Acta anaesthesiologica Belgica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Belg · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyDoes the use of a volatile anesthetic regimen attenuate the incidence of cardiac events after vascular surgery?
To compare the effects of a volatile anesthetic to a non-volatile anesthetic regimen on the incidence of postoperative cardiac events, including the postoperative elevation of troponin I values after arterial vascular surgery in high risk patients. ⋯ The results of this hypothesis-generating study suggest that potential beneficial effects on extent of postoperative myocardial damage in high risk patients undergoing arterial surgery will probably be more apparent in abdominal aortic surgery than in peripheral vascular surgery. Further sufficiently powered studies using a standardized protocol should now be performed to definitively address this question.
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More and more anesthesia machines are foreseen with spirometry monitoring. Nevertheless, the use of such equipment needs some interpretation skills for the displayed curves and numerical values otherwise it remains just a disturbing gadget rather than a powerful tool. This review explains in his first part the basic principles of interpretation of the spirometric data, and in the second part gives concrete examples of clinical situations.
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For many years, office based anesthesia (OBA), has been considerably increasing in the US. This type of practice is starting to develop in Belgium. On the other side of the atlantic, legislation concerning this practice is becoming more and more precise, whereas the same isn't true in our country. ⋯ OBA practice is developping insidiously here, and we should therefore ask ourselves serious questions regarding the legal repercussions that it could have. To conclude, we can say that if for a couple of years, the US have started to legislate and propose guidelines, as well as creating special accreditation organizations to inspect and advise the offices, the same is not the case in Belgium. The OBA phenomenon arrived much later here and is really at its very beginnings, but it seems however important to anticipate and clearly regulate this practice in our country.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Belg · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyMethylprednisolone vs. dexamethasone in the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting: a prospective, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
Dexamethasone and methylprednisolone have been proven effective in the prevention of nausea after chemotherapy. Dexamethasone has been proven effective in the prophylaxis of late PONV. Literature about methylprednisolone in PONV prophylaxis is rare. ⋯ There was a beneficial clinical effect of dexamethasone in this population, although not significant. A possible explanation lies in the fact that monotherapy is mostly insufficient in a population at risk like ours. This study confirms that steroids are mostly effective in the prevention of late PONV, less effective in early PONV.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Belg · Jan 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudySpinal anesthesia: comparison of plain ropivacaine, bupivacaine and levobupivacaine for lower abdominal surgery.
This study was performed to compare the anesthetic efficacy and safety of three local anesthetic agents: racemic bupivacaine and its two isomers: ropivacaine and levobupivacaine, in patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery. One hundred-twenty patients, ASA I-III, were randomized to receive an intrathecal injection of one of three local anesthetic solutions. Group A (n = 40) received 3 ml of isobaric bupivacaine 5 mg/ml (15 mg). ⋯ The onset of motor block was significantly faster in the bupivacaine group compared with that in the ropivacaine group and almost the same of that in the levobupivacaine group (P < 0.05). Ropivacaine presented a shorter duration of both motor and sensory block than bupivacaine and levobupivacaine (P < 0.05). Bupivacaine required more often the use of a vasoactive drug (ephedrine) compared to both ropivacaine and levobupivacaine and of a sympathomimetic drug (atropine) compared to the ropivacaine group.