Articles: analgesia.
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Regional anesthesia · Nov 1990
Continuous spinal anesthesia after unintentional dural puncture in parturients.
Headache after unintentional dural puncture with 17- or 18-gauge needles represents a significant source of anesthetic-induced maternal morbidity. We performed this study to determine whether inserting a catheter into the subarachnoid space after dural puncture can significantly alter the incidence of headache. Thirty-five women, requesting labor analgesia, suffered a dural puncture during attempts to identify the epidural space using an 18-gauge Hustead needle (bevel oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis of the back). ⋯ Neither the incidence of headache nor the need for therapeutic blood patch differed significantly between the two groups of women. No other anesthetic related complications ensued. Continuous spinal anesthesia after unintentional dural puncture does not decrease the incidence of headache in parturients.
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In 1988, the American College of Obstetricians and gynecologists (ACOG) decided that vaginal delivery after a previous cesarean delivery (trial of labor, TOL) was an acceptable alternative to elective repeat cesarean delivery. ACOG stated that there appears to be no absolute contraindication to epidural anesthesia for labor during TOL. The concern is that should there be a uterine rupture, would the epidural anesthesia mask the abdominal pain? The incidence of complete rupture with trial of labor is reported to be 0.3-0.5%. ⋯ There have been no reports of epidural anesthesia delaying the diagnosis of uterine rupture. In the review of 10,967 patients undergoing TOL, there were no maternal deaths and only nine fetal deaths secondary to complete uterine rupture. The literature strongly suggests that epidural anesthesia is safe in TOL even when oxytocin is used for augmentation of labor.
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Clin. Orthop. Relat. Res. · Nov 1990
Comparative StudyThe effect of continuous epidural analgesia on postoperative pain, rehabilitation, and duration of hospitalization in total knee arthroplasty.
Efficacies of three alternate methods of postoperative analgesia were studied in 156 patients who had total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Forty-two of these patients received parenteral meperidine hydrochloride or morphine (Group 1), 58 patients received periodic epidural injections of morphine (Group 2), and 56 patients received continuous epidural infusions of bupivacaine hydrochloride and Duramorph (Group 3). The postoperative course of all patients was documented in terms of the incidence and severity of pain, range of joint motion, duration of hospitalization, and occurrence of complications. ⋯ However, the use of epidural analgesia did not reduce the incidence of complications, including nausea. Continuous infusion of epidural bupivacaine and Duramorph provided good-to-excellent control of postoperative pain after TKA. However, better analgesics are needed to reduce the high incidence of side effects associated with various treatment methods.
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Anesteziol Reanimatol · Nov 1990
Comparative Study[A comparative evaluation of the permeability of the dura mater in parturients and the efficacy of epidural anesthesia using morphine following cesarean section].
Spinal dura mater permeability has been compared in 15 women dead in labour or of severe multiple combined traumas. The quantitative index for the assessment of transmeningeal morphine and dicaine diffusion was permeability coefficient calculated according to Fick's equation. ⋯ However, a decrease of the diffusion barrier is not clinically manifested during epidural morphine analgesia due to an equivalent increase in the rate of intravascular opiate adsorption. The conclusion is made that it is advisable to add the usual adrenaline dose (1:200,000) to the anesthetic solution to enhance the degree of anesthesia adequacy and to decrease the danger of the onset of general narcotic and respiratory depression on the fetus in the early neonatal period.