Anaesthesia
-
Multicenter Study
Outcome after admission to ITU following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: are non-survivors suitable for non-heart-beating organ donation?
We have reviewed retrospective data from two large UK teaching hospitals regarding outcome following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and the suitability of non-survivors for non-heart-beating organ donation. Patients were selected retrospectively from consecutive admissions from two intensive care units who had presented following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, to a total of 50 patients in each centre. They had all been resuscitated to achieve a spontaneous cardiac output at the scene, in transit or after arrival in hospital, and required further intensive care support due to cardiovascular, respiratory, or neurological impairment. ⋯ Fifty-seven (57%) of patients had active withdrawal of treatment with only four (4%) being potentially suitable for organ procurement having not been excluded because of age, medical history or the length of time to die following withdrawal of treatment. Our results show that only a small increase in donor organs could be potentially achieved from this population. Further work is required to determine whether such patients should be considered as non-heart-beating donors.
-
A new safety-orientated drug infusion label was studied and was compared with conventional methods by prospectively collecting incident reports from November 1998 to November 2003. Anaesthetists were asked to return an incident form for every anaesthetic (87% response rate), the vast majority indicating that no error had occurred. One error was reported with the use of the new label. ⋯ Therefore, this data point was not included in the analysis. Seven errors were reported in the calculation of dosage using conventional infusion labels during 18 491 anaesthetics compared with no calculation errors in 10 655 anaesthetics with the new label (p = 0.045, Chi-squared test). Despite the difficulties of demonstrating significant benefit from safety initiatives in medicine, these data suggest that targeted system redesign can be effective inreducing error.
-
Letter Case Reports
A thyroid cyst mimicking a large neck vein on ultrasound.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Comparison of the Levitan FPS Scope and the single-use bougie for simulated difficult intubation in anaesthetised patients.
A randomised cross-over study was performed in 34 patients with no evidence of airway difficulties, following induction of general anaesthesia, to compare the efficacy of the Levitan FPS scope (LFPS) and the single-use bougie for tracheal intubation during simulated grade IIIa laryngoscopy. Success rates for intratracheal placement of the device, and the time required for insertion and tracheal intubation were recorded. Both devices were equally successful (31/34 for the LFPS vs 29/34 for the bougie) for insertion into the glottis. ⋯ Intubation times were similar between the two devices. Major problems hindering successful intubation using the LFPS were the presence of a narrow epiglottic-pharyngeal wall space and copious secretions. An inability to maintain the desired shape was the principal cause of failure with the bougie.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
Manual displacement of the uterus during Caesarean section.
Ninety ASA 1 and 2 pregnant women with term singleton pregnancies and no maternal and fetal complications, scheduled for elective or emergency Caesarean section, were randomly allocated to group LT (15 degrees left lateral table tilt, n = 45) and group MD (leftward manual displacement, n = 45). Subarachnoid block was established with a 25-gauge spinal needle at the L3-L4 interspace using 1.5 ml of 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine. ⋯ The time to maximum fall in systolic blood pressure was similar in both groups (4.5 min). We conclude that manual displacement of the uterus effectively reduces the incidence of hypotension and ephedrine requirements when compared to 15 degrees left lateral table tilt in parturients undergoing Caesarean section.