Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Two cases with rib injuries are reported where intercostal nerve block without rib palpation was safely and successfully performed on six separate occasions using a Doppler blood-flow detector ultrasound stethoscope. A third case studied by a radiologist using a pulsed Doppler flowmeter, determined the source of the Doppler signals as originating from the intercostal artery. The significance of these findings is discussed.
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Patients with the mucopolysaccharidoses show widespread, progressive involvement and derangement of many organs and tissues which can have profound implications for the anaesthetist. These disorders are uncommon and few anaesthetists care for these patients on a regular basis although individual patients often undergo multiple anaesthetics for procedures intended to improve their quality of life. There is a relative paucity of literature dealing with clinical anaesthetic experience with these patients. ⋯ The establishment and maintenance of an adequate airway represents the most commonly encountered anaesthetic-related problem in these patients. We found an overall incidence of airway-related problems of 26 per cent. In patients with the Hurler or Hunter syndromes the incidence of airway-related problems was 53 per cent.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Gastric fluid volume and pH in elective inpatients. Part II: Coffee or orange juice with ranitidine.
In order to assess the effect of preoperative oral fluids, with and without ranitidine, on gastric fluid volume and pH 300 elective surgical inpatients, ASA physical status I and II, were randomly allocated to one of six groups. The three ranitidine groups (Groups 4, 5, and 6) are discussed in this paper (Part II), and the three placebo groups (Groups 1, 2, and 3) in Part I. Between two and three hours before the scheduled time of surgery, patients received 150 ml coffee with oral ranitidine 150 mg (Group 4), 150 ml orange juice with oral ranitidine 150 mg (Group 5), or oral ranitidine alone (Group 6). ⋯ The volume of residual gastric fluid, which was aspirated into a 60 ml syringe, was recorded, and its pH was measured. There were no statistically significant differences between groups with respect to volume (Group 4: 14.3 +/- 15.4; Group 5: 14.8 +/- 17.0; Group 6: 9.7 +/- 12.6 ml). The mean pH in all groups was greater than 5.40 (Group 4: 5.65 +/- 2.12; Group 5: 5.41 +/- 2.12; Group 6: 6.21 +/- 1.51).
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Priming with anti-cholinesterases--the effect of different combinations of anti-cholinesterases and different priming intervals.
This study was designed to investigate the effect of different combinations of neostigmine and edrophonium when administered in divided doses and the effect of different intervals (priming intervals) between the doses. Seventy-two patients divided into 12 groups (n = 6 in each) were included in the study. An initial dose of neostigmine 0.012 mg.kg-1 or edrophonium 0.2 mg.kg-1 was administered, followed at different priming intervals (1, 2 or 3 min) by either edrophonium 0.8 mg.kg-1 or neostigmine 0.048 mg.kg-1 for antagonism of atracurium-induced neuromuscular blockade. ⋯ Recovery indices and reversal times were found to be significantly shorter (p less than 0.05) with a 1 min priming interval. In two additional groups of patients premedicated and anaesthetized as the others equipotent mixtures of the antagonists were administered as a single bolus dose. Reversal times were significantly longer (p less than 0.05) when compared to those given the same amounts of the combination but in divided doses with a 1 min priming interval.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)