Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2007
Comparative StudyDisruption of attention and working memory traces in individuals with chronic pain.
Research has found that chronic pain disrupts attention and that this disruption can lead to significant functional impairment and decreased quality of life. We conducted the present study to examine how attention and memory are disrupted by chronic pain. ⋯ These findings point to a specific cognitive mechanism, the maintenance of the memory trace, that is affected by chronic pain during task performance. Cognitive function was not improved by short-term local analgesia.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2007
Comparative StudyLack in effects of therapeutic concentrations of dexmedetomidine and clonidine on the neuromuscular blocking action of rocuronium in isolated rat diaphragms.
We investigated the effects of the alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists clonidine and dexmedetomidine on the neuromuscular blocking effect of rocuronium in vitro. ⋯ These results indicate that very high, but not therapeutic, concentrations of clonidine and dexmedetomidine enhance the neuromuscular blocking action of rocuronium, but this is not mediated by an agonist action on alpha-2 adrenoceptors.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2007
The "axillary tunnel": an anatomic reappraisal of the limits and dynamics of spread during brachial plexus blockade.
Various anatomic factors have been described as affecting the distribution of a solution injected around the brachial plexus. Using computerized axial tomography dye studies, we introduce a new concept. ⋯ We conclude that the brachial plexus is contained within a rigid-walled tunnel of variable dimensions, which we call the "axillary tunnel." The scapula/subscapularis complex, related to the subcoracoid point of resistance, may account for the differing patterns of dye distribution observed.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2007
Comparative StudyProlongation of intrathecal and sciatic nerve blocks using a complex of levobupivacaine with maltosyl-beta-cyclodextrin in rats.
We used a cyclodextrin-based drug delivery system, consisting of levobupivacaine complexed with maltosyl-beta-cyclodextrin (G2-beta-CD), in spinal and sciatic nerve blocks in rats to investigate prolongation of the local anesthetic effect. ⋯ The complex of levobupivacaine with G2-beta-CD prolonged the anesthetic effect of levobupivacaine in both intrathecal and sciatic nerve blocks in rats.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · May 2007
Comparative StudyRefinement of symptoms of neuropathic pain measurements after various transections of the nerve endings of the sciatic and femoral nerve in rats: an exploratory behavioral analysis.
Many animal models can be used to study the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of neuropathic pain. Most of these models rely on a partial denervation of the limb of the animal by ligating a selected nerve. In this study, we performed nerve lesions on three peripheral nerves supplying the plantar side of the rat hindpaw by differentially transecting the saphenous, the tibial, and the sural nerves alone or in paired combinations. ⋯ The overlapping innervation of nerve distribution can complicate the interpretation of nerve ligation studies of peripheral neuropathies.