Masui. The Japanese journal of anesthesiology
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Changes in central venous pressure (CVP) during intermittent positive pressure ventilation with a Bennett 7200 respirator were measured in 30 postoperative patients without hemodynamic abnormalities. The tidal volume was changed from 300 ml to 900 ml and the PEEP was changed from 0 cmH2O to 8 cmH2O, step by step, respectively. Mean airway pressure (Pmean), maximal airway pressure (Pmax), arterial blood pressure, and heart rate were measured simultaneously with the measurement of CVP. ⋯ The value of CVP was considered to be 7.5 +/- 6.2 cmH2O when Pmean was zero. There was no change in the arterial blood pressure and heart rate throughout the measurement. This suggests that increases in CVP might not reflect any accompanying hemodynamic change.
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Twenty patients who underwent thoracotomy were given 2mg of epidural morphine postoperatively. Serum morphine concentrations were determined, analyzed pharmacokinetically, and compared with the degree of analgesia obtained. Excellent analgesia was attained in 11 patients and fair analgesia in the remaining 9 patients. ⋯ Maximal concentration (Cmax) was calculated to be 38.5 +/- 4.2 ng.ml-1 in the excellent analgesia group and 25.7 +/- 4.3 ng.ml-1 in the fair group. The area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) in the fair group was approximately 20% of that in the excellent group. It is concluded that serum morphine levels correlated with analgesic effect in patients receiving epidural morphine after thoracotomy.