BMC anesthesiology
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Chronic back pain is a multifactorial disease that occurs particularly in adults and has many negative effects on the quality of daily life. Therapeutic strategies are often multimodal and designed for a long-term therapy period. In some cases, one option is joint infiltration or intrathecal injection with local anaesthetics. An adverse effect of this intervention may be necrotic fasciitis, a disease with high mortality and few therapeutic options. ⋯ Thanks to early and aggressive surgical intervention, antibiotic treatment and hyperbaric oxygenation, she survived this serious complication and was able to return to life.
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Low concentrations of morphine are required for safe dosing for intrathecal injections. Sometimes, manual dilution of morphine is performed to achieve these low concentrations, but risks dilution errors and bacterial contamination. The primary goal was to compare the concentrations of morphine and bupivacaine between four groups of syringes. The secondary goal was to investigate the difference in contamination rate between these groups. ⋯ Manually diluted morphine is at risk for deviating concentrations, which could lead to increased side-effects. Medication produced by the hospital pharmacy was highly accurate. Furthermore, even when precautions are undertaken, contamination of the medication is a serious risk and appeared to be unrelated to the dilution process.
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Most trauma patients admitted to the hospital alive and die later on, decease during the initial care in the emergency department or the intensive care unit (ICU). However, a number of patients pass away after having been discharged from the ICU during the initial hospital stay. On first sight these cases could be seen as "failure to rescue" of potentially salvageable patients. A low rate of such patients might be a potential indicator of quality for trauma care on ICUs and surgical wards. ⋯ 17.7% of all non-surviving severely injured trauma patients died within the hospital after discharge from their initial ICU treatment. Their death can partially be explained by a limitation of therapy due to a living will. In conclusion, the rate of such late deaths may partially represent patients that died of potentially avoidable or treatable complications.
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Observational Study
Risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting in hip and knee arthroplasty: a prospective cohort study after spinal anaesthesia including intrathecal morphine.
The overall risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting after general anaesthesia is approximately 30% even with prophylactic medications. Studies exploring the risk after regional anaesthesia including intrathecal morphine are limited but indicate that intrathecal morphine is highly emetogenic and is additive to the PONV risk associated with other forms of anaesthesia. The aim of this observational study was to investigate the risk of PONV after spinal blockade combined with intrathecal morphine and to explore associations with patient and perioperative factors, including given PONV-prophylaxis. We hypothesized that a large number of patients in a clinical setting receive less prophylaxis than the recommendations in guidelines (suboptimal prophylaxis), leading to a higher risk for PONV compared to those receiving adequate PONV prophylaxis. ⋯ There was a high risk for PONV after spinal anaesthesia including morphine. PONV risk was associated with the level of prophylaxis and with known risk factors for PONV. Our findings suggest that a more liberal use of PONV prophylaxis might be motivated.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effects of propofol and sevoflurane on hepatic blood flow: a randomized controlled trial.
Maintaining adequate perioperative hepatic blood flow (HBF) supply is essential for preservation of postoperative normal liver function. Propofol and sevoflurane affect arterial and portal HBF. Previous studies have suggested that propofol increases total HBF, primarily by increasing portal HBF, while sevoflurane has only minimal effect on total HBF. Primary objective was to compare the effect of propofol (group P) and sevoflurane (group S) on arterial, portal and total HBF and on the caval and portal vein pressure during major abdominal surgery. The study was performed in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy because - in contrast to hepatic surgical procedures - this is a standardized surgical procedure without potential anticipated severe hemodynamic disturbances, and it allows direct access to the hepatic blood vessels. ⋯ Hepatic blood flow was similar under a propofol-based and a sevoflurane-based anesthetic regimen. Related to the application of GDHT, pre-set hemodynamic goals were maintained in both groups, but sevoflurane-anaesthetized patients had a significantly higher need for vasopressor support.