Anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A randomised controlled trial comparing incentive spirometry with the Acapella(®) device for physiotherapy after thoracoscopic lung resection surgery.
Lung resection surgery has been associated with numerous postoperative complications. Seventy-eight patients scheduled for elective video-assisted thoracoscopic lung resection were randomly assigned to receive standard postoperative care with incentive spirometry or standard care plus positive vibratory expiratory pressure treatment using the Acapella(®) device. ⋯ In addition, 37/39 patients (95%) stated a clear preference for the Acapella device. Postoperative treatment with the Acapella device did not improve pulmonary function after thoracoscopic lung resection surgery compared with incentive spirometry, but it may be more comfortable to use.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effect of pre-treatment with transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on the quality of recovery after ambulatory breast surgery: a prospective, randomised controlled trial.
Electroacupuncture has been demonstrated to be effective at alleviating pain and postoperative side-effects. Our aim was to investigate whether transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation, a low-skill alternative to needle-based electroacupuncture, could improve the quality of recovery after ambulatory surgery. Seventy-two women scheduled for cosmetic breast surgery were randomly allocated to transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation or sham groups. ⋯ We found significant mean (SD) differences between the transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation and sham groups in the mean (SD) length of recovery room stay (35.6 (12.9) min vs 48.3 (16.3) min, p = 0.01), time to removal of the laryngeal mask airway (10.2 (2.5) min vs 17.8 (4.4) min, p = 0.01), and time to reorientation of the patient (14.6 (3.2) min vs 26.5 (5.0) min, p = 0.01). Further, postoperative pain scores and the incidence of side-effects were all lower in the transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation group. In conclusion, transcutaneous electric acupoint stimulation can significantly improve the quality of recovery and decrease the incidence of anaesthesia-related side-effects for patients undergoing ambulatory surgery.
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The practice of checking the ability to mask ventilate before administering neuromuscular blocking drugs remains controversial. We prospectively evaluated the changes in the expired tidal volume during pressure-controlled ventilation (two-handed mask ventilation technique) as a surrogate marker to assess the ease of mask ventilation following administration of rocuronium. ⋯ The mean (SD) expired tidal volume before administration of rocuronium increased by 61 (13) ml at 2 min following onset of neuromuscular block (p < 0.001). This supports the concept that neuromuscular blockade induced by rocuronium facilitates mask ventilation.