Current opinion in anaesthesiology
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Approximately 100 million people suffer from chronic pain in the USA. Opioid medications are commonly prescribed to treat pain, but are becoming the most widely misused controlled substance nationally. Physicians who treat patients with chronic pain must be cognizant of the federal and state policies that govern the distribution of opioid medications as well as the current standards of medical practice for opioid prescribing. ⋯ The problems of undertreated pain and the epidemic of prescription drug abuse have coincided, creating a need for medical and social policy that protects society and access to appropriate care for those in pain. Federal and state laws are in evolution, and clinicians must remain aware of these changes as well as the issues behind them that will impact safe and appropriate care of patients in pain.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Oct 2012
ReviewWhere should the tip of the needle be located in ultrasound-guided peripheral nerve blocks?
Data now exist describing the appropriate positioning of the needle tip and pattern of local anaesthetic spread after injection. The recent literature has been analysed in search of studies on the optimal procedure for common approaches centred on block efficacy, performance time, and safety. ⋯ The ultrasound appearance of nerves and target injections are better understood. The specific distributions of local anaesthetic spread that predict success are significantly different from one anatomical site to another. It seems advisable to avoid intraneural injection.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Oct 2012
ReviewLocal anesthetic 'in-situ' toxicity during peripheral nerve blocks: update on mechanisms and prevention.
Peripheral nerve blocks induce undesired side-effects linked to the toxicity of local anesthetics on neuron and myocytes via different cell targets. The effects of local anesthetics on these targets are now well known and summarized in this review. ⋯ Phenotypic analyses revealed that local anesthetics could induce histological damage with lesions ranging from local to extreme in skeletal muscle. Metabolic alterations were also described involving sarcoplasmic reticulum and calcium dysregulation, alteration of mitochondrial physiology and of oxidative phosphorylation with associated overproduction of harmful reactive oxygen species, typically leading to apoptosis or necrosis. Biochemical and cell biology investigations now indicate that local anesthetics interact with different molecular targets in mammalian cells as respiratory chain complex I or the prosurvival kinase Akt. Functional dysfunction in both muscle and neuron remains to be investigated with caution in patients, as local anesthetic toxicity remains under-evaluated. Likewise, the use of adapted local anesthetics in patients with particular diseases and neuromuscular disorder could further reduce the risk of undesired effect.We need to improve our practice, and the optimization of our clinical protocol could prevent from these side-effects. Lastly, experimental studies highlight the preventive effects of antioxidant drugs or of recombinant human erythropoietin but the pharmacokinetic feature of such strategies remain to be evaluated.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Oct 2012
ReviewProtecting the brain during neurosurgical procedures: strategies that can work.
The quest for neuroprotection strategies during periods of neuronal vulnerability persists despite decades of basic and clinical research. This review will focus on the latest developments in the area of clinical brain protection with the major emphasis on strategies that can be beneficial during neurosurgical procedures. ⋯ The findings of this review suggest that the anaesthesiologist is compelled to use nonpharmacological strategies sometimes based on empiric evidence to protect the brain during neurosurgical procedures. These strategies are simple, have high benefit/risk ratios and are inexpensive. Rigorous controlled clinical studies are needed to investigate the neuroprotective efficacy of these commonly used nonpharmacological methods.
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Cerebrovascular disease is a common cause of death and disability worldwide. The current literature supports an association between blood pressure (BP) and patient outcome during acute stroke. This review will provide an overview of the evidence to guide BP management during acute stroke. ⋯ Both hypertension and hypotension are associated with worse outcomes during acute stroke; however, the optimal hemodynamic parameters are not clearly defined in this patient population. Despite active research, there is a lack of high-quality data guiding current BP management in stroke. Several trials currently underway may clarify the many existing questions on this topic.