British journal of anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Dexamethasone, light anaesthesia, and tight glucose control (DeLiT) randomized controlled trial.
The inflammatory response to surgical tissue injury is associated with perioperative morbidity and mortality. We tested the primary hypotheses that major perioperative morbidity is reduced by three potential anti-inflammatory interventions: (i) low-dose dexamethasone, (ii) intensive intraoperative glucose control, and (iii) lighter anaesthesia. ⋯ Among our three interventions, dexamethasone alone reduced inflammation. However, no intervention reduced the risk of major morbidity or 1 yr mortality. TRIAL REGISTRATION IDENTIFIER: NCT00433251 at www.clinicaltrials.gov.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of phenylephrine on the haemodynamic state and cerebral oxygen saturation during anaesthesia in the upright position.
The upright sitting or beachchair position is associated with hypotension, risk of cerebral hypoperfusion, and cerebral injury. We hypothesized that by increasing arterial pressure with phenylephrine administration, cerebral perfusion, and postoperative recovery would be improved. ⋯ Despite maintaining arterial pressure with phenylephrine, cerebral desaturation occurred with upright positioning. Cerebral oxygen saturation can provide a valuable endpoint when evaluating the effect of vasopressor therapy on cerebral perfusion.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Single-cuff forearm tourniquet in intravenous regional anaesthesia results in less pain and fewer sedation requirements than upper arm tourniquet.
A limitation of Bier's block or i.v. regional anaesthesia (IVRA) is tourniquet pain. We hypothesized that tourniquet placement on the forearm vs upper arm during IVRA for distal upper extremity surgery may result in less tourniquet pain, lower the need for analgesic interventions, and decrease post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) admission. ⋯ Our results indicate that the placement of the tourniquet on the forearm resulted in less discomfort, fewer sedation interventions, and greater likelihood of bypassing the PACU when compared with upper arm tourniquet.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerves cannot be selectively blocked by using ultrasound guidance: a volunteer study.
Ilioinguinal (IL) and iliohypogastric (IH) nerve blocks are used in patients with chronic postherniorrhaphy pain. The present study tested the hypothesis that our method, previously developed in cadavers, blocks the nerves separately and selectively in human volunteers. ⋯ The IL and IH nerves cannot be selectively blocked even if volumes below 1 ml are used. The most likely explanation is the spread of local anaesthetic from one nerve to the other, although this could not be directly observed in most cases.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Oral choline supplementation for postoperative pain.
Activation of nicotinic receptors with nicotine has been shown to reduce post-surgical pain in clinical and preclinical studies. Choline is a selective agonist at α7-type nicotinic receptors that does not have addictive or sympathetic activating properties. It is anti-nociceptive in animal studies. We conducted a double-blind randomized trial of oral choline supplementation with lecithin to aid in the treatment of pain after gynaecological surgery. ⋯ Oral supplementation with lecithin during the perioperative period resulted in very slow absorption and thus only a small increase in plasma choline was achieved. This concentration was inadequate to reduce TNF as has been shown in other studies. The absence of an anti-inflammatory effect was likely related to our failure to demonstrate efficacy in pain reduction.