Annales françaises d'anesthèsie et de rèanimation
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Ann Fr Anesth Reanim · Jan 1991
Review Case Reports[Accidental epidural injection of hypertonic sodium chloride solution].
Twenty ml of 20% hypertonic saline were accidentally injected into the epidural space of a 53-year-old man with lumbar backache and sciatica. This resulted in severe thoracolumbar pain, which disappeared after he received by the same route 20 ml of 1% lidocaine and 40 ml distilled water. ⋯ A literature survey helped to explain the signs described. Further cases of accidental epidural injections of other drugs are discussed.
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Patient controlled analgesia (PCA) is a drug delivery system aimed to control acute pain using negative feedback technology in a closed loop system in which the patient plays an active role. It overcomes the inadequacies of traditional analgesic protocols due to marked differences in pharmacokinetic and dynamy of analgesis between patients. Moreover, doctors and nurses frequently underprescribe opioids in patients with severe pain for fear of dangerous side-effects. ⋯ The principles of demand analgesia are now being investigated using other agents, such as local anaesthetics, and other routes of administration, mainly epidural injection. In most patients, even in children, PCA can replace intramuscular injections, which are the standard route for opioid administration. Today PCA and spinal opioids are the two main methods of analgesia for postoperative pain management.
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Ann Fr Anesth Reanim · Jan 1991
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial[Role of vitamin C on adrenocortical effects of etomidate].
This study was carried out to assess whether the adrenal inhibition induced by etomidate could be prevented by associating ascorbic acid with etomidate, as a protective effect of ascorbic acid administered three hours after etomidate has been described. Sixteen ASA 1 or 2 patients, less than 65 years old, free of endocrine disease, were included. At induction of anaesthesia, eight of them (group B) were given an infusion of ascorbic acid 1 g, in 500 ml of 5% glucose. ⋯ Blood ACTH levels were also assessed by RIA at T0 and T4. The adrenal insufficiency at T4 had completely ended at T24. In fact, the relative decrease in cortisol levels was greater in patients treated with ascorbic acid (T4/T0: 47.6 +/- 9% in group A vs 76.5 +/- 33% in group B, p less than 0.05); this was suggestive of a higher degree of adrenal inhibition in patients receiving ascorbic acid.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Ann Fr Anesth Reanim · Jan 1991
Review[Anesthesia and intensive care for heart-lung transplantation].
Since Shumway carried out the first successful heart-lung transplant (HLT) in Stanford in 1981, HLT has become a new therapeutic means for patients with end-stage pulmonary disease or arterial hypertension. However, it is still rarely carried out because of a lack of donors and the complexity of the surgery and postoperative course. This review described the criteria for proper donor and recipient selection, as well as the anaesthetic and postoperative management of HLT patients at Marie Lannelongue Hospital. ⋯ After the 15th postoperative day, opportunistic infections and allograft rejection are the main complications. Since 1981, major advances in HLT recipient management resulted in improved survival rates (70-80% at 1 year, and 60-70% at 2 years for the best teams). Despite the complexity of management, and the longterm threat of obliterative bronchiolitis, HLT is, at present time, the only possibility for these young patients to recover a normal quality of life.