British journal of anaesthesia
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Bilateral superior laryngeal nerve block was combined with topical application of local anaesthetic 140 times in 135 patients to anaesthetize the upper airway and facilitate tracheal intubation, laryngeal instrumentation, or to diminish the response to the endotracheal tube, in a patient already intubated. The technique was successful in 92% of attempts.
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A system to control the alveolar anaesthetic concentration of patients undergoing halothane anaesthesia with controlled ventilation is described. Parameters characterizing the alveolar concentration response are determined on-line from breath-by-breath measurement of the inspired and end-tidal concentrations and the mixed venous anaesthetic partial pressure is estimated throughout the procedure. ⋯ Off-line verification results illustrate the operation of the technique and in 20 cases the inspired concentration, as controlled by the anaesthetist, was compared with that predicted by the automated system. These results indicate the feasibility of the system as a method for the control of anaesthesia.