British journal of anaesthesia
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Evaluation of effects of magnesium sulphate in reducing intraoperative anaesthetic requirements.
The present randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study was designed to assess the effect of peroperatively administered i.v. magnesium sulphate on anaesthetic and analgesic requirements during total i.v. anaesthesia. ⋯ The administration of magnesium led to a significant reduction in the requirements for anaesthetic drugs during total i.v. anaesthesia with propofol, remifentanil and vecuronium.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Epinephrine and clonidine do not improve intrathecal sufentanil analgesia after total hip replacement.
We compared analgesia after intrathecal sufentanil alone, sufentanil with epinephrine 200 microg and sufentanil with clonidine 30 microg in patients after total hip replacement, the endpoints being onset and duration of action. ⋯ After total hip replacement, all three analgesic regimens gave good analgesia with comparable onset and duration of action, and minor adverse effects.
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Although almost inert chemically, xenon is not unreactive biologically. It interacts with receptors involved in the expression of cytokines and adhesion molecules. The effect of xenon on the immune function in whole blood has not been studied. ⋯ In an isolated CPB system, xenon and oxygen-enriched air had similar effects on cytokine production and expression of adhesion molecules.
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We describe a practical method of training anaesthetists in the technique of awake fibreoptic intubation. This is performed on a training course using the delegates as subjects. ⋯ The use of course delegates as subjects for training was acceptable to anaesthetists and is associated with a low level of discomfort and morbidity.
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Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a potentially lethal disease triggered by volatile anaesthetics and succinylcholine in genetically predisposed individuals. Because of the heterogenetic nature of MH, a simple genetic-based diagnostic test is not feasible and diagnosis requires an invasive open muscle biopsy followed by the in vitro contracture test (IVCT). Our aim was to establish if measurements of halothane-induced increases in intracellular calcium ion concentration [Ca(2+)](i) in cultured human skeletal muscle cells can be used to phenotype MH susceptibility and if different mutations in the ryanodine receptor (RYR1) gene affect halothane-induced increases in [Ca(2+)](i). ⋯ Measurements of [Ca(2+)](i) in human skeletal muscle cells can be used to phenotype MH susceptibility; however, we did not observe a specific effect of any mutation in the RYR1 gene on the halothane-induced increase in [Ca(2+)](i).