Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 1991
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical TrialComparison of epidurally administered sufentanil, morphine, and sufentanil-morphine combination for postoperative analgesia.
Postoperative analgesia provided by epidurally administered sufentanil and/or morphine was evaluated in 45 patients recovering from major gynecologic surgery. At the first complaint of pain in the Postanesthesia Care Unit, patients received a single epidural bolus of 30 micrograms sufentanil (group A), 5 mg morphine (group B), or 30 micrograms sufentanil plus 3 mg morphine (group C) in a randomized blinded fashion. Analgesic efficacy was assessed throughout the 24-h study period with 10-cm visual analog scales. ⋯ Group B subjects experienced the longest duration of analgesia (B vs A and C, P less than 0.05) and required significantly less patient-controlled analgesia (morphine) than patients in group A (P less than 0.05). No patient developed clinically significant respiratory depression or excessive sedation, and there were no intergroup differences in incidence of pruritus or nausea (P value not significant). The data indicate that a mixture of sufentanil and morphine provides either a more rapid onset of epidural analgesia or reduced patient-controlled analgesia narcotic requirement than respective doses of each agent administered alone.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 1991
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialContinuous infusion of interpleural bupivacaine maintains effective analgesia after cholecystectomy.
Twenty-five patients who had undergone elective cholecystectomy were prospectively randomized to receive via an interpleural catheter either a continuous infusion of 0.25% bupivacaine at 0.125 mL.kg-1.h-1 (n = 13) or repeated bolus injections (n = 12) of 0.5% bupivacaine with epinephrine 1:200,000 at 0.4 mL/kg every sixth hour. Adequacy of pain relief was measured by the amount of patient-controlled analgesia morphine required postoperatively and by patient scores on a visual analog scale obtained every sixth hour. Two venous blood samples for measurements of serum bupivacaine levels were obtained from patients in the continuous group at hours 6 and 24; four blood samples were obtained from patients in the bolus group, both immediately before and 30 min after injections at hours 6 and 24. ⋯ The difference was not, however, statistically significant, but when activity during the 2-h time periods immediately before reinjection were examined, patients in the bolus group required and received significantly more morphine than did those in the continuous group (P less than 0.05). Patients in the continuous group had visual analog scale scores that averaged 2.9 +/- 0.6 over the 24-h study period. Patients within the bolus group had visual analog scale scores before and again 30 min after injection that averaged 5.8 +/- 0.8 and 1.8 +/- 0.5, respectively (P less than 0.05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 1991
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialEffects of clear liquids on gastric volume and pH in healthy volunteers.
The effects of clear liquids on gastric volume and pH were examined in 30 healthy ASA physical status I volunteers. After overnight fasting, a Salem-sump nasogastric tube was inserted and gastric contents were removed for measurement of volume and pH. Gastric contents were then reinserted through the nasogastric tube into the stomach. ⋯ Gastric contents were then again aspirated, measured for volume and pH, and reinserted through the nasogastric tube every half hour until gastric volume was less than 25 mL. All volunteers had gastric volumes less than 25 mL with a slight decrease in pH within 2 h of orally taking one of the three 240-mL liquids. These data suggest that if patients have ingested a moderate amount of clear liquids it is safe to conduct general anesthesia after a 2-h fast in healthy surgical patients.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 1991
Biography Historical ArticleThe development of academic anesthesiology at the Roswell Park Memorial Institute: James O. Elam, MD, and Elwyn S. Brown, MD.
In the early 1950s, Drs. James Elam and Elwyn Brown were recruited to establish the department of anesthesiology at the Roswell Park Memorial Institute. ⋯ Their work on carbon dioxide elimination led to a redesigning of the soda lime canisters that is still in clinical use. By popularizing mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing, these two anesthesiologists changed the manner in which emergency aid was given and won international acclaim.