Local and regional anesthesia
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Laparoscopic cholecystectomy has the advantages of causing less postoperative pain and requiring a short hospital stay, and therefore is the treatment of choice for cholelithiasis. This study was designed to compare spinal anesthesia using hyperbaric bupivacaine given as a conventional dose by lumbar puncture or as a low-dose by thoracic puncture. ⋯ Laparoscopic cholecystectomy can be performed successfully under spinal anesthesia. A small dose of hyperbaric bupivacaine 7.5 mg and 20 μg fentanyl provides adequate spinal anesthesia for laparoscopy and, in comparison with hyperbaric bupivacaine 15% and fentanyl 20 μg, causes markedly less hypotension. The low-dose strategy may have an advantage in ambulatory patients because of the earlier recovery of motor and sensory function and earlier discharge.
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The present study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of clonidine, butorphanol, and tramadol in control of shivering under spinal anesthesia, and to compare their side effects. ⋯ Butorphanol had an edge over tramadol in controlling shivering with lower chances of recurrence, though both were superior to clonidine for this purpose with an early onset of action. We conclude that both these opioids control rigors better than α-2 agonists.
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Case Reports
Severe cast burn after bunionectomy in a patient who received peripheral nerve blocks for postoperative analgesia.
Although regional anesthesia offers advantages for intraoperative and postoperative pain relief, it is not possible without complications. A case of a significant burn injury after splint placement is described after a peripheral nerve block was performed for postoperative pain management. It is our hope that this case alerts physicians and others involved in the management of postoperative patients to the challenges of managing a blocked extremity after thermal cast placement and offers solutions that can be standardized.
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To provide a review of local anesthetic (LA) agents and adjuncts, opioids and muscle relaxants, and their intraoperative effects and postoperative outcomes in intravenous regional anesthesia (IVRA). ⋯ Ropivacaine is effective for IVRA and improves postoperative analgesia. Muscle relaxants enhance the motor block and when combined with fentanyl allow for an equivalent quality of IVRA with 50% reduction in LA dose.
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We report the peripartum management of a 30-year-old wheelchair-bound nullipara woman with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type II, including severe restrictive lung disease and Harrington rods. At 38 weeks gestation, she was admitted for an induction of labor with neuraxial analgesia, but she subsequently had to be delivered via cesarean section under general anesthesia. We describe the anesthetic implications of SMA on labor and delivery management and review the available literature.