Journal of clinical anesthesia
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To elucidate risk factors for apnea in preterm infants discharged from the hospital and in full-term healthy infants. To determine the efficacy of real-time cardiopulmonary monitoring versus computerized storage and retrieval for infants at risk. ⋯ Although it is easier to predict postoperative respiratory dysfunction in previously sick or very young infants, absolute predictability for all neonates remains elusive. Clinical monitors with both storage and retrieval capabilities and real-time monitoring increase our ability to detect significant events in children at risk for apnea after herniorrhaphy.
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The anesthetic challenge of managing a difficult airway is demanding under the best of conditions. An emergency operation compounds the difficulty. Seldom do we have the opportunity to truly plan for a possible emergency. This report presents a solution to the problem of knowing of a difficult airway but having no control over the timing or possible emergent state of the operation.
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Comparative Study
Cardiac output measurement: lack of agreement between thermodilution and thoracic electric bioimpedance in two clinical settings.
To determine the agreement between thermodilution (TD) and thoracic electric bioimpedance (TEB) techniques in cardiac output (CO) measurements in hyperdynamic kidney recipients and normodynamic patients subjected to radical cystectomy. The main objective was to determine the reliability of TEB in CO measurement. ⋯ These findings demonstrate lack of agreement between TEB and TD in CO measurements in a hyperdynamic and a normodynamic clinical setting. It is concluded that the TEB device is unreliable in CO measurement and cannot replace or be interchanged with TD.
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Sudden cardiac arrest, a rare and often fatal complication of total joint replacement, usually occurs during the insertion of polymethyl methacrylate cement and a prosthesis. We describe a cardiac arrest during insertion of a customized long-stem prosthesis (without the use of a tourniquet) for revision of an earlier total knee replacement. We attribute this complication to the "fat embolism syndrome" (FES)--hypoxemia from an acute pulmonary embolism composed of fat and marrow elements extruded into the venous circulation--coupled with systemic hypotension from absorption of the cement monomer. ⋯ Intraoperative increases in pulmonary artery and pulmonary artery occlusion pressures and pulmonary vascular resistance during unexplained hypoxemia should alert the clinician to the possibility of FES. Proper diagnosis relies on recognizing the three most common clinical manifestations: hypoxemia, neurologic derangements, and fever. Other manifestations of FES are petechiae, thrombocytopenia, anemia, lipuria, changes on ECG, tachycardia, and dyspnea.
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To review experience with anesthetic management in ten patients undergoing dynamic cardiomyoplasty (CMPL), a new surgical technique that serves as an alternative to heart transplantation. ⋯ Dynamic CMPL is a considerable challenge for the anesthesiologist because these patients have poor cardiac reserve preoperatively and do not benefit from the procedure in the first two postoperative weeks. To date, CMPL seems to be an important alternative to heart transplantation because experience has shown an improvement in the quality of life with low intraoperative and postoperative complications.