Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Do variations in the 5-HT3A and 5-HT3B serotonin receptor genes (HTR3A and HTR3B) influence the occurrence of postoperative vomiting?
Postoperative nausea and vomiting are unpleasant side effects of general anesthesia. Besides known risk factors (female gender, nonsmoker, history, and opioids), a genetic influence of the serotonin receptor system on the development of nausea and vomiting has repeatedly been proposed. In this pilot study, we therefore investigated the genes of the serotonin receptor subunits A and B (HTR3A and HTR3B) for genetic variants. ⋯ Genetic variations in the HTR3A and HTR3B gene seem to be associated with the individual risk of developing POV. How strong their influence is within the multifactorial genesis of POV needs to be investigated in additional studies with an appropriate sample size.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Editorial CommentOn cricoid pressure: "may the force be with you".
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Mild hypothermia has no long-term impact on postischemic neurogenesis in rats.
Postischemic improvement of functional outcome by therapeutic hypothermia may be related to cerebral regeneration by postischemic neurogenesis. We investigated whether mild peri-ischemic hypothermia leads to a long-term increase in postischemic neurogenesis. ⋯ Neither intraischemic nor postischemic hypothermia affected the ischemia-induced increase in endogenous neurogenesis. Intraischemic hypothermia reduced hippocampal damage, whereas postischemic hypothermia as applied here did not prevent formation of histopathological injury. This indicates that, 28 days after cerebral ischemia, postischemic neurogenesis is not significantly increased by mild peri-ischemic hypothermia and not affected by the severity of histopathological damage.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyA comparison of gabapentin and ketamine in acute and chronic pain after hysterectomy.
Gabapentin and ketamine are popular analgesic adjuvants for improving perioperative pain management. We designed this double-blind, placebo-controlled study to test and compare the preventive effects of perioperative ketamine and gabapentin on early and chronic pain after elective hysterectomy. ⋯ Gabapentin and ketamine are similar in improving early pain control and in decreasing opioid consumption; however, gabapentin also prevented chronic pain in the first 6 postoperative months.