Anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Perineural versus intravenous dexamethasone as adjuncts to local anaesthetic brachial plexus block for shoulder surgery.
This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study compared the effect of perineural with intravenous dexamethasone, both administered concomitantly with interscalene brachial plexus block for shoulder surgery. Patients received 8 mg dexamethasone mixed with ropivacaine in the block injection (n = 42), 8 mg dexamethasone intravenously at the time of the block (n = 37), or intravenous saline (n = 41) at the time of the block. Perineural and intravenous dexamethasone resulted in prolonged mean (SD) duration of block to 16.9 (5.2) h and 18.2 (6.4) h, respectively, compared with 13.8 (3.8) h for saline (p = 0.001). ⋯ Dexamethasone via either route reduced anti-emetic use (p = 0.046). There was no effect on patient satisfaction. These results suggest that both perineural and intravenous dexamethasone are useful adjuncts to ropivacaine interscalene block, with the intravenous route preferred as this avoids the possibility of neural toxicity of dexamethasone.
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We included six trials with 2524 participants. Capnography reduced hypoxaemic episodes, relative risk (95% CI) 0.71 (0.56-0.91), p = 0.02, but the quality of evidence was poor due to high risks of performance bias and detection bias and substantial statistical heterogeneity. The reduction in hypoxaemic episodes was statistically homogeneous in the subgroup of three trials of 1823 adults sedated for colonoscopy, relative risk (95% CI) 0.59 (0.48-0.73), p < 0.001, although the risks of performance and detection biases were high. There was no evidence that capnography affected other outcomes, including assisted ventilation, relative risk (95% CI) 0.58 (0.26-1.27), p = 0.17.
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Sukcharanjit S, Tan AS, Loo AV, Chan XL, Wang CY. The effect of a forced-air warming blanket on patients’ end-tidal and transcutaneous carbon dioxide partial pressures during eye surgery under local anaesthesia: a single-blind, randomised controlled trial. ⋯ In the article [1] by Sukcharanjit et al., data in the ‘Systolic blood pressure; mmHg’ row in Table 1 is listed incorrectly. It should be: 158.0 (14.3) in the Forced air warmer column and 160.9 (15.6) in the Heated Overblanket column.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Self-administered methoxyflurane for procedural analgesia: experience in a tertiary Australasian centre.
Methoxyflurane, an agent formerly used as a volatile anaesthetic but that has strong analgesic properties, will soon become available again in the UK and Europe in the form of a small hand-held inhaler. We describe our experience in the use of inhaled methoxyflurane for procedural analgesia within a large tertiary hospital. In a small pilot crossover study of patients undergoing burns-dressing procedures, self-administered methoxyflurane inhalation was preferred to ketamine-midazolam patient-controlled analgesia by five of eight patients. ⋯ The procedures included change of dressing, minor debridement, colonoscopy and incision-and-drainage of abscess. There was a 97% success rate of methoxyflurane analgesia to facilitate these procedures. Limitations of methoxyflurane include maximal daily and weekly doses, and uncertainty regarding its safety in patients with pre-existing renal disease.