Singap Med J
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Patient-controlled epidural analgesia after thoracic and upper abdominal surgery using sufentanil with and without bupivacaine 0.125%.
Epidural sufentanil can relieve postoperative pain after thoracic and upper abdominal surgery but it has some unwanted side effects. Patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) allows patients to titrate and reduce their analgesic requirements. ⋯ The PCEA demand-only programme using sufentanil 1 microg/ml with and without bupivacaine 0.125% was satisfactory after thoracotomy and upper abdominal surgery in our patient population. The addition of bupivacaine to sufentanil did not significantly reduce the amount of sufentanil required, the pain scores or the side effects.
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A survey was carried out among primary school teachers in the district of Kota Bharu, Malaysia to assess the level of knowledge on asthma and its management. Our findings revealed that primary school teachers were less informed about the management and treatment of asthma. ⋯ It is important that teachers should be able to recognise symptoms of an asthmatic attack or take the necessary precautions to avoid such an attack. Many teachers agreed on the need to have an asthma education programme in their teaching curriculum.