Masui. The Japanese journal of anesthesiology
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A 66-year-old man with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was scheduled for elective endovascular repair of an aortic abdominal aneurysm and femoral-femoral artery bypass. Because spirometry revealed marked reduction of percent forced expiratory volume in 1 second (%FEV1.0), postoperative respiratory failure was anticipated. Spinal anesthesia and no use of tracheal intubation were planned. ⋯ Additional analgesia was acquired with a total of 0.1 mg of fentanyl IV. The endovascular repair was completed uneventfully. In conclusion, spinal anesthesia combined with local anesthesia in the elbow is useful for management of endovascular repair of an aortic abdominal aneurysm in patients with severe COPD for whom postoperative respiratory failure is anticipated.
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We present the system of nurse anesthetist (Infirmier Anesthésiste Diplômé d'Etat: IADE) in France to the community of Japanese anesthesiologists. This French system with 70 years' history is older than the Japan Society of Anesthesiologists itself. There are 7000 nurse anesthetists in France now and the number of nurse anesthetists increases by 450-500 each year. ⋯ The relationship between the certified anesthesiologist and the nurse anesthetist is marked by mutual respect, confidence and cooperation at each step of the anesthetic management, from induction to recovery of anesthesia. We believe that it is very safe for the patients to undergo anesthesia performed by nurse anesthetists under the control of certified anesthesiologists. We suggest that the introduction of the system equivalent to the French concept and improved training of nurse anesthetists can be the solution to overcome our current shortage of certified anesthesiologists in Japan.
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In a morbidly obese parturient, epidural anesthesia is occasionally difficult because of great distance from the skin to the epidural space, and difficulty in identification of appropriate landmarks. We successfully managed cesarean section in a morbidly obese parturient with body mass index of 50.2 kg x m(-2) under epidural anesthesia. We used a 17 G custom-made epidural needle 120 mm long (Hakko, Tokyo, Japan), and the depth from the skin to the epidural space was 95 mm. We conclude that an extremely long epidural needle was useful in a morbidly obese parturient for overcoming the difficulties in epidural puncture and avoiding general anesthesia-related complications.