Anaesthesia
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Alongside ultrasonic visualisation, measurement of injection pressure is an effective tool for reducing the risk of intraneural injection during peripheral nerve block. The aim of this study was to compare injection pressure profiles when measured along the injection line with the pressure measured directly at the needle tip using different rates of injection. A syringe pump delivered a 5-ml injection of saline into silicone gel at three different speeds (5 ml.min-1 , 10 ml.min-1 and 15 ml.min-1 ). ⋯ More rapid rates of injection caused peak pressure measured in-line to increase, whereas pressure measured at the needle tip remained constant (mean (SD) pressure in-line 30.76 (3.45) kPa vs. 72.25 (1.55) kPa and mean (SD) pressure at needle tip 19.92 (1.22) kPa vs. 20.93 (2.66) kPa at 5 ml.min-1 and 15 ml.min-1 , respectively). Injection pressure profiles showed that in-line pressure measurement failed to record precise real-time pressure changes occurring at the needle tip (mean (95%CI) pressure difference 10.8 (6.98-14.70) kPa vs. 51.2 (47.52-54.89) kPa for in-line and needle-tip measures, respectively). We conclude that, in order to accurately monitor the true injection pressure generated, independent from operator and injection parameters, measurement at the needle tip is necessary, as injection pressure measured along the injection line is an unreliable surrogate.
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We analysed how long it has taken for papers authored by Scott Reuben, Joachim Boldt and Yoshitaka Fujii to be retracted: investigations into these three anaesthetists have shown much of their research to be unethical or fraudulent. To date, 94% of their combined papers requiring retraction have been retracted; however, only 85% of the retraction notices were compliant with guidelines produced by the Committee on Publication Ethics. ⋯ In response to our enquiries, 16 articles have since been retracted; we have documented the journals' responses regarding the remaining papers and await further retractions in the future. There is room for improvement in the way that unethical or fraudulent papers are handled by journals and publishers, beyond the identification of the authors' misconduct.
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This review on shared decision-making comes at a time when international healthcare policy, domestic law and patient expectation demand a bringing-together of the patient's values and preferences with the physician's expertise to determine the best bespoke care package for the individual. Despite robust guidance in terms of consent, the anaesthetic community have lagged behind in terms of embracing the patient-focused rather than doctor-focused aspects of shared decision-making. For many, confusion has arisen due to a conflation of informed consent, risk assessment, decision aids and shared decision-making. ⋯ As patients have already decided to proceed with therapy or investigation and may be more concerned about the surgery than the anaesthesia, it is often assumed they will accept whatever anaesthetic is offered and defer to the clinician's expertise - without discussion. Furthermore, shared decision-making does not stop at time of anaesthesia for the peri-operative physician. It continues until discharge and requires the anaesthetist to engage in shared decision-making for prescribing and deprescribing peri-operative medicines.
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Although there is reasonable confidence that a single general anaesthetic before three years of age has no consequences for intelligence development, there is an association between multiple exposures and learning and behavioural difficulties, possibly including ADHD. Animal studies have demonstrated ADHD-like changes in juvenile rats exposed to general anaesthetics.
There is a plausible physiological explanation for how general anaesthesia may induce ADHD, involving disruption of the prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia via dopaminergic, glutaminergic and neutrophic factor mechanisms.
Nonetheless, evidence to date linking general anaesthetic exposure in young children and ADHD development is far from conclusive and – as with many areas of practice – requires further research.
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Observational Study
Electroencephalographic (EEG) density spectral array monitoring in children during sevoflurane anaesthesia: a prospective observational study.
Electroencephalographic density spectral array monitoring has been developed to facilitate the interpretation of unprocessed electroencephalogram signals. The primary aim of this prospective observational study, performed in a tertiary children's hospital, was to identify the clinical applicability and validity of density spectral array monitoring in infants and children during sevoflurane anaesthesia. We included 104 children, aged < 6 years, undergoing elective surgery during sevoflurane anaesthesia. ⋯ In infants younger than 6 months-old, α and β coherence are absent, whereas θ and δ oscillations have already emerged. In cases where anaesthesia was too deep, this presented as burst suppression on the electroencephalogram, θ disappeared, leaving the electroencephalographic activity in the δ range. Future research should address this issue, aiming to clarify whether the emergence of θ oscillations in infants helps to prevent sevoflurane overdosing.