Der Anaesthesist
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Clinical Trial
[Preliminary experiences with superimpoposed high-frequence jet ventilation in intensive care].
The study aimed to evaluate whether superimposed high-frequency jet ventilation (SHFJV) is a useful tool in intensive care medicine to ventilate patients with pulmonary insufficiency. METHODS. SHFJV is the simultaneous application of low- and high-frequency jet ventilation performed using a specially designed ventilator. ⋯ CONCLUSIONS. Significant differences were observed primarily in Gr 3 patients, indicating that patients with severe pulmonary insufficiency may benefit from SHFJV. SHFJV may thus represent an alternative mode of ventilation in critically ill patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Continuous monitoring of critical patients with a newly developed pulmonary arterial catheter. A cost analysis].
The introduction of flow-directed pulmonary artery (PA) catheters has helped to improve our knowledge of cardiovascular physiology. There have been several developments of this equipment in recent years, including continuous monitoring of mixed-venous O2 saturation (SvO2) and cardiac output (CO). The high purchase price, however, is an obstacle to its use in the critically ill. ⋯ Costs for laboratory analyses can blunt the advantage of lower costs for the standard PA catheter. Intermittent (standard) monitoring of SvO2 and CO was significantly more time-consuming than the continuous methods. It can be summarised that although purchase costs for the more advanced PA catheters are higher than for standard PA catheters, the use of these continuous monitoring devices in the critically ill can be justified from a financial point of view.
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The quality, result, and prognosis of neurosurgery relies heavily on the anaesthetic technique. Many different classes of drugs have been used during neurosurgical anaesthesia. This article reviews the use of intravenous (IV) propofol as an alternative to volatile anaesthetic techniques. ⋯ On the other hand, all IV agents except ketamine are associated with decreases in CMRO2 and are cerebral vasoconstrictors. For this reason, it is rational to use them for the induction and maintenance of anaesthesia for neurosurgery as part of a total IV anaesthetic technique. The third part of the article focuses on propofol as the newest representative of IV anaesthetics.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Hemodynamic effects of new phosphodiesterase inhibitors in patients with coronary heart disease. A comparison between enoximone and R80122].
At present, phosphodiesterase III inhibitors are commonly used for the treatment of low cardiac output states. Despite their positive inotropic and lusitropic effects, these drugs are still under discussion because of certain adverse effects like thrombopaenia, elevation of transaminases, abdominal disregulation, and excessive peripheral vasodilatation. As a consequence, more cardioselective phosphodiesterase inhibitors were developed with the aim of reducing these adverse effects. ⋯ Both enoximone and R80122 showed the expected inotropic effects. Nevertheless, both substances have a distinct vasodilative effect, which leads to a decline in MAP. R80122 does not have higher cardioselectivity than enoximone.
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Although the local anaesthetic prilocaine is less cardio- and neurotoxic than lidocaine, it bears the disadvantage of the formation of methaemoglobin by the metabolite o-toluidine. Prilocaine is often successfully used, especially for the blockade of the brachial plexus, but one problem of this technique is the failure rate of 3-10%, with the consequence that general anaesthesia after administration of prilocaine is frequently necessary. Methaemoglobin formation after prilocaine administration has been thoroughly investigated. ⋯ Three explanations seem plausible: (1) Thiopental blocks the hydroxylase of the endoplasmic reticulum, with the result that o-toluidine cannot be further metabolised, leading to higher o-toluidine and methaemoglobin levels. (2) Isoflurane improves the blood supply of the liver. This results in increased metabolism of prilocaine to o-toluidine. (3) The results were accidental. To clarify which of these explanations is correct, further investigation is necessary.