British journal of anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Tracheal intubation with videolaryngoscopes in patients with cervical spine immobilization: a randomized trial of the Airway Scope and the GlideScope.
The GlideScope (Verathon Inc., Bothell, WA, USA) and Airway Scope (Hoya Corp., Tokyo, Japan) have both been used for difficult airway management, including in patients with cervical spine pathology. The Airway Scope's disposable blade has a tube channel to guide tracheal tube insertion through the glottis. Our hypothesis is that this tube guidance system improves the ease of tracheal intubation compared with the GlideScope, which does not have a tube guiding system. We tested this hypothesis in a randomized comparison of the two videolaryngoscopes in patients whose cervical spines were immobilized. ⋯ These results suggest that the Airway Scope's tube guide system enables more rapid tracheal intubation compared with the GlideScope in patients with cervical spine immobilization.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of economical aspects of interscalene brachial plexus blockade and general anaesthesia for arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
This study investigated the cost-effectiveness of ultrasonographic-guided interscalene brachial plexus blockade (ISB) in comparison with general anaesthesia (GA) for arthroscopic shoulder surgery. ⋯ Ultrasonographic-guided ISB is a cost-effective method for arthroscopic shoulder surgery.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A randomized prospective study comparing two flexible epidural catheters for labour analgesia.
Previous studies evaluating stiff epidural catheters found that the three-holed design provided superior labour analgesia compared with an end-holed design. This was believed due to improved medication distribution. Recently, flexible epidural catheters with both designs have been shown to be superior to the stiff epidural catheters. We investigated the success of labour analgesia comparing the flexible three-holed with the flexible end-holed epidural catheter. ⋯ There were no differences in the initial analgesia success rate, complications, or labour analgesia between end-hole vs multi-hole flexible epidural catheters.
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Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is amenable to a variety of regional anaesthesia (RA) techniques that may improve patient outcome. We sought to answer whether RA decreased mortality, cardiovascular morbidity, deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), blood loss, duration of surgery, pain, opioid-related adverse effects, cognitive defects, and length of stay. We also questioned whether RA improved rehabilitation. ⋯ Our review suggests that there is no difference in duration of surgery in patients who receive GA or RA. Compared with systemic analgesia, regional analgesia can reduce postoperative pain, morphine consumption, and nausea and vomiting. Length of stay is not reduced and rehabilitation does not appear to be facilitated by RA or analgesia for THA.
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There are diverse reports concerning the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) A118G in the gene coding for the mu-opioid receptor. This study assessed pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationships in patients with acute pain (water-immersed extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy). ⋯ We demonstrated increased opioid requirement for alfentanil in patients with the G118 SNP, who self-administered a higher dose, achieved higher plasma concentration, and yet complained of more severe pain. This observation suggests that G118 SNP impairs the analgesic response to opioids.