European journal of anaesthesiology
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For use in a magnetic resonance (MR) scanning room infusion pumps must be MR safe and compatible. This study tested two commonly used infusion pumps (Alaris P6000 and Alaris Asena-GH) to determine if they met these criteria. ⋯ Whilst the pumps cannot strictly be termed MR safe or compatible at 100 Gauss we have demonstrated that flow rates are unchanged and that, for the Alaris Asena-GH, the effect on the occlusion pressure alarm is unlikely to have patient safety implications.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial
201 combined spinal-epidurals for anaesthesia using a separate needle technique.
Combined spinal-epidural (CSE) anaesthesia may be performed using separate needles or by passing the spinal needle through an epidural needle. The latter technique requires that subarachnoid block is performed before the epidural catheter is placed. This paper examines a series of 201 consecutive CSEs performed with a novel separate needle technique, designed to avoid potential and actual problems associated with the CSE technique. ⋯ This method of CSE anaesthesia can be associated with high success and low complication rates.
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Isoflurane has been shown experimentally to protect the myocardium against infarction but the clinical relevance of these findings is not yet well established. We therefore evaluated the effects of isoflurane administration before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on postoperative cardiac troponin I (cTnI) release and clinical outcome in a large group of adult patients scheduled for cardiac surgery. ⋯ No significant effect was observed on postoperative cTnI release and in-hospital outcome when isoflurane was added to standardized intravenous anaesthesia before CPB in adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery.
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Clinical Trial
The pharmacokinetics of piritramide after prolonged administration to intensive care patients.
The purpose of the present study was to determine the pharmacokinetics of the micro-agonist opioid pirinitramide (piritramide) after prolonged administration. ⋯ Despite increasing terminal elimination half-life and volume of distribution at steady state (increasing drug load for a given plasma concentration), the context-sensitive half-time of piritramide after 3 days of administration is lower than predicted from bolus kinetics, making the drug a suitable candidate for intensive care unit analgesia.