BMC anesthesiology
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Performance of patients immediately after anaesthesia is an area of special interest and so a clinical trial was conducted to compare Xenon with Isoflurane anaesthesia. In order to assess the early cognitive recovery the syndrome short test (SST) according to Erzigkeit (Geromed GmbH) was applied. ⋯ The results show that recovery from anaesthesia and the early return of post-operative cognitive functions are significantly better after Xenon anaesthesia compared to Isoflurane. The results of the RI for Xenon are similar with the previously published results.
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The Lotrach endotracheal tube has a unique low-volume, low-pressure (LVLP) cuff, which has been designed to prevent pressure injury to the tracheal wall. We aimed to estimate the pressure exerted on the tracheal wall by the LVLP cuff and a conventional cuff in a bench-top, clinical and radiological study. ⋯ The bench-top and clinical studies both demonstrated that the LVLP cuff exerted approximately 30 cmH2O of pressure on the tracheal wall. These results are supported by our radiological study. We conclude that the LVLP cuff exerts an acceptable amount of pressure on the tracheal wall when it is operated at the recommended intracuff pressure.
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Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors cannot rapidly reverse profound neuromuscular block. Sugammadex, a selective relaxant binding agent, reverses the effects of rocuronium and vecuronium by encapsulation. This study assessed the efficacy of sugammadex compared with neostigmine in reversal of profound vecuronium-induced neuromuscular block under sevoflurane anesthesia. ⋯ Recovery from profound vecuronium-induced block is significantly faster with sugammadex, compared with neostigmine. Neostigmine did not rapidly reverse profound neuromuscular block (Trial registration number: NCT00473694).
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About one third of hospital mortality in critically ill patients occurs after Intensive Care Unit (ICU) discharge. Some authors have recently hypothesized that unresolved or latent inflammation and sepsis may be an important factor that contributes to death following successful discharge from the ICU. ⋯ At ICU discharge serum CRP concentration was a poor marker of post-ICU prognosis. Post-ICU death appears to be unrelated to the persistent inflammatory response.
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Four nursing mothers consented to anaesthesia for urgent surgery only on condition that their ability to breast feed would not be impaired. ⋯ These results, as well as the rapid elimination and absence of metabolism of xenon, are of great interest to nursing mothers. General anaesthesia with propofol for induction only, combined with remifentanil and xenon for maintenance, has not yet been described in breast feeding mothers.