Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyA Safety and Efficacy Evaluation of Hemoglobin-Based Oxygen Carrier HBOC-201 in a Randomized, Multicenter Red Blood Cell-Controlled Trial in Noncardiac Surgery Patients.
Small study of data collected more than 15 years ago suggests hemoglobin-based oxygen carrier HBOC-201 may reduce transfusion requirements in a non-cardiac surgery cohort. Although no significant difference in adverse events or mortality, a trend to higher incidence of both among the HBOC-201 group requires a much larger trial to be conducted before any conclusion regarding safety of such a novel therapy can be made.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2014
Comparative StudyOutcomes After Radical Prostatectomy for Cancer: A Comparison Between General Anesthesia and Epidural Anesthesia with Fentanyl Analgesia: A Matched Cohort Study.
Regional anesthesia and analgesia confers no oncological-outcome benefit compared with general anesthesia for radical prostatectomy.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyPredictors of Arterial Blood Pressure Control During Deliberate Hypotension with Sodium Nitroprusside in Children.
Sodium nitroprusside (SNP) is used to decrease arterial blood pressure (BP) during certain surgical procedures. There are limited data regarding efficacy of BP control with SNP. There are no data on patient and clinician factors that affect BP control. We evaluated the dose-response relationship of SNP in infants and children undergoing major surgery and performed a quantitative assessment of BP control. ⋯ SNP was effective in reducing BP. However, BP was within the target range less than half of the time. No clinician or patient factors were predictive of BP control, although 2 inverse relationships were identified. These relationships require additional study and may be best coupled with exposure-response modeling to propose improved dosing strategies when using SNP for controlled hypotension in the pediatric population.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2014
ReviewThe use of postpartum hemorrhage protocols in United States academic obstetric anesthesia units.
Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) is the leading cause of severe maternal morbidity, cardiac arrest, and death during the hospitalization for childbirth. Protocol-driven care has been associated with improved outcomes in many settings; the National Partnership for Maternal Safety now recommends that PPH protocols be implemented in every labor and delivery unit in the United States. In this study, we sought to identify the level of PPH protocol availability in academic United States obstetric units. We hypothesized that the majority (>80%) of academic obstetric anesthesia units would have a PPH protocol in place. ⋯ Despite increasing emphasis on national quality improvement in patient safety, there are no PPH protocols in at least 20% of U.S. academic obstetric anesthesia units. Delivery volume is the most important variable predicting the presence of a PPH protocol. National efforts to ensure universal presence of a PPH protocol in all academic centers will achieve the greatest impact by focusing on small-volume facilities. Future work is needed to evaluate and facilitate PPH implementation in nonacademic obstetric units.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2014
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyThe Humidity in a Dräger Primus Anesthesia Workstation Using Low or High Fresh Gas Flow and With or Without a Heat and Moisture Exchanger in Pediatric Patients.
An inhaled gas absolute humidity of 20 mg H2O·L is the value most considered as the threshold necessary for preventing the deleterious effects of dry gas on the epithelium of the airways during anesthesia. Because children have small minute ventilation, we hypothesized that the humidification of a circle breathing system is lower in children compared with adults. The Primus anesthesia workstation (Dräger Medical, Lübeck, Germany) has a built-in hotplate to heat the patient's exhaled gases. A heat and moisture exchanger (HME) is a device that can be used to further humidify and heat the inhaled gases during anesthesia. To evaluate the humidifying properties of this circle breathing system during pediatric anesthesia, we compared the temperature and humidity of inhaled gases under low or high fresh gas flow (FGF) conditions and with or without an HME. ⋯ In a pediatric circle breathing system, the use of neither high nor low FGF provides the minimum humidity level of the inhaled gases thought to reduce the risk of dehydration of airways. Insertion of an HME increases the humidity and temperature of the inhaled gases, bringing them closer to physiological values. The use of a low FGF enhances the HME efficiency and consequently increases the inhaled gas humidity values. Therefore, the association of an HME with low FGF in the breathing circuit is the most efficient way to conserve the heat and the moisture of the inhaled gas during pediatric anesthesia.