Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2014
Anesthetic practice for Caesarean section and factors influencing anesthesiologists' choice of anesthesia: a population-based study.
We examined the change in anesthetic practice for Caesarean section (CS) during the past decade and determined factors influencing anethesiologists' decisions. ⋯ Spinal anesthesia was the most common mode of anesthesia for CS deliveries in Taiwan during the past decade. Early or threatened labor, antepartum hemorrhage, emergency CS, previous CS, and preeclampsia are significant determinants of general anesthesia in CS deliveries.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2014
A series of severe necrotising soft-tissue infections in a regional centre in Sweden.
Necrotising soft-tissue infections (NSTIs) are rare conditions with high morbidity and mortality. Patients with NSTIs are often transferred to tertiary hospitals, but the question of whether the potential benefits of highly specialised care outweigh the risks associated with inter-hospital transfers has been raised. ⋯ Patients with NSTIs develop severe local and systemic symptoms and require extremely resource-demanding hospitalisation. Inter-hospital transfer was not associated with a delay in key interventions and could not be identified as a risk factor for adverse outcome.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2014
Multicenter StudyVitamin D deficiency in anesthesia department caregivers at the end of winter.
To test whether the vitamin D status of anesthesia department caregivers practicing at high Northern latitudes is compatible with current recommendations, the 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels of caregivers at hospitals in Iceland (64°08' N) and in Wisconsin (43°07' N) were compared at the end of winter. ⋯ 25(OH)D levels below the 50 nmol/l (20 ng/ml) threshold recommended by the Institute of Medicine and the European Society for Clinical and Economic Aspects of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis, and below the 75 nmol/l (30 ng/ml) threshold recommended by The Endocrine Society, are highly prevalent among anesthesia caregivers working at two Northern hospitals at the end of winter who may otherwise not meet criteria to be tested. Anesthesia and critical care providers may wish to determine their 25(OH)D levels and use effective, safe, and low cost supplementation to target a 25(OH)D level compatible with optimal health.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2014
Clinical TrialUltrasound-guided lateral infraclavicular block evaluated by infrared thermography and distal skin temperature.
Brachial plexus blocks cause changes in hand and digit skin temperature. We investigated thermographic patterns after the lateral infraclavicular brachial plexus block. We hypothesised that a successful lateral infraclavicular block could be predicted by increased skin temperature of the 2nd and 5th digits. ⋯ Four different thermographic patterns were found. Simultaneous increases in skin temperature of both the 2nd and 5th digits predicted lateral infraclavicular block success with a positive predictive value of 100%. Digit skin temperature ≤ 30 °C 30 min after performing the block indicated block failure.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Scand · Aug 2014
Assessing Nurse Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills in the operating room.
Incident reporting and fieldwork in operating rooms have shown that some of the errors that arise in anaesthesia relate to inadequate use of non-technical skills. To provide a tool for training and feedback on nurse anaesthetists' non-technical skills, this study aimed to adapt the Anaesthetists' Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) as a behavioural marker system for the formative assessment of nurse anaesthetists' non-technical skills in the operating room. ⋯ A behavioural marker system, N-ANTS, for nurse anaesthetists was adapted from a behavioural marker system, ANTS, for anaesthesiologists.