Der Anaesthesist
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Intravenous administration of ondansetron vs. metoclopramide for the prophylaxis of postoperative nausea and vomiting].
This randomized, double-blind, multicentre, parallel-group study compared the efficacy and safety of an intravenous dose of ondansetron 4 mg for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) with metoclopramide 10 mg and placebo in patients undergoing major gynaecological surgery. A total of 1044 patients (465 ondansetron, 462 metoclopramide, 117 placebo) received study medication immediately prior to induction of anaesthesia and were included in the analysis of data. The proportion of patients experiencing no emesis and no nausea or provided with rescue antiemetic medication, the number of emetic episodes, and the duration and severity of nausea were recorded during the 24-h period after recovery. ⋯ Significantly fewer patients in the ondansetron group required rescue medication or were withdrawn due to treatment failure (P < 0.05). In the ondansetron group the total number of emetic episodes, the median time to the first emetic episode or treatment failure, and the duration and severity of nausea were reduced significantly compared with metoclopramide or placebo (P < 0.05). The safety profile was similar for each treatment group.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Postoperative pulmonary function after lung surgery. Total intravenous anesthesia with propofol in comparison to balanced anesthesia with isoflurane].
After lung resection, early extubation and the rapid return of the patients ability to cooperate is the predominant goal. Propofol anaesthesia is characterised by rapid awakening and recovery of cognitive and psychomotor functions and is consequently desirable for such operations. Experience so far in lung surgery, however, is limited. ⋯ CONCLUSION. The postoperative impairment of lung function after lung resection under propofol anaesthesia is statistically significantly smaller than under isoflurane anaesthesia. Total intravenous anaesthesia with propofol is particularly suitable for this kind of operation.
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Induced hypotension is defined as a reduction in mean arterial blood pressure to 50-60 mm Hg in normotensive subjects. The aim of induced hypotension is to decrease intraoperative blood loss, decrease the need for blood transfusions and improve operating conditions. Most studies indicate that induced hypotension can decrease intraoperative blood loss by 50% in many surgical procedures; however, some studies report that blood loss is not significantly reduced. ⋯ Thus, major contraindications of induced hypotension are severe coronary artery disease, hypertension combined with arteriosclerosis of cerebral vessels and increased intracranial pressure in patients with cerebral disease. Complications are rare in otherwise healthy patients, but may be higher in elderly patients and those with underlying organ dysfunction. Therefore, careful assessment and selection of patients, together with consideration of the potential complications, appropriate choice of drugs and invasive beat-by-beat monitoring, are essential for the safe practice of induced hypotension.
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Only 53%-58% of patients with a subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAB) following the rupture of a cerebral aneurysm survive without neurological damage. Morbidity and mortality are closely related to the delayed ischaemic neurological deficit due to cerebral vasospasm. The following review gives an account of pathophysiological mechanisms; the importance of treatment with calcium antagonists, hypervolaemic haemodilution, and induced arterial hypertension is discussed in light of the current literature. ⋯ In view of the autoregulatory disturbances, systemic hypotension with its danger of decreased CBF must be prevented. The importance of hypervolaemic haemodilution and/or induced arterial hypertension is not clear. Despite therapeutic efforts, the number of patients who have survived a SAB without a substantial neurological deficit has not increased.
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The German Social Law has required quality assurance (QA) procedures since 1989. The measures must be suitable to allow "comparing investigations". In 1992 the German Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine published recommendations for QA in anaesthesia: most problems during an anaesthetic should be documented in a standardised manner, and thus, a list of 63 pitfalls, events, and complications (PECs) and five degrees of severity were defined. ⋯ The types of PECs in our study had a similar distribution to those in other investigations, but there was a tendency to less frequent fatal PECs in ASA classes I to IV and more frequent ones in ASA class V. We expect better comparability when multicenter studies are done using identical methods in the next few years. Perhaps different patients collectives with special risks will be detected; efforts in quality improvement could focus on these patients.