British journal of anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of propofol and fentanyl administered at the end of anaesthesia for prevention of emergence agitation after sevoflurane anaesthesia in children.
Propofol 1 mg/kg reduces emergence delirium in children, without increasing nausea, vomiting or length of PACU stay, unlike fentanyl 1 mcg/kg.
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Comparative Study
Left ventricular volume and ejection fraction assessment with transoesophageal echocardiography: 2D vs 3D imaging.
Developments in transducer technology have enabled the use of three-dimensional transoesophageal echocardiography (3D TOE) in the operating theatre. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) 3D left ventricular (LV) volumes and ejection fraction (EF) agree better with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements, with less intra- and inter-observer variability compared with 2D. This has not been validated with 3D TOE. The aim of this study was to assess the bias, limits of agreement, and reproducibility of 3D TOE and 2D TOE LV volumes and EF in cardiac surgical patients. ⋯ The intraoperative use of 3D TOE to estimate LV volumes and EF has small bias compared with 2D assessments, wide limits of agreement, and no clear advantages compared with standard 2D TOE imaging in terms of LV volume and EF assessment.
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In patients receiving an infusion of norepinephrine, the relationship between the amplitude of the oximeter plethysmographic waveform and stroke volume may be variable and quality of the waveform might be reduced, compared with patients not receiving norepinephrine. We assessed the reliability of the pleth variability index (PVI), an automatic measurement of the respiratory variation of the plethysmographic waveform, for predicting fluid responsiveness in patients receiving norepinephrine infusions. ⋯ PVI was less reliable than PPV and SVV for predicting fluid responsiveness in critically ill patients receiving norepinephrine. In addition, PVI could not be measured in a significant proportion of patients. This suggests that PVI is not useful in patients receiving norepinephrine.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Long-term quality of sleep after remifentanil-based anaesthesia: a randomized controlled trial.
Clinical and pre-clinical data agree that opioids disrupt sleep architecture. Recently, remifentanil has been suggested to cause possible long-term disturbances of sleep quality. This randomized controlled clinical trial was designed to substantiate or refute a possible long-term effect of remifentanil on the quality of sleep. ⋯ The intraoperative use of remifentanil in a general patient population does not significantly alter the quality of sleep in the postoperative period. However, it may result in a significant reduction in the quality of sleep in patients before operation considered good sleepers. These changes were not observed in the group of patients receiving fentanyl. The relevance of these findings in terms of patient recovery and quality-of-life warrants further investigation. Trial Registration. ACTRN12610000362099.
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In a previous study, the authors found a large bias (50%) for lithium (LiDCO) compared with thermodilution cardiac output measurement methods in ponies receiving i.v. infusions of xylazine, ketamine, and midazolam. This prompted the authors to examine the effect of drugs on the LiDCO sensor. ⋯ A number of drugs influenced the accuracy of the LiDCO sensor in vitro but, based on published pharmacokinetic data, only xylazine, ketamine, lidocaine, and rocuronium may cause biases at clinically relevant concentrations. These findings need to be confirmed in vivo. Relevant (>3 mV) changes in sensor voltages due to the presence of drugs may indicate possible interactions with the LiDCO sensor.