BMC anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Does fentanyl or remifentanil provide better postoperative recovery after laparoscopic surgery? a randomized controlled trial.
Fentanyl and remifentanil are widely used opioids in surgery, but it has not been evaluated whether the choice of opioids during surgery affects the patients' postoperative quality of recovery. Accordingly, we aim to compare postoperative recovery of fentanyl-based anesthesia with remifentanil-based anesthesia after laparoscopic surgery using the QoR 40 questionnaire (QoR-40). ⋯ Although the global QoR is higher in the fentanyl group by 20 points compared with remifentanil group, no significant differences revealed between the groups. Further studies with large numbers of subjects of the same gender are needed.
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Case Reports
Small doses of epinephrine prolong the recovery from a rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block: a case report.
During anaesthesia it is not uncommon to administer epinephrine in patients blocked by non-depolarizing muscle relaxants. However, there are few reports on possible interaction of epinephrine with neuromuscular transmission in humans. ⋯ In this case reported here small doses of intravenously administered epinephrine markedly prolonged a rocuronium-induced neuromuscular block. Given the widely used co-administration of epinephrine and muscle relaxants possible adrenergic interference with neuromuscular transmission would have implications for daily anaesthetic practice.
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Management of a patient's body temperature is an important aspect of care that should be addressed by targeted temperature management (TTM). Often, non-invasive methods like forced-air blankets are used. Especially in the operating room this management may be a subsidiary and repetitive task requiring constant observation of the patient's body temperature and adaption using the limited set of available settings. Thus, automation of TTM is a feasible target to improve patient outcome and reduce caregiver workload. ⋯ Closed-loop TTM using non-invasive forced-air warming blankets was successfully tested in a porcine study with the proposed hardware interface and control algorithm. This automation can be beneficial for patient outcome and can reduce caregiver workload and patient risk in clinical settings. As temperature readings are most often available, existing devices like the 3M Bair Hugger can easily be expanded. However, even if clinical application is feasible, open questions regarding approval and certification of such automated systems within the current legal situation still need to be answered.
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Meta Analysis
The association of body mass index with difficult tracheal intubation management by direct laryngoscopy: a meta-analysis.
Obesity is a serious disorder and may bring about many difficulties of perioperative management. A systematic review was conducted to assess the association between obesity and difficult intubation. ⋯ Obesity was associated with an increased risk of difficult intubation, difficult laryngoscopy and Mallampati score ≥ 3 in adults patients undergoing general surgical procedures. However, there were no association of obesity and risks of difficult intubation compared with non-obesity in the cohort studies and the elective tracheal intubation, no associated with an increased risk of difficult laryngoscopy in the sniffing position. Future analyses should explore the association of BMI and difficult airway.
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Maternal early warning systems reduce maternal morbidity. We developed an electronic maternal surveillance system capable of visually summarizing the labor and delivery census and identifying changes in clinical status. Automatic page alerts to clinical providers, using an algorithm developed at our institution, were incorporated in an effort to improve early detection of maternal morbidity. We report the frequency of pages generated by the system. To our knowledge, this is the first time such a system has been used in peripartum care. ⋯ This novel electronic maternal surveillance system is designed to reduce cognitive bias and improve timely clinical recognition of maternal deterioration. The automated paging algorithm developed for this software dramatically reduces paging frequency compared to paging for isolated vital sign abnormalities alone. Long-term, prospective studies will be required to determine its impact on patient outcomes.