Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
Teaching lifesaving procedures: the impact of model fidelity on acquisition and transfer of cricothyrotomy skills to performance on cadavers.
A decline in emergency surgical airway procedures in recent years has resulted in a decreased exposure to cricothyrotomy. Consequently, residents have very little experience or confidence in performing this intervention. In this study, we compared cricothyrotomy skills acquired on a simple inexpensive model to those learned on a high fidelity simulator using valid evaluation instruments and testing on cadavers. ⋯ Our study shows that a simple inexpensive model achieved the same effect on objectively rated skill acquisition as did an expensive simulator. The skills acquired on both models transferred effectively to cadavers. Training for this life-saving skill does not need to be limited by simulator accessibility or cost.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
Randomized Controlled TrialA vein entry indicator device for facilitating peripheral intravenous cannulation in children: a prospective, randomized, controlled trial.
Vascular access is often technically difficult in children because of the small caliber and impalpability of the veins. In this study, we sought to determine if use of the Vein Entry Indicator Device (VEIDtrade mark) in children facilitates peripheral venous access. ⋯ The VEID facilitates the insertion of peripheral venous cannulas in healthy children with intermediate/difficult veins undergoing same-day surgery, reducing the number of attempts and the overall time required.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
The use of bispectral index to monitor barbiturate coma in severely brain-injured patients with refractory intracranial hypertension.
Barbiturate therapy in severely traumatic brain-injured (TBI) patients is usually monitored by an electroencephalogram (EEG) with burst-suppression pattern as a target. The Bispectral Index (BIS) is derived from EEG and considers cortical silence. We sought to determine whether a BIS range could predict a specific burst-suppression pattern. ⋯ The relationship between BIS and SR(EEG) was high in TBI patients treated with barbiturates. The rate of barbiturate infusion might be decreased if BIS is <6 or increased if BIS is >15. Correspondence between BIS and suppression pattern should periodically be checked by observation of the EEG analogical signal (as displayed by BIS-XP).
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
The dynamic relationship between end-tidal sevoflurane concentrations, bispectral index, and cerebral state index in children.
To guide anesthetic administration with electroencephalogram monitors in children, an adequate characterization of the anesthetic effect measured by these monitors in this population is needed. We sought to quantify and compare the dynamic profile of sevoflurane's effect measured with the cerebral state index (CSI) and the bispectral index (BIS) in children. ⋯ In children, the t(1/2) k(e0) of sevoflurane and the pharmacodynamics of sevoflurane were quantified and the results were entirely dependent on the monitor used to measure its hypnotic effect. Within the anesthetic depth range studied, the rate of change of sevoflurane's effect was slower with the CSI. To adequately guide sevoflurane administration with these monitors in children, these differences should be considered.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2008
Low-dose systemic bupivacaine prevents the development of allodynia after thoracotomy in rats.
Chronic pain after thoracotomy has been recently reproduced in a rat model that allows investigation of the effect of drugs that might reduce the incidence of allodynia after thoracotomy. Previous studies suggest that intrathecal or systemic morphine, clonidine, neostigmine, and gabapentin reduce the incidence of allodynia in the rat postthoracotomy pain model. Our purpose was to test whether intercostal and systemic injection of bupivacaine prevented the development of allodynia in an animal model of chronic intercostal neuropathic pain. ⋯ Previous studies suggest that allodynia after rib retraction can be prevented by opioids, alpha2-adrenergic agonists, neostigmine, and gabapentin. The current results suggest that bupivacaine is effective in preventing mechanical allodynia, whether given by intercostal injection before or after surgery, or systemically before surgery.