Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jan 1981
Comparative StudyCauses of death among anesthesiologists: 1930-1946.
The causes of death among anesthesiologists from 1930 through 1946 were determined and compared to the causes of death for contemporaneous physicians as well as anesthesiologists in later eras. Names of US white male anesthesiologists listed in the annual Directories of Anesthetists compiled by the International Anesthesia Research Society were searched for in the death files of the American Medical Association. Among those listed in the Directories 274 deaths were located. ⋯ Anesthesiologists practicing in the earlier part of this century had lower death rates and they were less likely to die of malignant neoplasms than contemporaneous white men. The death rates for these anesthesiologists were similar to those for anesthesiologists during 1947-1956, but greater than rates observed for anesthesiologists during 1957-1971. This suggests that exposure to the fluorinated anesthetic agents introduced in the mid-1950s may not be an important health hazard.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 1980
Comparative StudyThoracic epidural vs balanced anesthesia in morbid obesity: an intraoperative and postoperative hemodynamic study.
Thirty-eight morbidity obese patients undergoing gastric bypass were divided into two groups. All patients received general endotracheal anesthesia with muscle relaxation and controlled respiration with N2O-O2 mixture. In addition, group I, 17 patients, received balanced anesthesia, while the remaining 21 patients, group II, received thoracic (T-5) epidural analgesia. ⋯ Postoperatively epidural analgesia was associated with a decrease in left ventricular stroke work 12%), systolic pressure-heart rate product (10%), arteriovenous oxygen content differences (17%), and oxygen consumption (20%), compared with values observed when patients experienced pain. Morphine given for relief of postoperative pain was not associated with significant changes in cardiovascular function. Continuous epidural analgesia used postoperatively for relief of pain in morbidity obese patients, following upper abdominal surgery, slightly decreases oxygen requirement and benefits cardiovascular function as reflected by a decrease in left ventricular stroke work.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Nov 1980
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialOperating room temperature prior to surgical draping: effect on patient temperature in recovery room.
Assessment was made of whether a cold-room environment prior to surgical draping affected patient temperature or the incidence of shivering in the recovery room in patients undergoing major vascular surgery when warming blankets and warmed fluids were used to maintain intraoperative temperature. Forty-two patients scheduled to undergo major vascular surgery were randomly assigned in equal numbers to a "cold or "warm" room. Temperatures in the "warm" rooms were 22.2 C or above (range 22.8-25.6 C) until draping, and in "cold" rooms, 18.9 C or below (ranged 13.9-17.8 C). ⋯ Patient temperatures initially did not differ between groups. Despite significantly greater heat loss prior to draping in the cold-room group (0.63 +/- 0.14 C) than in the warm-room group (0.32 +/- 0.10 C) (p < 0.01), there were no differences in temperature in the recovery room, shivering, myocardial, renal CNS, pulmonary, or graft morbidity in the two groups. In major intra-abdominal vascular operations the use of warming blankets and the practice of warming all fluids for infusion allow a comfortable room temperature without detriment to patient care.