International journal of obstetric anesthesia
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Oct 1997
Patients' assessment of sensory levels during epidural analgesia in labour.
Thirty women in established labour and with epidurals in situ were asked to assess the sensory level of the epidural using loss of light touch sensation with their own finger. This dermatomal level was then compared to the sensory level assessed by an anaesthetist using loss of cold sensation with ethyl chloride spray. ⋯ The mean dermatomal difference was 0.20 and 95% of the differences lay between 3.5 and -3.1 dermatomes. This large variation in dermatomal differences between the two methods of sensory assessment means that patient light touch is not an acceptable method of assessing epidural sensory level when compared to ethyl chloride.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Oct 1997
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialIntrathecal labor analgesia: can we use the same mixture as is used epidurally?
In a randomized double-blind study, three groups of 25 term parturients received one of the following intrathecal drugs or combinations for relief of labor pain: sufentanil 7.5 microg (1.5 ml), sufentanil 5 microg + bupivacaine 1 mg (1.5 ml) or the combination bupivacaine 1.75 mg, sufentanil 1.05 microg and epinephrine 1.75 microg, that is 1.5 ml of our standard epidural mixture. After the intrathecal injection, patients received a peridural catheter for supplementation of analgesia. Onset and duration of the three regimens were similar. ⋯ More cardiotocographic changes were observed in the plain sufentanil group but this was not related to neonatal outcome. It was concluded that intrathecal injection of the standard epidural mixture offers effective and long-lasting analgesia. This may avoid side-effects and complications, manipulations of drugs with the risk for contamination, spilling of drugs and loss of time.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Oct 1997
Factors involved in the incidence of post-dural puncture headache with the 25 gauge Whitacre needle for obstetric anesthesia.
Parturients have the greatest risk of postdural puncture headache. use of a pencil-point needle, such as the 25 gauge Whitacre, has been associated with a lower incidence of PDPH. This observational study of 1009 obstetrical patients assessed possible factors related to the incidence of PDPH and other complications associated with spinal anesthesia using the 25 gauge Whitacre needle. The independent variables included procedure, maternal position at insertion, ease of insertion, intraoperative i.v. analgesia supplementation, use of intrathecal narcotics, parity and type of local anesthetic. ⋯ Six patients (0.59%) required epidural blood patch. There were eight (0.8%) failed finals which were converted to general anesthesia. None of the factors evaluated were significant in predicting the occurrence of PDPH.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Oct 1997
Obstetric anaesthesia: an approach to improving the standards of services.
There has been considerable discussion about obstetric anaesthesia standards and about the role of peer review in quality improvement. We carried out two postal surveys in 1990 and 1991 in major obstetric departments in Northern England, in order to assess practice and facilities against professionally derived standards, with the aim of stimulating and reviewing change. The reference standards were a local adaptation of those produced by the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association, and covered operating facilities, anaesthetic equipment, management and manpower, training, and protocols. ⋯ This revealed further improvement in 8/26 standards, but apparent deterioration in 11/26. The overall change from the first to the third survey was of apparent improvement in 15/26 standards and deterioration in 6/26. Surveys of practice against professionally derived standards and the targeted feed back of results can lead to improvements in practice and facilities.
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Truncus arteriosus Type IV is a rare congenital cardiac malformation characterized by agenesis of the pulmonary arteries. Pulmonary perfusion is ensured by bronchial arteries. ⋯ Survival is rare without surgical correction. We report a case of uncorrected truncus arteriosus Type IV in a 28-year-old primigravid woman who underwent caesarean section.