Minerva anestesiologica
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Minerva anestesiologica · Apr 1998
Review[Reasons in favor of lumbar puncture diagnosis (or lavage)].
In patients with strong suspicion of SAH, CT is the initial diagnostic procedure of choice. A lumbar puncture (LP) should be done if a CT is not available. If the patient has no focal deficit or papilloedema there is a little risk in LP. ⋯ The accuracy of CT in documenting SAH diminishes after 24 hours: thereafter, diagnosis is often dependent on LP. In some cases LP can be useful because the procedure may alleviate headache and remove some blood. LP can also quantify cerebro-spinal fluid (CSF) pressure, provide a baseline for future CSF determination, and allow the study of some parameters like arachidonate metabolites, lactic acid, fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) and thrombin-antithrombin complex (TAT).
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Minerva anestesiologica · Mar 1998
Clinical Trial[Non-invasive evaluation of cardic output by analysis of peripheral pressure profile in patients recovering in intensive care].
The analysis of the arterial pulse contour obtained by means of a non-invasive device (Finapres) seems to be an ideal method to measure cardiac output (CO). An individual calibration factor (Z) dimensionally equal to aortic impedence is the necessary pre-requisite to calculate CO by pulse contour analysis. To verify the reliability of non-invasive pulse contour method, we compared the COs measured from Finapres tracings with those measured from thermodilution method in Intensive Care patients. ⋯ The pulse contour analysis applied to Finapres tracing allows to calculate CO with reasonable accuracy in the intensive care patients. An initial experimental determination of Z is recommended to improve the accuracy of Finapres method.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Mar 1998
Comparative Study Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial[Postoperative analgesia with PCA in 300 patients. A comparison of four therapeutic regimes].
The results of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) in 300 patients undergoing major operations in general surgery, urology, ENT and obstetrics-gynaecology are presented. ⋯ On the basis of personal experience, patient controlled analgesia has been demonstrated to be an effective, reliable and flexible procedure for the control of postoperative pain.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Mar 1998
[Analgesia and anesthesia in obstetrics. Territorial investigation].
There is a more and more interest regarding methods of obstetric analgesia and anesthesia while there is a lack of epidemiological data about local experiences. ⋯ The data obtained only confirm the extent of a well-known problem. In spite of the growing interest by the medical community, the attention shown for obstetric anesthesia and analgesia is, nevertheless, insufficient, especially due to financial and organizational problems which prevent from establishing a permanent pain therapy center.
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Minerva anestesiologica · Jan 1998
[The desire for information and informed consent in general anesthesia].
In the last years the interest for Informed Consent (IC) in anaesthesia has been growing and it has been debated on the adequate explanations in order to obtain a consent. The purpose of the present study was to assess patients' desire for information about anaesthesia. ⋯ The growth of patients' desire for information about anaesthesia is an aspect of the evolving doctor-patient relationship in Italy. Efforts should be directed at improving reciprocal communication.