Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Caffeine Accelerates Emergence from Isoflurane Anesthesia in Humans: A Randomized, Double-blind, Crossover Study.
What did they do?
Using a randmoized, double-blind crossover study, Fong et al anaesthetized eight male volunteers twice with 1.2% isoflurane for 1 hour, after propofol induction. In the final 10 minutes subjects were randomized to IV caffeine or placebo. No opioids were administered.
Receiving IV caffeine hastened emergence by over 40%, as measured by BIS and psychomotor testing.
Return of gag reflex was used as the marker of emergence, although time to emergence was consistent with eye opening and BIS.
How much caffeine did they give?!?
15 mg/kg of caffeine citrate, equivalent to 7.5 mg/kg of base caffeine – the same caffeine as in two large cups of coffee for a 70 kg male.
Come on, surely this isn't that important?
Although the mean 7 min difference may not appear clinically significant, especially when using more modern volatiles, this study is a good proof of concept of how caffeine may be a useful clinical tool when faced with delayed emergence after anesthesia and for patients at greatest risk of persistent psychomotor depression post-anesthesia, such as the elderly.
summary -
The heterogeneity of molecular mechanisms, target neural circuits, and neurophysiologic effects of general anesthetics makes it difficult to develop a reliable and drug-invariant index of general anesthesia. No single brain region or mechanism has been identified as the neural correlate of consciousness, suggesting that consciousness might emerge through complex interactions of spatially and temporally distributed brain functions. ⋯ This article reviews data suggesting that reduced network efficiency, constrained network repertoires, and changes in cortical dynamics create inhospitable conditions for information processing and transfer, which lead to unconsciousness. This review proposes that network science is not just a useful tool but a necessary theoretical framework and method to uncover common principles of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness.
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Observational Study
Differences of Recovery from Rocuronium-induced Deep Paralysis in Response to Small Doses of Sugammadex between Elderly and Nonelderly Patients.
WHAT THIS ARTICLE TELLS US THAT IS NEW: BACKGROUND:: Complete recovery from rocuronium-induced muscle paralysis with sugammadex is reported to be delayed in elderly patients. The authors tested a hypothesis that recovery from deep neuromuscular block with low-dose sugammadex is slower (primary hypothesis) and incidence of recurarization is higher (secondary hypothesis) in elderly patients than in nonelderly patients. ⋯ Elderly patients are at greater risk for recurarization and residual muscle paralysis when low-dose sugammadex is administered.
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Cognitive change affecting patients after anaesthesia and surgery has been recognised for more than 100 yr. Research into cognitive change after anaesthesia and surgery accelerated in the 1980s when multiple studies utilised detailed neuropsychological testing for assessment of cognitive change after cardiac surgery. This body of work consistently documented decline in cognitive function in elderly patients after anaesthesia and surgery, and cognitive changes have been identified up to 7.5 yr afterwards. ⋯ For clinical purposes, it is recommended to use the DSM-5 nomenclature. The working group recommends that 'perioperative neurocognitive disorders' be used as an overarching term for cognitive impairment identified in the preoperative or postoperative period. This includes cognitive decline diagnosed before operation (described as neurocognitive disorder); any form of acute event (postoperative delirium) and cognitive decline diagnosed up to 30 days after the procedure (delayed neurocognitive recovery) and up to 12 months (postoperative neurocognitive disorder).