British journal of anaesthesia
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Hypertension is the commonest avoidable medical indication for postponing anaesthesia and surgery. There are no universally accepted guidelines stating the arterial pressure values at which anaesthesia should be postponed. The aim of this study was to determine the extent of variation across the South-West region of the UK in the anaesthetic management of patients presenting with stage 2 or stage 3 hypertension. ⋯ The response rate was 58%. We found great variability between anaesthetists as to which patients would be cancelled. Departmental protocols may aid general practitioners and surgeons in the preparation of patients for surgery, but such protocols may be difficult to agree in the light of such a wide variation in practice.
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The level of sedation of 28 patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass grafting with fentanyl-propofol anaesthesia was monitored with bispectral analysis (BIS), spectral edge frequency, and band power of the electroencephalogram. Fourteen patients underwent hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) (32 degrees C, group H), and 14 normothermic CPB (group N). The level of sedation was measured with Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation Score and with Ramsay Sedation Score. ⋯ During the phases of anaesthesia and surgery without CPB, the progression of BIS levels was comparable with previously published data for non-cardiac surgery. During normothermic CPB, the highest BIS values were close to values representing insufficient depth of sedation. It remains to be elucidated whether the much lower BIS values in the hypothermic group were solely a result of brain cooling or if increased serum propofol concentrations, because of slowed pharmacodynamics during hypothermia, also contributed.
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Sevoflurane is widely used in anaesthetic protocols for patients undergoing surgical procedures. However, there are no reports on the influence of sepsis on minimum alveolar concentration of sevoflurane (MAC(SEV)) in animals or in humans. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that sepsis could alter the MAC(SEV) in a normotensive septic pig model. ⋯ Significant increases in mean artery pulmonary pressure, filling, epinephrine and vascular pulmonary resistances occurred in the sepsis group. MAC(SEV) for the saline group was 2.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.1-2.55%] and the MAC(SEV) for the sepsis group was 1.35% (95% CI 1.2-1.45%, P<0.05). These data indicate that MAC(SEV) is significantly decreased in this normotensive septic pig model.