British journal of anaesthesia
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Comparison of the incidence and nature of cardiac arrhythmias occurring during isoflurane or halothane anaesthesia. Studies during dental surgery.
Seventy-six Chinese patients aged between 15 and 30 yr, undergoing 3rd molar extraction, were randomly allocated to two groups. One group received halothane and the other isoflurane. The incidence of arrhythmia during surgery under anaesthesia with isoflurane was significantly less than with halothane. ⋯ The frequency and nature of arrhythmias during surgery on right and left sides were similar. In three patients a slight decrease in arterial pressure was recorded in association with the arrhythmia, but on stopping the stimulus, both rhythm and arterial pressure returned to normal. The incidence of arrhythmia with halothane in the Chinese population in this study was significantly higher than that reported previously in non-Chinese patients.
-
The auditory evoked response (AER) has been studied in six patients before the induction of general anaesthesia, during anaesthesia with nitrous oxide in oxygen and mechanical ventilation, then with a stepwise increasing rate of infusion of Althesin ranging from 18 micrograms kg-1 min 1 to 90 micrograms kg-1 min-1. The sections of the AER examined in this study were the brainstem waves I, III and V and the early cortical waves Pa and Nb. ⋯ In contrast, there were no changes in either latency or amplitude of the brainstem waves. This is consistent with other work suggesting that Althesin has little effect on neuronal function below the level of the superior colliculus.
-
Pure suxamethonium chloride does not produce in vitro contracture of skeletal muscle from swine which are susceptible to malignant hyperpyrexia (MH), but does induce MH in vivo. It is suggested that suxamethonium chloride induces MH because the fasciculations which it causes lead to an increase in the myoplasmic calcium concentration.
-
Single and dual port versions of the keyed fillers fitted to TEC4 and TEC3 vaporizers, respectively, were examined. The single port filler performed satisfactorily, provided that it was correctly used and properly maintained. Design deficiencies in the dual-port keyed filler were found which accounted for many of the problems described by users. The keyed bottle adaptor could be improved by an increase in its length and the provision of two openings into the outer tube at the bottle end.