Articles: postoperative.
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Int J Obstet Anesth · Oct 1996
Dystrophia myotonica: combined spinal-epidural anaesthesia for caesarean section.
Patients with dystrophia myotonica requiring caesarean section pose significant problems for the anaesthetist. This report describes the successful use of a combined spinal-epidural technique for anaesthesia and postoperative analgesia in such a patient.
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We report a case of femoral neuropathy caused by retractors used during operation. The patient (a 74-year-old woman) was scheduled for right hemicolectomy for cecum cancer, and anesthesia was maintained with nitrous oxide and sevoflurane in oxygen plus extradural anesthesia. After operation, the patient complained of hypesthesia in the anterolateral and medial area governed by the femoral nerve. ⋯ After 2 months, the patient had completely recovered from the neurological symptoms. These manifestations were indicative of femoral neuropathy resulting from the pressure of large-bladed self-retraining retractors. It is important to include femoral neuropathy in the differential diagnosis of postoperative paralysis of the lower limb.
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Spinal opioids are effective analgesics for surgical and non-surgical pain. Central and systemic side effects are less frequent than with epidural local anaesthetics or parenteral opioids. This review focuses on the analgesic efficacy of spinal opioids and their combination with local anaesthetics for postoperative analgesia, including patient-controlled epidural analgesia. ⋯ However, evidence suggesting that effective postoperative analgesia can significantly improve postoperative morbidity in patients at risk is accumulating. In such patients, combined use of epidural local anaesthetics and opioids may become the technique of choice for postoperative analgesia. However, there is no evidence that this would have any clinically relevant benefit in low-risk patients.
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Spinal clonidine interacts with pre- and postsynaptic alpha(2)-adrenoceptors on afferent neurons in the superficial dorsal horn of the spinal cord: it causes analgesia by inhibition of the synaptic and electrotonic neurotransmission of nociceptive impulses. Epidural doses higher than 4 microg/kg have an analgesic onset time of less than 30 min, reduce pain by more than 70 %; these effects last for 4-5 h. ⋯ The haemodynamic side effects mean close supervision is needed during the first hour after epidural application and limit the use of epidural clonidine to patients who are refractory to the analgesic effects of epidural opioid or local anaesthetics. In these patients excellent results can be achieved either with clonidine alone or with a combination of clonidine and an opioid or a local anaesthetic to exploit the additive or supra-additive interactions of these drugs.
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Journal of anesthesia · Mar 1996
Epidural anesthesia during upper abdominal surgery provides better postoperative analgesia.
Since repeated noxious stimuli may sensitize neuropathic pain receptors of the spinal cord, we tested the hypothesis that the appropriate blockade of surgical stimuli with epidural anesthesia during upper abdominal surgery would be beneficial for postoperative analgesia. Thirty-six adult patients undergoing either elective gastrectomy or open cholecystectomy were randomly allocated to receive either inhalational general anesthesia alone (group G) or epidural anesthesia along with light general anesthesia (group E) throughout the surgery. ⋯ While there was no significant difference in the bupivacaine dose, more patients undergoing gastrectomy in group G required supplemental analgesics than those in group E, and the VAS scores in group E demonstrated significantly better postoperative analgesia compared to group G after both types of surgery. Thus, an appropriate epidural blockade during upper abdominal surgery likely provides better postoperative pain relief.