Anaesthesia
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We applied the C-MAC videolaryngoscope in 52 consecutive patients who were found to have an unexpected Cormack and Lehane grade-3 (n = 49) and grade-4 (n = 3) laryngeal view with the Macintosh laryngoscope. The glottic view improved in 49 (94%) patients using the C-MAC. ⋯ In one patient, tracheal intubation failed using the C-MAC despite the presence of a Cormack and Lehane grade-2. These results suggest that the C-MAC videolaryngoscope has a role as a rescue device in cases of an initially difficult laryngeal view.
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Determination of the utility of the Intubation Difficulty Scale for use with indirect laryngoscopes.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether the Intubation Difficulty Scale is meaningful when used with indirect laryngoscopes. Data were analysed from previously published clinical trials from our group that compared the indirect laryngoscopes with the Macintosh laryngoscope. For each laryngoscope type, the Intubation Difficulty Scale score obtained for each tracheal intubation was correlated with data for duration of the intubation attempt and with the user rated difficulty of the intubation attempt. ⋯ In contrast, the correlation between user rated difficulty scores and the data for duration of tracheal intubation was not different between the device types. The Intubation Difficulty Scale performs less well with indirect laryngoscopes than with the Macintosh laryngoscope. These findings suggest the need for caution with the use of this score with indirect laryngoscopes.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Ability of patients to retain and recall new information in the post-anaesthetic recovery period: a prospective clinical study in day surgery.
Patients are frequently told new information in the early postoperative period and may retain little of it. Two hundred patients undergoing general anaesthesia for day surgery procedures were randomly allocated into two equal groups, 'Early' and 'Late'. Both groups were asked to undertake a simple memory test either in the early or late postoperative phase of their recovery. ⋯ Twenty-three percent of patients in the 'Early' group had total amnesia of any test information given. Only 1% of the 'Late' group were unable to remember any information; a mean interval of 40 min separated the two groups. We recommend that verbal information given postoperatively be delayed until a recovery interval of at least 40 in, and should be supported with written material.