Anesthesia and analgesia
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialAn evaluation of the efficacy of aspirin and benzydamine hydrochloride gargle for attenuating postoperative sore throat: a prospective, randomized, single-blind study.
Postoperative sore throat (POST), although a minor complication, remains a source of postoperative morbidity. We compared the efficacy of dispersible aspirin gargle to benzydamine hydrochloride (a topical nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drug) gargles for prevention of POST. We enrolled 60 consecutive female patients, 16-60 yr of age, ASA physical status I or II, undergoing elective modified radical mastectomy under general anesthesia in this prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled, single-blind study. ⋯ Aspirin gargles reduced the incidence of POST for 4 h whereas benzydamine hydrochloride gargles reduced POST for 24 h. POST was more severe in the control group at 0 and 2 h (P < 0.05). Aspirin and benzydamine hydrochloride gargles significantly reduced the incidence and severity of POST (P < 0.05).
-
The nature and mechanism of human consciousness is emerging as one of the most important scientific and philosophical questions of the 21st century. Disregarded as a subject of serious inquiry throughout most of the 20th century, it has now regained legitimacy as a scientific endeavor. The investigation of consciousness and the mechanisms of general anesthesia have begun to converge. In the present article I provide an introduction to the study of consciousness, describe the neural correlates of consciousness that may be targets of general anesthetics, and suggest an integrated approach to the science of consciousness and anesthesia.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2006
Randomized Controlled TrialThe contribution of remifentanil to middle latency auditory evoked potentials during induction of propofol anesthesia.
There is a debate regarding whether opioids, as a component of general anesthesia, are adequately reflected in the assessment of anesthesia based on derivatives of the electroencephalogram. To test the hypothesis of a possible quantitative contribution of remifentanil on middle latency auditory evoked potentials, we studied its interaction with propofol anesthesia in 45 unpremedicated male patients undergoing elective lower limb orthopedic surgery. They were allocated randomly to three groups. ⋯ We found no significant contribution of remifentanil alone on the auditory evoked response, whereas increasing concentrations of remifentanil led to a significant decrease of the calculated propofol effect site concentrations (P = 0.023) necessary for unconsciousness. Prediction probability for AEPex was inversely related to the remifentanil concentration and was best for the control group, which received propofol alone. These results support previous findings of a quantitative interaction between remifentanil and propofol for loss of consciousness but question the specific contribution of remifentanil to auditory evoked potentials.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2006
Resident teaching versus the operating room schedule: an independent observer-based study of 1558 cases.
Efforts to improve operating room efficiency may threaten clinician training. Therefore, we designed a prospective, observational study to determine the actual time spent teaching anesthesiology residents during the interval from patient-on-table to skin incision and to determine whether anesthesia teaching in the peri-induction period increases the time to surgical incision. This study was conducted in an inpatient operating room suite of a tertiary academic medical center. ⋯ The percent teaching significantly increased as a function of ASA physical status classification and time of day of surgical case (P = 0.001). Teaching accounted for a mean increase of time to incision of 4.5 +/- 3.2 min, but represented only 3% of the mean surgical case length (207 +/- 132 min). We conclude that teaching occurs in the majority of cases in the operating room and although it contributes to increased time to incision, this increase is insignificant compared with the time required to complete the surgical procedure.
-
Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2006
Randomized Controlled TrialThe associations between severity of early postoperative pain, chronic postsurgical pain and plasma concentration of stable nitric oxide products after breast surgery.
In this study, we compared the effects of two analgesic regimens on perioperative nitric oxide index (NOx) and the likelihood of subsequent development of chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) after breast surgery and sought to determine the association among early postoperative pain, NOx, and the likelihood of subsequent development of CPSP. Twenty-nine consecutive ASA I or II patients undergoing breast surgery with axillary clearance were randomly allocated to one of two groups. Patients in group S (n = 15) received a standard intraoperative and postoperative analgesic regimen (morphine sulfate, diclofenac, dextropropoxyphene hydrochloride + acetaminophen prn). ⋯ Twelve (80%) patients in group S and no patient in group N developed CPSP (P = 0.009). Compared with patients with a pain rating index > or =1 (n = 18) 10 wk postoperatively, patients with a pain rating index = 0 (n = 11) had lesser visual analog scale pain scores on movement at each postoperative time point from 30 min until 96 h postoperatively (P < 0.005) and at rest 30 min (0.6 +/- 1.5 versus 30.2 +/- 26.8; P = 0.004), 4 h (2.3 +/- 7.5 versus 19.0 +/- 25.8; P = 0.013), 8 h (4.4 +/- 10.2 versus 21.4 +/- 27.0; P = 0.03) and 12 h (0.7 +/- 1.2 versus 15.4 +/- 27.0; P = 0.035) postoperatively. NOx values were greater in group N compared with group S 48 h postoperatively (40.6 +/- 20.1 versus 26.4 +/- 13.5; P = 0.04).