Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2010
Implementing a pre-operative checklist to increase patient safety: a 1-year follow-up of personnel attitudes.
The operating room is a complex work environment with a high potential for adverse events. Protocols for perioperative verification processes have increasingly been recommended by professional organizations during the last few years. We assessed personnel attitudes to a pre-operative checklist ('time out') immediately before start of the operative procedure. ⋯ Staff attitudes toward a surgical checklist were mostly positive 1 year after their introduction in two large hospitals in central Sweden.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2010
Comparative StudyComparison of desaturation and resaturation response times between transmission and reflectance pulse oximeters.
In general, there is a response time between actual arterial hypoxemia and its detection by pulse oximeters. We compared the desaturation and resaturation response times between two types of pulse oximeters, transmission and reflectance pulse oximeters, to find out which oximeter has a more rapid response time. ⋯ In clinical situations in which rapid changes in oxygen saturation are expected, we recommend the forehead reflectance pulse oximeter because it responds more quickly in detecting oxygen desaturation and resaturation compared with the transmission pulse oximeter.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Feb 2010
Case ReportsReal-time ultrasound-guided spinal anesthesia in patients with a challenging spinal anatomy: two case reports.
Spinal anesthesia may be challenging in patients with poorly palpable surface landmarks or abnormal spinal anatomy. Pre-procedural ultrasound imaging of the lumbar spine can help by providing additional anatomical information, thus permitting a more accurate estimation of the appropriate needle insertion site and trajectory. ⋯ Successful dural puncture was subsequently achieved using a technique of real-time ultrasound-guided spinal anesthesia. This may be a useful option in patients in whom landmark-guided and ultrasound-assisted techniques have failed.