Anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Haemoconcentration of residual cardiopulmonary bypass blood using Hemosep(®) : a randomised controlled trial.
Cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass are associated with haemodilution, activation of haemostasis and blood transfusion. We undertook a randomised controlled trial that included 53 patients in order to compare autotransfusion of residual cardiopulmonary bypass blood with residual blood concentrated using the novel Hemosep(®) device. There was no difference in patients' mean (SD) haemoglobin concentration after autotransfusion of unprocessed blood compared with Hemosep; 103.5 (10.2) g.l(-1) vs 106.2 (12.4) g.l(-1), respectively, p = 0.40. ⋯ This was despite Hemosep's reducing the weight of the blood from a mean (SD) of 778.7 (243.0) g to 607.3 (248.2) g, p < 0.001. The haemoglobin concentration in the processed blood increased from a mean (SD) of 87.0 (15.1) g.l(-1) to 103.7 (17.4) g.l(-1), p < 0.001. We conclude that Hemosep is capable of haemoconcentration when employed to process residual cardiopulmonary bypass blood, but that this is insufficient to increase patient haemoglobin.
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Distractions during critical phases of anaesthesia for caesarean section: an observational study.
Aviation's 'sterile cockpit' rule holds that distractions on the flight deck should be kept at a minimum during critical phases of flight. To assess current practice at comparable points during obstetric regional anaesthesia, we measured ambient noise and distracting events during 30 caesarean sections in three phases: during establishment of regional anaesthesia; during testing of regional blockade; and after delivery of the fetal head. ⋯ The median rates of sudden, loud (> 70 dB) noises, non-clinical conversations and numbers of staff present in the operating theatre increased during each of the three phases. Conversely, entrances into, and exits from, theatre per minute were highest during establishment of regional anaesthesia and decreased over the subsequent two time periods (p < 0.001).
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Observational Study
The predictive ability of non-invasive haemodynamic parameters for hypotension during caesarean section: a prospective observational study.
Spinal anaesthesia for caesarean section induces hypotension, which may cause severe adverse effects. Our goal was to determine whether hypotension could be predicted by pulse oximetry parameters, such as the perfusion index and pleth variability index, heart rate, ratio of low-frequency to high-frequency components of heart rate variability, and entropy of heart rate variability, measured before the induction of anaesthesia. ⋯ The grey zone for heart rate was in the range of 71-89 bpm, and 60.5% of parturients were in the grey zone. Pre-anaesthetic heart rate, but not other parameters derived from pulse oximetry or heart rate variability, may be a prognostic factor for hypotension associated with spinal anaesthesia.