British journal of anaesthesia
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Airway management complications causing temporary patient harm are common, but serious injury is rare. Because most airways are easy, most complications occur in easy airways: these complications can and do lead to harm and death. Because these events are rare, most of our learning comes from large litigation and critical incident databases that help identify patterns and areas where care can be improved: but both have limitations. ⋯ All airway management techniques fail and prediction scores are rather poor, so many failures are unanticipated. Avoidance of airway complications requires institutional and individual preparedness, careful assessment, good planning and judgement, good communication and teamwork, knowledge and use of a range of techniques and devices, and a willingness to stop performing techniques when they are failing. Analysis of major airway complications identifies areas where practice is suboptimal; research to improve understanding, prevention, and management of such complications remains an anaesthetic priority.
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We designed a prospective observational study to assess the effect of preoperative anxiety on hypotension after spinal anaesthesia. ⋯ Preoperative anxiety assessed by VAS had a significant effect on hypotension after spinal anaesthesia.
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Transpulmonary ultrasound dilution (TPUD) is a promising method for cardiac output (CO) measurement in severely ill neonates. The incidence of lung injury in this population is high, which might influence CO measurement using TPUD because of altered lung perfusion. We evaluated the influence of lung injury on the accuracy and precision of CO measurement using TPUD in an animal model. ⋯ The accuracy and precision of CO measurement using TPUD is not influenced in the presence of heterogeneous lung injury in an animal model.
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Intraoperative hypotension is associated with increased risk of perioperative complications. The N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor (NMDA-R) antagonist xenon (Xe) induces general anaesthesia without impairment of cardiac output and vascular resistance. Mechanisms involved in cardiovascular stability have not been identified. ⋯ In vivo, Xe anaesthesia does not alter sympathetic activity and baroreflex gain, despite increased mean arterial pressure. In vitro, Xe decreases the uptake of NE in neuronal cells by the inhibition of NET. This inhibition might be related to NMDA-R antagonism and explain increased NE concentrations at the synaptic cleft and in plasma, contributing to cardiovascular stability during Xe anaesthesia.