British journal of anaesthesia
-
A patient developed persistent symptoms and signs suggestive of partial spinal cord infarction after an operation involving the use of the hyperlordotic position. This position involves extension at the waist, such that both the head and feet are below the level of the waist. It is employed to increase surgical access to the abdomen. Where this position is adopted for a prolonged surgical procedure, existing risk factors for spinal cord ischaemia should urge caution in the use of epidural analgesia.
-
The analgesic effects of morphine are delayed relative to its concentration in blood. The rate of equilibration of morphine between blood and brain may contribute to this delay, but the kinetics of this process have not been modelled. This was determined in conscious instrumented sheep. The lung kinetics of morphine were also determined given their importance in defining systemic kinetics after i.v. bolus administration. ⋯ The cerebral equilibration of morphine was relatively slow, and was characterized by significant membrane limitation.