Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Apr 1996
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialThermoregulatory response in female patients during lower abdominal surgery in the head-down tilt position.
The head-down tilt (HDT) position suppresses sympathetic nervous activity. We investigated the effect on thermoregulation of the HDT position during lower abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia. ⋯ During lower abdominal surgery the head-down tilt position does not augment core hypothermia in spite of suppressed peripheral vasoconstriction, and the renin-angiotensin system may be of importance for thermoregulation.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Apr 1996
Preoperative evaluation of intubation conditions in patients scheduled for elective surgery.
Prediction of a difficult airway is a continuing problem. Several tests have been developed in order to overcome this problem. It has been proposed that using more than one test could increase the degree of predictability. ⋯ It was possible to predict differenties in all seven patients, but it was found that only the Mallampati gradation and the atlanto-occipital angle contributed significantly to predictability. The cost of predicting further difficulties in all patients with a difficult laryngoscopy was a false positive prediction in a further 13 patients who had no problems with laryngoscopy or intubation. By increasing the specificity of the tests the number of false positive classifications could be reduced to 10 patients, but this would have led to the missing of one patient with a difficult laryngoscopy.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Apr 1996
Comparative StudyMalignant hyperthermia (MH) diagnostics: a comparison between the halothane-caffeine- and the ryanodine-contracture-test results in MH susceptible, normal and control muscle.
Recent studies demonstrated different contracture responses in muscle from malignant hyperthermia susceptible (MHS) compared to normal (MHN) individuals following exposure to the plant alkaloid ryanodine in-vitro. To confirm if ryanodine has a specific action in MHS muscle, the effect of a single concentration was investigated in skeletal muscle from MHS, MHN and control subjects using a new evaluation technique. In-vitro contracture test (IVCT) and MH diagnosis were performed according to the European Protocol in 86 patients sent to us for MH diagnostic testing and in 24 controls. ⋯ These results suggest that MHS muscle has a higher sensitivity to ryanodine. However, the protocol should be investigated for reproducibility and validation of thresholds by other laboratories. Ryanodine can help to improve MH diagnostic tests.