Der Anaesthesist
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A 40 year old man, who was suspected on clinical evidence (fever, severe muscle pains, dark urine following general anesthesia 8 years ago) of being susceptible to malignant hyperthermia, was scheduled for traumatologic surgery. Dantrolene-Sodium 4 mg/kg orally was given prophylactically the day before surgery; as a premedication the patient received morphine and triflupromazine intramuscularly. ⋯ The remainder of the postoperative course was uneventful. The patient was discharged 9 days later.
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Case Reports
[Malfunction of equipment by the addition of a bacterial filter in the expiratory branch of the respiratory circuit].
The addition of a continuous Flow System to the circuit of a volume cycled respirator results in an additional IMV option and shows excellent performance for this purpose. The insertion of a bacterial filter into this modified circuit resulted in a dangerous increase of airway pressures after 54 "running hours" for that filter. ⋯ Furthermore it was demonstrated that wet bacterial filters cause malfunction of SIMV systems due to interference with the demand valve responsible for proper air supply. The routine use of a bacterial filter placed in the expiratory branch results in higher risks in an already risky artificial ventilation system and use-nonuse relationships seem to be questionable.