Anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Self-administered intravenous and intramuscular pethidine. A controlled trial in labour.
In a randomised controlled trial of mothers in labour intramuscular pethidine 150 mg, repeated if necessary, was compared with self-administered intravenous pethidine (0.25 mg/kg available at 10-min-intervals). Each mother agreed to have either method of pain relief and could opt for epidural block. ⋯ There were no differences in mean Apgar scores between the babies in the groups. In mothers who do not choose epidural block, similar pain relief is afforded by adequate intramuscular pethidine or self-demand intravenous pethidine; however, intravenous self-administration is more efficient since the pain relief is achieved with a lower dose of pethidine.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Dysrhythmias during oral surgery. A comparison between halothane and enflurane anaesthesia.
Continuous electrocardiographic monitoring was employed in one hundred healthy adult patients during minor oral surgery under either halothane or enflurane anaesthesia. A significantly lower incidence of cardiac dysrhythmia during enflurane anaesthesia was observed and this suggests that enflurane may be the agent of choice, particularly in patients at risk because of cardiac disease.
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The reported incidence of blood vessel puncture after placement of a needle and catheter into the lumbar epidural space in obstetric practice appears to vary between 1 and 10%. This study was undertaken to assess the incidence of blood vessel puncture related to catheter insertion. Two methods of catheter placement were used to see if there were any difference in the incidence of vessel puncture. The incidence of blood vessel puncture after direct catheter placement was found to be 9% compared to 3% after prior injection of 10 ml of 0.5% plain bupivacaine into the epidural space. (p = 0.05).
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The choice of anaesthesia as a future career by 54 undergraduates of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria was studied. None of the students selected anaesthesia as first choice; the specialty ranked sixth. The short duration of exposure to anaesthesia, insufficient participation in practical anaesthesia during their posting and inadequate provision of teaching aids were considered by the students to require improvement. The authors also suggest early introduction of anaesthesia in their curriculum.