British journal of anaesthesia
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Multicenter Study
Association of sugammadex reversal of neuromuscular block and postoperative length of stay in the ambulatory care facility: a multicentre hospital registry study.
Encapsulation of rocuronium or vecuronium with sugammadex can reverse neuromuscular block faster than neostigmine reversal. This pharmacodynamic profile might facilitate patient discharge after ambulatory surgery. ⋯ Reversal with sugammadex compared with neostigmine was associated with a small decrease in postoperative length of stay in the ambulatory care unit. The effect was magnified in older and high-risk patients, and can be explained by reduced postoperative nausea and vomiting. Sugammadex reversal in ambulatory surgery may also help reduce cost of care.
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Anaesthetic procedures are complex and subject to human error. Interventions to alleviate medication errors include organised syringe storage trays, but no standardised methods for drug storage have yet been widely implemented. ⋯ Colour-coded compartmentalisation enhanced visual search efficacy of pre-loaded trays. Reduced fixations and fixation times for the loaded tray were shown for colour-coded compartmentalised trays, indicating a reduction in cognitive load. Overall, colour-coded compartmentalised trays were associated with significant performance improvements when compared with conventional trays.
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Observational Study
Ventilatory ratio, dead space, and venous admixture in acute respiratory distress syndrome.
Ventilatory ratio (VR) has been proposed as an alternative approach to estimate physiological dead space. However, the absolute value of VR, at constant dead space, might be affected by venous admixture and CO2 volume expired per minute (VCO2). ⋯ VR is a useful aggregate variable associated with outcome, but variables not associated with ventilation (VCO2 and venous admixture) strongly contribute to the high values of VR seen in patients with severe illness.
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Preclinical studies have indicated that anaesthesia is an independent risk factor for dementia, but the clinical associations between dementia and different types of general anaesthesia or regional anaesthesia remain unclear. We conducted a population-based cohort study using propensity-score matching to compare dementia incidence in patients included in the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database who received various anaesthetic types for hip fracture surgery. ⋯ The incidence rate ratios of dementia amongst older adults undergoing hip fracture surgery were higher for those receiving general anaesthesia than for those receiving regional anaesthesia, with inhalational anaesthesia associated with a higher incidence rate ratio for dementia than total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA).
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Acute pain after surgery is common and often leads to chronic post-surgical pain, but neither treatment nor prevention is currently sufficient. We hypothesised that specific protein networks (protein-protein interactions) are relevant for pain after surgery in humans and mice. ⋯ Proteome profiling of human skin after incision revealed protein-protein interactions correlated with pain and hyperalgesia, which may be of potential significance for preventing chronic post-surgical pain. Importantly, protein-protein interactions were differentially modulated in mice compared to humans opening new avenues for successful translational research.