Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 1998
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialPostoperative epidural injection of saline can shorten postanesthesia care unit time for knee arthroscopy patients.
The goal of this prospective, double-blind study was to ascertain if the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) stay of outpatients receiving epidural anesthesia for knee arthroscopy is decreased by injection of epidural saline at the end of the case. ⋯ Patients receiving epidural anesthesia for knee arthroscopy had a shorter PACU stay if they received an injection of saline into the epidural space at the end of surgery.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 1998
Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialComparison of double-hole and single-hole pencil-point needles for spinal anesthesia with hyperbaric bupivacaine.
The use of thin single-hole pencil-point (SHPP) spinal needles may be a reason for subarachnoid maldistribution of local anesthetic. A new double-hole pencil-point (DHPP) needle may be preferable because of a theoretic more uniform initial distribution of local anesthetic. ⋯ There was no difference between the spread of analgesia using either SHPP or DHPP spinal needles. The DHPP needles appear to be vulnerable to tip damage from mechanical contact.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · May 1998
Case ReportsPatient-controlled analgesia using ropivacaine via an intrathecal catheter.
A 38-year-old woman presented with severe intractable pain in the sacral and perirectal areas secondary to metastatic stage I.B. squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. ⋯ The use of ropivacaine in combination with other analgesics, via an intrathecal catheter for patient-controlled analgesia, was an effective treatment for this patient. In the future, ropivacaine administered epidurally or intrathecally alone, or in combination with other analgesics, may become the local anesthetic of choice due to its preservation of motor function. Certainly, further scientific studies are indicated in the cancer patient population.