sevoflurane at 1 or 2 % concentration in high glucose concentrations at various concentrations of insulin for 6 h. One-percent sevoflurane exposure enhanced cell proliferation under conditions of high glucose, treated with 0.05 mg/l insulin. Our study implies that sevoflurane may affect cell proliferation in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells in a physiological situation mimicking that of diabetes.