Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Mar 2012
The saphenous nerve and its relationship to the nerve to the vastus medialis in and around the adductor canal: an anatomical study.
Recently, ultrasound-guided saphenous nerve blocks within and distal to the adductor canal have shown success. However, a potential side effect is an unintentional block of branches of the nerve to the vastus medialis resulting in undesired motor weakness. ⋯ Knowledge of this anatomy may help establish a safe region in preventing motor blockade when performing saphenous nerve blocks.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Mar 2012
Central venous oxygen saturation is a good indicator of altered oxygen balance in isovolemic anemia.
Red blood cell transfusion is done primarily as a means to improve oxygen delivery (DO₂). Current transfusion guidelines are based solely on hemoglobin levels, regardless of actual DO₂ need. As central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO₂) may reflect imbalances in DO₂ and consumption (VO₂) the aim of this study was to investigate the value of ScvO₂ as an indicator of oxygen balance in isovolemic anemia. ⋯ The results of this study show that ScvO₂ reflects changes of VO₂/DO₂ in isovolemic anemia better than Hb alone, therefore it may be used as an additional indicator of blood transfusion in clinical practice.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Mar 2012
Venous flow dynamics during spinal block in normotensive and hypertensive elderly patients: a duplex ultrasonographic study.
Spinal block induces hyperkinetic change in lower extremity blood flow. We compared the venous flow dynamic responses to spinal block in normotensive and hypertensive elderly patients. ⋯ Blood pressure and flow dynamics in the popliteal vein showed similar changes during spinal anaesthesia in elderly patients taking antihypertensive medication and normotensive patients, despite differences in baseline values.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Mar 2012
Comparative StudyThe severity of sevoflurane-induced malignant hyperthermia.
Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a potentially fatal complication of general anesthesia triggered by volatile anesthetics. In animal studies, sevoflurane has been reported to be a weak triggering agent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical severity of sevoflurane-induced MH compared to isoflurane. ⋯ There were no clinically apparent differences between MH triggered by sevoflurane and isoflurane, and thus no evidence to support the postulate that sevoflurane is a weak or weaker MH triggering agent.