Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Segmental epidural analgesia (T10-T12) was performed in 418 parturients, using a 4-6 ml dose of 0.5% bupivacaine, with or without adrenaline. Seventy per cent of parturients were primiparas and 30% had histories, or signs, of possible uteroplacental insufficiency. Our aim was to relieve pain during the long passive opening phase, so that mothers would be rested and active at the beginning of the second phase, but also to avoid abolishing the bearing-down reflex, the absence of which causes an increased frequency of instrumental delivery. ⋯ Slight, but rapidly correctable, hypotension occurred in 16.5%, and in two cases the hypotension led to more serious complications. This stresses the importance of the availability and competence of both the anaesthetic and obstetric teams. There were no maternal or neonatal mortalities, and the Apgar scores compared well with the figures for the normal material in our obstetric unit.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Jan 1977
Intubation of newborns and infants: a solution to the problem of water condensation.
Treatment with humidified air in intubated newborns and infants its often complicated by the embarrassing problem of water condensation. This problem is solved by the humidification system described below, in which the tube delivering humidified air is surrounded by an Armaflex-insulated spiral-wire tube. Through the space between the two tubes, an adjustable air warmer delivers dry air at a temperature and flow rate such that the temperature of the humidified air in the delivery tube is maintained above its dew-point temperature.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Jan 1977
Catheter technique in axillary plexus block. Presentation of a new method.
A flexible, disposable intravenous catheter can be introduced into the neuro-vascular sheath in the axilla and used for injection of local anesthetic solution to block the axillary brachial plexus. The technique is described and the results of the first 137 consecutive catheter blocks are reported and compared to a similarly evaluated series of conventional axillary blocks. The catheter method constitutes an interesting alternative to needle techniques and offers the possibility of a continuous axillary block.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Jan 1977
The pressure-flow relations of the canine brain in acute mechanically induced arterial hypertension at different levels of cerebral blood flow.
Cerebral pressure-flow relations were studied in anaesthetized dogs during acute arterial hypertension, induced by compression of the thoracic aorta. In one group of animals steady state measurements were made with the radioactive gas elimination method. ⋯ At low or normal blood flows autoregulation was efficient up to pressures around 180-200 mmHg, while at higher flows the upper autoregulatory pressure limit was found at lower blood pressures. Above the autoregulatory limit-irrespective of the control flow level-there was a rise in blood flow and a decrease in cerebrovascular resistance.