Anesthesia, essays and researches
-
Open surgical procedures are associated with substantial postoperative pain; an alternative method providing adequate pain relief with minimal side effects is very much required. ⋯ Continuous thoracic PVB is as effective as continuous thoracic EA in providing pain relief in patients undergoing open nephrectomy in the postoperative period. The side effect profile of the two techniques was also similar.
-
Mixing of various adjuvants has been tried with local anesthetics in an attempt to prolong anesthesia from peripheral nerve blocks but have met with inconclusive success. More recent studies indicate that 8 mg dexamethasone added to perineural local anesthetic injections augment the duration of peripheral nerve block analgesia. ⋯ Addition of dexamethasone (8 mg) to ropivacaine in supraclavicular brachial plexus approach significantly and safely prolongs motor blockade and postoperative analgesia (sensory) that lasted much longer than that produced by local anesthetic alone.
-
Dexmedetomidine and magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) as an adjuvant to local anesthetics and ultrasound guidance improves the quality of peripheral nerve block. ⋯ Dexmedetomidine provides earlier onset of sensory and motor block as well as prolonged duration of sensory and motor blocks and duration of analgesia is longer and postoperative rescue analgesia is less as compared to patients receiving MgSO4. The incidence of hypotension and bradycardia and sedation score was higher with dexmedetomidine.
-
The supraclavicular brachial plexus block is a very safe, useful and effective method for upper limb surgeries. Among local anesthetics, ropivacaine has special applications in neuraxial and peripheral nerve blocks due to its low cardiotoxicity and less toxicity to central nervous systems compared to bupivacaine and lignocaine. Dexmedetomidine is a newer and potent alpha-2 receptor agonist which has 10 times higher selectivity for alpha-2 receptors as compared to clonidine, So far, very few studies have been undertaken to compare the efficacy of clonidine and dexmedetomidine to provide and prolong postoperative analgesia, especially with the use of ultrasound for nerve localization. ⋯ The ropivacaine-dexmedetomidine group in our study provided earlier sensory block and more prolonged postoperative analgesia as compared to ropivacaine-clonidine group. Thus ropivacaine-dexmedetomidine combination may be effectively used in all painful upper limb surgeries specially orthopaedic procedures.
-
Despite the advances in medical sciences, the morbidity and mortality due to sepsis in critically ill medical or surgical patients remains high, hence the need for an early and accurate diagnosis. In the current armamentarium, we have various biomarkers such as procalcitonin (PCT), high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), CRP, and band cell percentage for an early clue. ⋯ The addition of PCT to the standard workup of critically ill patients with suspected sepsis increases diagnostic certainty and generates improved patient management. Band cell percentage also provides a cost-effective alternative to PCT with an analogous diagnostic performance.