Indian journal of anaesthesia
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Submental intubation is an interesting alternative to tracheostomy, especially when short-term postoperative control of airway is desirable with the presence of undisturbed access to oral as well as nasal airways and a good dental occlusion. Submental intubation with midline incision has been used in 10 cases from October 2008 to March 2010 in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore. All patients had fractures of the jaws disturbing the dental occlusion associated with fracture of the base of the skull, or/and a displaced nasal bone fracture. ⋯ Average duration of the procedure was less than 6 minutes. Submental intubation is a simple technique associated with low rates of morbidity. It is an attractive alternative to tracheotomy in the surgical management of selected cases of panfacial trauma.
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The overall goal of the global oximetry (GO) project was to increase patient safety during anaesthesia and surgery in low and middle income countries by decreasing oximetry costs and increasing oximetry utilisation. Results from the overall project have been previously published. This paper reports specifically on pilot work undertaken in four hospitals in one Indian State. ⋯ In the recovery room, 91 of the 939 patients were monitored using the oximeters with 12 patients (13%) requiring oxygen. This study has highlighted that pulse oximetry must be used even in patients having surgical procedures or caesarean section under regional or local anaesthesia as these procedures are associated with hypoxic episodes. Anaesthetists must ensure they are complying with the Indian Society of Anaesthesiologists monitoring standards for anaesthesia and ensure patients are monitored by pulse oximetry.
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Needle-through-needle combined spinal-epidural (CSE) may cause significant delay in patient positioning resulting in settling down of spinal anaesthetic and unacceptably low block level. Bilateral hip flexion has been shown to extend the spinal block by flattening lumbar lordosis. However, patients with lower limb fractures cannot flex their injured limb. ⋯ However, four patients in the Control group in contrast to none in the Flexion group required epidural drug before start of surgery. Moreover, in the Control group four patients took longer than 30 min to achieve maximum sensory block. To conclude, unilateral hip flexion did not extend the spinal anaesthetic level; however, further studies are required to explore the potential benefits of this technique.
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Endotracheal intubation involving conventional laryngoscopy elicits a haemodynamic response associated with increased heart and blood pressure. The study was aimed to see if video laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation has any advantages over conventional laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation in patients with coronary artery disease. Thirty patients suffering from coronary artery disease scheduled for elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) were studied. ⋯ However, haemodynamic changes were no different between the groups. There were no events of myocardial ischaemia as monitored by surface electrocardiography during the study period in either of the groups. In conclusion, video laryngoscopy did not provide any benefit in terms of haemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and intubation in patients undergoing primary CABG with a Mallampatti grade of <2.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy, potency and side effects of clonidine as compared to tramadol in post-spinal anaesthesia shivering. In this prospective double-blind randomized controlled clinical trial, 80 American Society of Anaesthesiologists grade-l (ASAI) patients aged between 18 and 45 years scheduled for various surgical procedures under spinal anaesthesia, who developed shivering were selected. The patients were divided into two groups: Group C (n=40) comprised of patients who received clonidine 0.5mg/kg intravenously (IV) and group patients who received tramadol 0.5 mg/kg IV. ⋯ Response rate to treatment in group C was higher (97.5%) than in group T (92.5%), but the difference was not significant. Nausea, vomiting and dizziness were found to be higher in group T (P=0.001, 0.005, 0.001, respectively), while the patients in group C were comparatively more sedated (sedation level, 2; group C, 25%). We conclude that clonidine gives better thermodynamics than tramadol, with fewer side effects.