Anaesthesia
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Carlisle investigated the distribution of independent variables between study groups in Fujii's fraudulent research:
summary"The published distributions of 28/33 variables (85%) were inconsistent with the expected distributions, such that the likelihood of their occurring ranged from 1 in 25 to less than 1 in 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 (1 in 1033), equivalent to p values of 0.04 to < 1 × 10-33 , respectively."
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Development and validation of a novel tool to estimate peri-operative blood loss.
Surgical blood loss predicts peri-operative outcomes. We have developed and validated Blood Loss Scores to estimate peri-operative blood loss during major abdominal surgery. ⋯ The score, taking into account suction fluid volume and haemoglobin concentration, explained more of the variance in the measured blood loss than the experts' assessment (77% vs 54%, p = 0.05) or the change in haemoglobin concentration (77% vs 11%, p < 0.0001). Addition of the change in haemoglobin concentration improved the estimate for the 24- and 48-h postoperative Blood Loss Scores to explain 78% and 80% of the variance of measured blood loss.
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The tube of the laryngeal mask airway is frequently protected by foil during ablative laser procedures. The pilot balloon, however, is often left exposed. The effect of firing seven different cutaneous lasers at the pilot balloon of a disposable laryngeal mask airway was examined to assess its susceptibility to accidental laser strikes. ⋯ The carbon dioxide and erbium YAG lasers punctured the pilot balloon in a mean (SD) of 0.07 (0.02) s and 0.7 (0.1) s, respectively, with the neodymium YAG laser the next quickest to puncture at 3.3 (1.0) s. All other lasers punctured the pilot balloon in less than 15 s. These data suggest that protection of the pilot balloon of the LMA is necessary when using carbon dioxide and erbium YAG lasers.