Journal of anesthesia
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Perioperative anaphylaxis is a life-threatening clinical condition that is typically the result of drugs or substances used for anesthesia or surgery. The most common cause of anaphylaxis during anesthesia is reportedly neuromuscular blocking agents. Of the many muscle relaxants that are clinically available, rocuronium is becoming popular in many countries. ⋯ Thus, anesthesiologists should be familiar with the epidemiology, mechanisms, and clinical presentations of anaphylaxis induced by these drugs. In this review, we focus on the diagnosis and treatment of anaphylaxis to sugammadex and neuromuscular blocking agents. Moreover, we discuss recent studies in this field, including the diagnostic utility of flow cytometry and improvement of rocuronium-induced anaphylaxis with the use of sugammadex.
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Journal of anesthesia · Apr 2016
ReviewAttenuation of cardiovascular stress response to endotracheal intubation by the use of remifentanil in patients undergoing Cesarean delivery.
The induction-delivery time during Cesarean section is traditionally conducted under light anesthesia because of the possibility of anesthesia-induced neonatal respiratory depression. The serious consequences of such an approach could be the increased risk of maternal intraoperative awareness and exaggerated neuroendocrine and cardiovascular stress response to laryngoscopy, endotracheal intubation, and surgical stimuli. ⋯ Remifentanil intravenous bolus doses of 0.5-1 μg/kg before the induction to anesthesia provide the best compromise between attenuating maternal stress response and minimizing the possibility of neonatal respiratory depression. Although neonatal respiratory depression, if present, usually resolves in a few minutes without the need for prolonged resuscitation measures, health care workers skilled at neonatal resuscitation should be present in the operating room whenever remifentanil is used.
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In this review, we describe the current consensus surrounding general anesthetic management for cesarean section. For induction of anesthesia, rapid-sequence induction using thiopental and suxamethonium has been the recommended standard for a long time. In recent years, induction of anesthesia using propofol, rocuronium, and remifentanil have been gaining popularity. ⋯ After the delivery of a fetus, switching from volatile anesthetics to intravenous anesthetics has been recommended to avoid uterine atony. At the same time, intraoperative awareness should be avoided. The rate of persistent wound pain is higher when only general anesthesia was used during cesarean section than with regional anesthesia, and thus it is necessary to provide a sufficient postoperative analgesia using multimodal analgesia, including intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA), transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block, non-steroidal inflammatory drugs, and acetaminophen.
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Journal of anesthesia · Apr 2016
ReviewReview of crisis resource management (CRM) principles in the setting of intraoperative malignant hyperthermia.
The practice of medicine is characterized by routine and typical cases whose management usually goes according to plan. However, the occasional case does arise which involves rare catastrophic emergencies, such as intraoperative malignant hyperthermia (MH), which require a comprehensive, coordinated, and resource-intensive treatment plan. ⋯ However, physicians can become expert in the global process of managing emergencies by using the principles of crisis resource management (CRM). In this article, we review the key concepts of CRM, using a real life example of a team who utilized CRM principles to successfully manage an intraoperative MH crisis, despite there being no one on the team who had ever previously encountered a true MH crisis.
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Journal of anesthesia · Apr 2016
ReviewEmergence agitation in children: risk factors, prevention, and treatment.
Emergence agitation (EA) in children is a major postoperative issue that increases the risk of patient self-harm, places a burden on nursing staff, and reduces parent satisfaction with treatment. Risk factors for EA include age, preoperative anxiety, patient personality, pain, anesthesia method, and surgical procedure. ⋯ Maintenance of anesthesia using propofol has also been shown to prevent EA. In children, anesthesia methods that are unlikely to cause EA should be selected, with the prompt adminstration of appropriate treatment in cases of EA.