British journal of anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Magnesium sulphate as a technique of hypotensive anaesthesia.
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was designed to assess the effect of perioperatively administered i.v. magnesium sulphate as a technique of hypotensive anaesthesia. ⋯ Magnesium sulphate led to a reduction in arterial pressure, heart rate, blood loss and duration of surgery. Furthermore, magnesium infusion alters anaesthetic dose requirements and emergence time.
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Emergence delirium in the post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) is poorly understood. The goal of this prospective study was to determine frequency and risk factors of emergence delirium in adults after general anaesthesia. ⋯ Preoperative benzodiazepines, breast and abdominal surgery and surgery of long duration are risk factors for emergence delirium.
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Since the late 1980s 'Ecstasy' (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA) has become established as a popular recreational drug in western Europe. The UK National Criminal Intelligence Service estimates that 0.5-2 million tablets are consumed weekly in Britain. It has been reported that 4.5% of young adults (15-34 yr) in the UK have used MDMA in the previous 12 months. ⋯ Patients with acute MDMA toxicity may present to doctors working in Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine. A broad knowledge of these pathologies and their treatment is necessary for anyone working in an acute medical speciality. An overview of MDMA pharmacology and acute toxicity will be given followed by a plan for clinical management.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Emergence and recovery in children after desflurane and isoflurane anaesthesia: effect of anaesthetic duration.
We hypothesized that increasing duration of inhalation anaesthesia is associated with slower emergence and recovery in children, and that this effect would be less marked with desflurane in comparison with isoflurane. ⋯ The rate of recovery in children after exposure to desflurane was faster than those patients receiving isoflurane; recovery from desflurane, but not isoflurane, was relatively unaffected by the duration of anaesthesia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Prospective comparison of sevoflurane and desflurane in formerly premature infants undergoing inguinal herniotomy.
Formerly premature infants having inguinal herniotomy have been at a high risk of postoperative apnoea, newer less soluble anaesthetic agents may reduce this risk. ⋯ Infants wake faster from general anaesthesia when maintained with desflurane as compared with sevoflurane, but no difference in postoperative respiratory events was demonstrated between the groups.