Minerva anestesiologica
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Minerva anestesiologica · Mar 2009
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyEpidural plus general anesthesia vs general anesthesia alone for elective aortic surgery: effects on gastric electrical activity and serum gastrin secretion.
The aim of this study was to evaluate differences in electrogastrographic activity and serum gastrin secretion in patients subjected to general anesthesia (GA) vs blended anesthesia (BA = GA plus epidural analgesia) for abdominal aortic surgery. ⋯ An excess of EGG activity and serum gastrin secretion was observed in patients undergoing GA vs those submitted to BA. Thus, the latter procedure seems to affect gastric function less than GA alone.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Mar 2009
Promoting epidural analgesia for labor: 2005-2007 diffusion in Lombardia, Italy.
Since January 2005 the Regional Government of Lombardia, a large Italian region with over 1/5 of all Italian births, allocated public funds for 3 consecutive years to help provide epidural analgesia (EA) for women in labor. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the trend of diffusion of EA in the triennium 2005-2007. ⋯ The continuous increase of EA for labor after regional financings suggests that the low rate of pain relief procedures in Lombardia was mainly due to economic and organizational issues, rather than to cultural and psychological factors.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Mar 2009
ReviewEvidence-based renal replacement therapy for acute kidney injury.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) with the subsequent need for renal replacement therapy (RRT) represents a persistent challenge, arising in 4-5% in critically-ill patients, and remains associated with a high mortality (60%) and morbidity. As AKI is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis, appropriate management of patients with AKI becomes of utmost importance. ⋯ However, the timing of the initiation, the modality, and the dose of RRT are still controversial and the subject of ongoing clinical trials. This review presents and discusses currently available data regarding the use of RRT in critically-ill patients with AKI.