Anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Dose-response and time-course of the effect of rocuronium bromide during sevoflurane anaesthesia.
To evaluate the influence of sevoflurane on the dose-response relationship and on the time-course of the effect of rocuronium, 60 adult patients undergoing elective plastic surgery were randomly allocated to either the control or the sevoflurane group. Anaesthesia was maintained with 60% nitrous oxide in oxygen and thiopentone in the control group and with 60% nitrous oxide in oxygen and an end-tidal concentration of 1.75% sevoflurane in the sevoflurane group. Neuromuscular function was assessed mechanomyographically with train-of-four stimulation at the wrist every 12s and the percentage depression of the first twitch of the train-of-four was used as the study parameter. ⋯ The effective doses of rocuronium required to produce 50%, 90% and 95% twitch depression in the sevoflurane group were decreased by 30.5%, 26.7% and 25.2%, respectively, compared to the control group. Following the administration of a total dose of rocuronium of 400 micrograms.kg-1, the duration of action of, and the recovery from, rocuronium were both significantly prolonged by sevoflurane. There were significant differences in the duration of peak effect, clinical duration, recovery index and the total duration of action between the control and the sevoflurane groups.
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Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Small tubes revisited.
We measured the peak inflation and end expiratory pressure at the proximal and distal ends of two sizes of tracheal tube in men and women receiving positive pressure ventilation. There was a statistically significant increase in proximal inflation pressure when the smaller size of tube (6.5 mm for men, 6.0 mm for women) was used. ⋯ Clinically satisfactory positive pressure ventilation was obtained when 6.0 and 6.5 mm tracheal tubes were used. The advantages and disadvantages of using small sizes of tracheal tube are discussed.
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We report four cases of occult pneumothorax in patients who had suffered blunt trauma. In each case supine chest X-rays failed to diagnose an anterior pneumothorax. ⋯ In two of the cases anterior pneumothoraces were present in spite of a chest drain having been placed in the pleural cavity. We recommend the insertion of anteriorly positioned chest drains to relieve pneumothoraces in severely injured trauma patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Pain on injection of propofol. A comparison of cold propofol with propofol premixed with lignocaine.
Propofol is frequently associated with pain on injection. Previous studies have suggested that chilling of the propofol decreases pain significantly. This prospective, randomised, double-blind trial was designed to assess the effectiveness of cold propofol compared with propofol premixed with lignocaine in minimising pain on injection. ⋯ The results of this study show that cold propofol is associated with a very high incidence of injection pain while lignocaine 0.1 mg.kg-1 premixed with propofol significantly decreases the incidence of pain (p < 0.001). Increasing the dosage of lignocaine above 0.1 mg.kg-1, however, does not significantly decrease the incidence of pain further. The addition of lignocaine also significantly decreases the incidence of excitatory side-effects.
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We studied the influence of the timing of injection of bupivacaine into the vas deferens on the intensity and duration of scrotal pain following vasectomy. Forty-two patients undergoing vasectomy under general anaesthesia were randomly allocated to have the operation performed on either the left or the right side first. On the first side to be operated upon, 5 ml bupivacaine 0.5% was infiltrated along the line of the scrotal incision. ⋯ Median [interquartile range] visual analogue pain scores on the first side to be operated upon were significantly lower than on the second side on day 1 (7 [1.5-19] vs. 11 [2.5-47]) (p < 0.01) and day 7 (0 [0-8.5] vs. 0 [0-18.8]) (p < 0.05) postoperatively. The median [interquartile range] duration of postoperative discomfort was less on the first side operated upon than on the second (3 [1-7] vs. 6 [2-7]) (p < 0.01). Although statistically significant differences occurred between the treatment groups, the actual differences were small and may not be clinically significant.