British journal of anaesthesia
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The benefits, risks and resource implications of providing an Acute Pain Service were assessed during the first year of the service. Six hundred and sixty patients recovering from major surgery were treated with patient-controlled analgesia (510 patients) or extradural infusion analgesia (150 patients). ⋯ Eight patients developed potentially serious complications including respiratory depression and hypotension; the diagnosis and management of these problems on general wards is discussed. Retrospective analysis of the incidence of postoperative chest infection in surgical patients showed a marked reduction during the first year of the service (1.3% in 1988, 0.4% in 1989-90 (P less than 0.01].
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Neuromuscular and clinical effects of mivacurium chloride in healthy adult patients during nitrous oxide-enflurane anaesthesia.
We have studied the effects of mivacurium after induction of anaesthesia with alfentanil-propofol in healthy adult oral surgical patients. Anaesthesia was maintained with nitrous oxide and 0.75% (end-tidal) enflurane in oxygen after nasotracheal intubation. Recordings were made of the rectified compound adductor pollicis electromyogram in response to train-of-four (TOF) ulnar nerve stimulation. ⋯ Mean duration of infusion was 58 (3.4) min and mean infusion rate after a 15-min stabilization period was 6.6 (range 2.3-12.9) micrograms kg-1 min-1. On cessation of infusions, spontaneous recovery from T1/Tc 8% (1.0%) to T4:T1 = 0.7 took 17 (1.2) min. Neostigmine 0.04 mg kg-1 or edrophonium 0.75 mg kg-1 evoked recovery from T1/Tc 9% (SEM 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively) to T4:T1 = 0.7 in 11 (0.6) and 8 (0.9) min (both P less than 0.001 vs spontaneous recovery).