British journal of anaesthesia
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Several risk scores have been developed to calculate the probability of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). However, the power to discriminate which individual will suffer from PONV is still limited. Thus, we wondered how the number of predictors in a score affects the discriminating power and how the characteristics of a population--which is needed to measure the power of a score--may affect the results. ⋯ The currently available simplified risk scores (with four or five predictors) are useful both as a method to estimate individual risk of PONV and as a method for comparing groups of patients for antiemetic trials. They are also superior to single predictor models which are just using the patients' history of PONV or female gender alone. However, our analysis suggests that the power to discriminate which indvidual will suffer from PONV will remain imperfect, even when more predictors are considered.
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Case Reports
Intramuscular ketamine in a parturient in whom pre-operative intravenous access was not possible.
We describe the management of a 23-yr-old woman with extreme needle and mask phobia, presenting for an emergency Caesarean section for fetal distress. She also suffered from spina bifida cystica with no sensation from mid thigh. Regional anaesthesia, rapid sequence induction, and gaseous induction were not possible. She was managed successfully with i.m. ketamine followed by a more conventional anaesthetic technique.
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Oesophageal Doppler monitoring (ODM) has been advocated as a non-invasive means of measuring cardiac output (CO). However, its reliance upon blood flow measurement in the descending aorta to estimate CO is susceptible to error if blood flow is redistributed between the upper and lower body. We hypothesize that lumbar epidural anesthesia (LEA), which causes blood flow redistribution, causes errors in CO estimates. ⋯ ODM measured a greater increase in CO after LEA (delta=+1.71 (1.19) litre min(-1) (mean (SD)) compared with TD (delta=+0.51 (0.70) litre min(-1)). We conclude that following LEA, measurements with the Oesophageal Doppler Monitor II overestimate CO and show unacceptably high variability. Blood flow redistribution may limit the value of ODM.
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Propofol is used in the peri-operative setting and may affect some neutrophil functions. The effects of propofol on the function and intracellular signal transduction systems of neutrophils is controversial. Mitogen-activated protein kinase families (MAPKs) are members of the intracellular signal-transducing systems in eukaryotes. ⋯ The phosphorylation of p42 MAPK and chemotaxis stimulated by FMLP were both inhibited by propofol at clinically relevant concentrations (> or = 10 and > or = 20 microM respectively). PD98059 (50 microM) also inhibited chemotaxis stimulated by FMLP, suggesting the involvement of p42 MAPK in the response. Propofol might therefore inhibit human neutrophil chemotaxis, at least in part, by suppressing the p44/42 MAPK pathway.
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Hypertension is the commonest avoidable medical indication for postponing anaesthesia and surgery. There are no universally accepted guidelines stating the arterial pressure values at which anaesthesia should be postponed. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of variation across the South-West region of the UK in the anaesthetic management of patients presenting with stage 2 or stage 3 hypertension. ⋯ The response rate was 58%. We found great variability between anaesthetists as to which patients would be cancelled. Departmental protocols may aid general practitioners and surgeons in the preparation of patients for surgery, but such protocols may be difficult to agree in the light of such a wide variation in practice.