International journal of clinical monitoring and computing
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Int J Clin Monit Comput · Jan 1988
'Anestheticography': on-line monitoring and documentation of inhalational anesthesia.
The safe practice of inhalational anesthesia requires control over the amount of volatile anesthetic delivered to the patient. With minimal fresh gas flow this is facilitated by continuous monitoring and recording of the agent's concentration ('Anestheticography'). Alterations brought about by routine clinical maneuvers become visible. ⋯ Initiating emergence by closing the vaporizer during minimal flow led to a slow decrease in concentration whilst at a flow of 61/min the inspiratory isoflurane concentration rapidly decreased to subanesthetic levels. Insertion of a charcoal filter into the inspiratory limb of the breathing circuit immediately dropped the inspiratory concentration to undetectable levels. 'Anestheticography' is a useful means of monitoring and documentation of inhalational anesthetic. With the use of a charcoal filter all advantages of minimal flow anesthesia can be realized throughout the entire anesthetic, including emergence.
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CAPS, (Computerized Anesthesia Personnel System), is a personnel management system for a large anesthesia department. It is written in BASIC for the IBM PC or IBM-compatible computer using 2 or more 5 1/4 inch disk drives or a hard disk. CAPS is designed to facilitate assignment of up to 30 attending anesthesiologists, 40 residents, 15 CRNAs, 5 interns, 5 anesthesia assistants, and up to 15 medical students to the operating room schedule. ⋯ CAPS also tracts vacation, meeting, administrative and compensatory time for all members of the department, and maintains an absence record for each person listing sick times and all other absences. CAPS generates a weekly staffing list showing days each person is available to the operating room and the total number of attendings, residents, CRNAs, and assistants available each day. This article discusses why the program was developed, how it was designed, and how well it has met the objectives of the designers.
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Int J Clin Monit Comput · Jan 1987
Extravascular lung water measurement by double indicator dilution in shock and respiratory failure.
Clinical quantitation of water accumulation in the lungs is imprecise. The technique of measuring extravascular lung water (EVLW) with double indicator dilution utilizing cold indocyanine green dye has become practical with the addition of a microprocessor. The technique, insertion of a special thermistor tipped arterial catheter and potential problems are described. ⋯ On the other hand 19 patients with Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) had marked increases in EVLW from normal of 5-8 ml/kg to 10.7 to 14.4 ml/kg. No further increases in EVLW were observed in eight ARDS patients requiring fluid resuscitation for associated hypovolemia and hypoperfusion. We feel that measurement of EVLW in critically ill patients offers an opportunity to study the pathophysiology of pulmonary failure.
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Int J Clin Monit Comput · Jan 1987
Carola, a computer system for automatic documentation in anesthesia.
A computer system has been designed for documentation and data acquisition during open heart surgery. This computer system (called 'Carola') processes all patient data during cardiac surgery. More than 50 analogue or digital signals are scanned. ⋯ From december 1983 the first prototype was used on a routine basis, followed by a second unit in June 1984 and a third in December 1985. Up to now more than 12.500 anesthetic hours have been recorded. Since then almost 100% of all anesthetics performed in our cardiothoracic unit have been documented by the computers, including all short procedures without invasive monitoring and all emergencies.