Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2003
Case ReportsContinuous paravertebral catheter and outpatient infusion for breast surgery.
Paravertebral somatic nerve block (PVB) provides improved analgesia and decreased side effects compared with general anesthesia for breast surgery. The analgesia is limited with single injection PVB to the duration of the local anesthetic. ⋯ We describe the successful use of continuous paravertebral anesthesia in two patients undergoing major breast surgery. A novel needle system for paravertebral catheter insertion is also presented.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2003
Clinical TrialIntravenous remifentanil produces withdrawal hyperalgesia in volunteers with capsaicin-induced hyperalgesia.
Opioids administered during surgery may be beneficial by preempting postoperative pain or detrimental by causing acute tolerance. We used a stable model of hyperalgesia in volunteers to test whether acute opioid exposure also results in such pain sensitization over a period of hours in humans. Ten healthy volunteers were studied. ⋯ Areas of hyperalgesia and allodynia continuously enlarged 4 h after remifentanil was stopped, to 180% +/- 47% and 180% +/- 86%, respectively. This study demonstrates that acute opioid exposure enhances hypersensitivity for hours after exposure. If applicable to the surgical setting, this could increase the dose of opioid required for postoperative analgesia and enhance, rather than inhibit, postoperative pain.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2003
Case ReportsA case of difficult airway due to lingual tonsillar hypertrophy in a patient with Down's syndrome.
In this report, we describe airway management of symptomatic lingual tonsillar hypertrophy in a pediatric patient with Down's syndrome. Besides obstructive sleep apnea, the history included a small atrial septal defect with mild aortic regurgitation and Moyamoya disease. Anesthesia was induced with IV administration of 1 mg/kg of propofol, followed by inhalation of sevoflurane in 100% oxygen. ⋯ Fiberoptic bronchoscopy through the nasal cavity in combination with jet ventilation successfully identified the glottis and allowed nasotracheal intubation to be accomplished. After lingual tonsillectomy, the patient was extubated on the seventh postoperative day, after supraglottic edema had resolved. Fiberoptic nasotracheal intubation under inhaled anesthesia may therefore be preferable in pediatric or uncooperative patients with symptomatic lingual tonsillar hypertrophy.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2003
Case ReportsSuccessful resuscitation after ropivacaine-induced ventricular fibrillation.
Human data about resuscitation after cardiac arrest from ropivacaine are limited. We present a case of successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation after accidental ropivacaine-induced ventricular fibrillation. A 76-yr-old female patient presented for foot osteotomy. ⋯ The patient was admitted to the hospital and discharged the next morning without complications. This case demonstrates that techniques used to detect intravascular injection may reduce but not eliminate catastrophic events. Consequently, regional anesthesia using large amounts of local anesthetic should be done in locations with resuscitation equipment and by individuals trained to recognize these complications and begin early treatment.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 2003
Doxapram produces a dose-dependent reduction in the shivering threshold in rabbits.
Dopamine is a thermoregulatory neurotransmitter that provokes hypothermia when injected in or near the hypothalamus. Doxapram stimulates release of dopamine from carotid bodies, but is known to have central effects that are probably, at least in part, similarly mediated. We thus tested the hypothesis that doxapram produces a substantial, dose-dependent reduction in the shivering threshold in rabbits. ⋯ The control rabbits shivered at 36.3 degrees +/- 0.3 degrees C, those given 0.25 mg x kg(-1) x h(-1) doxapram shivered at 34.8 degrees +/- 0.5 degrees C, and those given 0.50 mg x kg(-1) x h(-1) shivered at 33.7 degrees +/- 0.6 degrees C. All the shivering thresholds significantly (P < 0.001) differed from one another. The magnitude of this inhibition, if similar in humans, would be clinically important.