Der Anaesthesist
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The hospital nursing staff represents a distinct group of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) providers. Differences in the success rates of resuscitation attempts inside or outside the hospital seem to be attributable to the skill of the various rescuers. Whereas the definite success rate for prehospital resuscitation is 7%, the corresponding rate for in-hospital settings is 15%. ⋯ Indeed an increasing rate of successful resuscitations inside the hospital (up to 27%) has been reported in the literature. In consequence of our findings, refresher courses in specific CPR techniques must be demanded, which should be made obligatory for nursing staff every 2 years. Qualified nursing personnel routinely trained in CPR and supported by effective hospital logistics is essential if the life-saving benefits of modern CPR are to be provided to our patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
[The effect of theophylline on the mucociliary clearance function in ventilated intensive care patients].
Mucociliary clearance represents an important protective mechanism of the upper and lower respiratory tracts whereby inhaled particles and micro-organisms are removed from the tracheobronchial system. In incubated intensive care unit (ICU) patients, impaired ciliary function and mucus transport are associated with pulmonary complications [9]. Some authors have shown that theophylline increases mucus transport in healthy subjects and patients with chronic bronchitis [8, 16, 31, 36]. ⋯ CONCLUSIONS. Theophylline at therapeutic concentrations improves bronchial mucus transport in intubated ICU patients. The increase in BTV may be associated with severe tachycardia, and therefore routine application cannot be recommended.
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The laryngeal mask (LM) was developed by A. Brain to overcome the disadvantages of the face mask (impractical) and the tracheal tube (invasive). Today this new instrument is applied on a broad scale in Great Britain and with growing interest in continental Europe. ⋯ Apart from anaesthesia, the LM can be used for bronchoscopy in children, for difficult intubations and as a preliminary airway in cases of resuscitation. Two studies performed in Great Britain have evaluated the LM for resuscitation. The investigations should be confirmed in German-speaking countries.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Total i.v. anesthesia with S-(+)-ketamine in orthopedic geriatric surgery. Endocrine stress reaction, hemodynamics and recovery].
Clinically-used ketamine is a racemic mixture of two isomers, S-(+)- and R-(-)-ketamine. Previous investigations showed the anaesthetic potency of S(+)-ketamine to be three times higher than that of R-(-)-ketamine. It was the aim of this study to compare the effects of S-(+)-ketamine and racemic ketamine on endocrine and cardiovascular parameters, recovery, and side effects in geriatric patients during total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) for orthopaedic surgery. ⋯ Increases in cardiovascular parameters and insufficient reduction of the stress response with respect to ADH, ACTH, and cortisol seem to require a more potent hypnotic element during TIVA with ketamine. With regard to endocrine and cardiovascular parameters, the pharmacodynamic effects of racemic and S-(+)-ketamine were comparable. Because of the significant improvement in recovery and the reduced quantitative drug load, S-(+)-ketamine offers a clinical advantage compared with currently used racemic ketamine.
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An 81-year-old patient had prolonged competitive neuromuscular blockade with train-of-four ratios of 0.1 and 0.5, respectively, after two successive anaesthesia procedures (enflurane-N2O/O2; vecuronium-succinylcholine-sequence) for transurethral prostate resection. Although antagonism with neostigmine was promptly successful after the first, 65-min period of anaesthesia (1.5 mg vecuronium for precurarization, 100 mg succinylcholine for intubation, 3 mg vecuronium), repetitive and chronologically staggered administration of neostigmine after the second, 30-min period of anaesthesia (1 mg vecuronium for precurarization, 100 mg succinylcholine for intubation) had hardly any effect, so that the patient had to be ventilated mechanically for a total of 4.5 h. Laboratory analysis revealed homozygous, atypical, plasma cholinesterase (790 U/l; dibucaine number 23; genotype E1aE1a). ⋯ It must be assumed that a complete phase II block developed after the first succinylcholine exposure owing to the longer duration of anaesthesia; the purely competitive component (train-of-four ratio 0.1) was easily antagonized by neostigmine. At the time of the attempted antagonism after the second, shorter period of anaesthesia, however, block transformation was still incomplete (train-of-four ratio 0.5). The administration of neostigmine therefore rather intensified the depolarization segment of the mixed block, so that repeated attempts at antagonism then inhibited any further block transformation.