Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Randomized controlled trial comparing traditional with two "mobile" epidural techniques: anesthetic and analgesic efficacy.
This follow-up paper to the original COMET study describes in detail the high and low-dose epidural techniques and the subsequent anesthetic characteristics.
The low-dose techniques used infusions of 0.1% bupivacaine with 2 mcg/mL fentanyl, compared with 10mL boluses of 0.25% bupivacaine. Maternal analgesia experience was similar between the groups, all the CSE group experienced better analgesia in the first hour.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Mechanisms of postoperative pain: clinical indications for a contribution of central neuronal sensitization.
The relative importance of different nociceptive mechanisms for the intensity, duration, and character of postoperative pain is not well established. It has been suggested that sensitization of dorsal horn neurones may contribute to pain in the postoperative period. We hypothesized that wound hyperalgesia in postoperative patients and experimentally heat-induced secondary hyperalgesia share a common mechanism, sensitization of central neurones, and consequently, that the short-acting opioid remifentanil would have comparable effects on hyperalgesia in both conditions. ⋯ Although remifentanil is not a highly targeted "antihyperalgesic," these results support the hypothesis that both wound hyperalgesia in postoperative patients and experimentally heat-induced secondary hyperalgesia may share common mechanisms, and that central neuronal sensitization may contribute to some aspects of postoperative pain. Antihyperalgesic drugs should be further developed and evaluated in clinical trials of postoperative pain.
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Multicenter Study
Evaluation of anesthesia residents using mannequin-based simulation: a multiinstitutional study.
Anesthesia simulators can generate reproducible, standardized clinical scenarios for instruction and evaluation purposes. Valid and reliable simulated scenarios and grading systems must be developed to use simulation for evaluation of anesthesia residents. ⋯ Numerous management errors were identified in this study of anesthesia residents from 10 institutions. Further attention to these problems may benefit residency training since advanced residents continued to make these errors. Evaluation of anesthesia residents using mannequin-based simulators shows promise, adding a new dimension to current assessment methods. Further improvements are necessary in the simulation scenarios and grading criteria before mannequin-based simulation is used for accreditation purposes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of acustimulation and ondansetron for the treatment of established postoperative nausea and vomiting.
This study was designed to evaluate transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (acustimulation) using the ReliefBand compared with ondansetron for the treatment of established postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after outpatient laparoscopic surgery. ⋯ Acustimulation with the ReliefBand can be used as an alternative to ondansetron for the treatment of established PONV. However, the use of ondansetron (4 mg intravenously) in combination with the ReliefBand device improved the complete response rate to the acustimulation therapy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Clinical Trial
Use of perflubron emulsion to decrease allogeneic blood transfusion in high-blood-loss non-cardiac surgery: results of a European phase 3 study.
This single-blind randomized study in general surgery evaluated the efficacy of perflubron emulsion (PFC) as an artificial oxygen carrier being used to augment preoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution to reduce and avoid transfusion of both allogeneic erythrocytes and erythrocytes from preoperative autologous donation compared with standard of care. ⋯ Augmented acute normovolemic hemodilution with PFC reduces transfusion needs in patients undergoing noncardiac surgical procedures with blood loss 20 ml/kg or greater.