Minerva anestesiologica
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Minerva anestesiologica · Jul 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyIntra- versus postoperative initiation of pain control via a thoracic epidural catheter for lumbar spinal fusion surgery: a randomised trial.
Thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) is one of the pillars of perioperative pain care. Particularly for spine surgery which causes significant postoperative pain TEA seems like an appealing option. However, beneficial effects of a TEA are questionable when the catheter is not used intraoperatively, a decision that is usually based on the surgeon's wish to perform immediate neurological examination postoperatively. ⋯ Epidural catheters used intraoperatively during TLIF are feasible, significantly reduce pain, intra- and postoperative use of opioids and do not influence the quality of neurological tests directly after the surgical procedure.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Jul 2018
Comparative Study Observational StudyImmobilisation during anaesthesia for vitrectomy using a laryngeal mask without neuromuscular blockade versus endotracheal intubation and neuromuscular blockade.
For intraocular surgery, most authors recommend general anesthesia including intubation and neuromuscular blockade to avoid complications by patient movements. However, anesthesia using a laryngeal mask and avoidance of muscle relaxants is common clinical practice. Purpose of this prospective observational study was to compare the incidence of eye movement and deviation of the eye axis during general anesthesia adjusted to minimal alveolar concentration (MAC) for pars plana-vitrectomy (PPV) using a laryngeal mask without neuromuscular blockade (LM) versus endotracheal intubation and neuromuscular blockade (INT). ⋯ For PPV, MAC adjusted balanced anesthesia using a laryngeal mask without neuromuscular blockade was associated with more, but clinically irrelevant upward eye deviations and may be an alternative to intubation with neuromuscular blockade. However, adequate depth of anesthesia must be assured to avoid unwanted injuries during surgery.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Jul 2018
Novel applications of bedside monitoring to plumb patient hemodynamic state and response to therapy.
Hemodynamic monitoring is essential during the treatment of the critically ill in order to address the hemodynamic alterations and assess the response to treatment. Traditionally classified causes of shock and underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are often neglected by resuscitative strategies included in the guidelines. Most of hemodynamic management focuses on the ability to early recognize patients susceptible to increase cardiac output (CO) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) after a defined fluid challenge by eliciting Starling's law of the heart, and less is known of the ones presenting in shock and not volume responsive. ⋯ More recently, pathophysiological and echocardiographic-based approaches have been introduced to investigate ventriculo-arterial coupling, the relationship between both left and right heart and the relative circulatory bed. Such techniques allowed establishing that in many critically ill scenarios, coupling between the heart and the circulation is inefficient and probably that is the reason why in this case hemodynamic restoration cannot be achieved by standard approaches. Combining echocardiography to better understand and treat in real-time pathophysiological determinants of altered hemodynamic states with functional approaches seems to be the key to plumb hemodynamic states although it remains to be demonstrated if this tailored approach will improve patient outcome.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Jul 2018
Preliminary experience with epidural and perineural catheter localization with pulsed wave Doppler ultrasonography.
Various methods for peripheral nerve and epidural catheter location assessment exist, with varying degrees of ease of use, utility, and accuracy. Pulsed wave Doppler (PWD) evaluates the presence of fluid flow and is possible modality to assess the location of a percutaneously inserted perineural catheter. ⋯ Our preliminary experience with PWD ultrasonography suggests that they may offer the ability to selectively assess flow at different locations to identify the proper location of epidural and perineural catheters. Future randomized, controlled investigations are warranted to further evaluate the effectiveness and safety of this modality.