Articles: general-anesthesia.
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The ability of opioids to produce complete general anesthesia is controversial. Nitrous oxide (N2O) is often added to fentanyl-based anesthetics to produce unconsciousness and amnesia. The addition of N2O may adversely affects fentanyl's hemodynamic stability and safety. The purpose of this study was to determine the physiologic consequences of combining N2O with fentanyl in newborn animals. ⋯ Fentanyl (3,000 micrograms/kg) when combined with 50% N2O in O2 produced a plane of general anesthesia in newborn lambs in which the behavioral responses to painful stimuli were abolished. The response to sound was never eliminated, nor was cerebral oxygen consumption decreased. The combination of 50% N2O in O2, 3,000 micrograms/kg fentanyl, tracheal intubation, and mechanical ventilation did not depress heart rate, blood pressure, or blood flow to any of the major organs, except the kidneys.
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The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) was recently introduced in pediatric anesthesia as an alternative to the face mask or tracheal intubation for airway maintenance. The authors report their experience with LMA on 120 consecutively treated children who underwent elective inguinal herniorrhaphy or orchidopexy. The patients were monitored with electrocardiograms, noninvasive blood pressure determinations, pulse oxymetry, and capnometry. ⋯ In five patients, LMA was successfully inserted on the third attempt. The ease of insertion was not significantly different between the groups. Anesthesia was maintained by halothane (mean, 1.34%; range, 0.8% to 2.54%) for an average of time of 39.2 minutes (range, 15 to 90 minutes).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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A cuffed nasopharyngeal airway was used in five cases of difficult intubation, initially to maintain anaesthesia, and subsequently to act as a landmark for the passage of a fibreoptic laryngoscope loaded with a tracheal tube. In all cases, airway patency was well preserved with the device and there were no significant problems with its use. The notion of a 'dedicated airway' for difficult intubation cases is developed. A trouble-free airway will permit time to consider solutions for difficult cases and time for the novice to learn fibreoptic laryngoscopy technique.
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A 51 year-old female with spinocerebrellar degeneration was anesthetized with O2-N2O-isoflurane for abdominal total hysterectomy. After monitoring of both orbicularis oculi and adductor pollicis twitches in the response to train-of-four stimulation of the facial and ulnar nerves had been prepared, vecuronium was administered as a bolus. ⋯ The onset with the adductor pollicis did not indicate good intubating conditions. In patients with spinocerebrellar degeneration, the twitch response of the orbicularis oculi should be monitored to determine accurately the degree of neuromuscular blockade when neuromuscular blocking drugs are administered.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
The effect of epidural versus general anesthesia on postoperative pain and analgesic requirements in patients undergoing radical prostatectomy.
Although preemptive analgesia has been shown to decrease postinjury pain in animals, studies in humans have provided controversial results. The authors studied whether surgical epidural anesthesia with local anesthetics could affect postoperative pain and analgesic demands, when compared with general anesthesia. ⋯ In patients undergoing lower abdominal surgery, the neuraxial blockade and surgical anesthesia achieved by epidural local anesthetics was associated with decreased postoperative analgesic demands. Lower postoperative analgesic requirements in the EA group, when compared with both the EG and GA groups, indicate that: (1) EA patients had less postoperative pain, and (2) an efficient intraoperative blockade of noxious afferent signals to the central nervous system is fundamental in reducing postoperative pain.