Masui. The Japanese journal of anesthesiology
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New diagnostic and therapeutic devices for patients with chronic intractable pain are used in Japan. The following articles describe topics of new diagnostic and therapeutic devices for patients with chronic intractable pain including thermography, functional MRI, device for the quantitative analysis of perception and pain sensation, epiduroscopy, device for phototherapy, Racz catheter and device for spinal cord stimulation (SCS).
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Development of instruments for spinal cord stimulation is remarkable. We can implant two cylinder-type stimulation electrodes in parallel into the spinal epidural space. We call this method for dual-lead SCS. ⋯ Dual-lead SCS combined with low-dose ketamine drip infusion method is useful for the treatment of various kinds of neuropathic pain. Even if the direct effect of ketamine is transient, effects that provide release from central sensitization and the wind-up phenomenon may be important to increase the effects of dual-lead SCS. Based on the development of dual-lead SCS, SCS therapy has become an important and powerful method for the treatment of intractable pain.
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Case Reports
[A case of prolongation of rocuronium neuromuscular blockade in a pregnant patient receiving magnesium].
A 35-year-old pregnant female with systemic lupus erythematosus and lupus nephritis underwent emergency cesarean section at 24 weeks of gestation under general anesthesia. The patient had received magnesium sulfate with a diagnosis of pregnancy-induced hypertension since 20 weeks of gestation. Anesthesia was induced with thiopental 3.5 mg x kg(-1) and tracheal intubation was facilitated by administration of rocuronium 1.0 mg x kg(-1). ⋯ After operation, no twitch was noted on the ulnar nerve TOF monitor. The TOF returned to 4/4 at postoperative 11 hours and the patient was extubated uneventfully. When rocuronium is used to facilitate general endotracheal anesthesia in a patient for emergency cesarean delivery, it is important to recognize that magnesium may prolong neuromuscular block significantly.
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Much evidence has been accumulated on the cerebral mechanisms of pain perception owing to rapid and diverse development in magnetic resonance imaging and its analysis techniques over the last decades. In addition to pain-evoked cerebral activities, our knowledge now extends into chronic pain-associated alterations in cerebral connectivity over networks and in gray matter density, which characterize cerebral steady-state pathological properties underlying chronic pain conditions. A dynamic cerebral model for chronification of pain is presented, in which a bottom-up nociception via the lateral system leads to a reactive, top-down hyperactivity of the medial system, and eventually to both functional and anatomical degeneration of pain modulatory mechanisms and reward systems. All such biomarkers of "chronic pain brain" revealed by neuroimaging will hopefully help us in diagnosis of chronic pain and evaluation of therapeutics for each patient on an outpatient basis.
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Case Reports
[Awake insertion of i-gel under dexmedetomidine sedation in a patient with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome].
We report a successful awake insertion of the i-gel supraglottic airway device under dexmedetomidine (DEX) sedation in a patient with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome and symptomatic angina. A 71-year-old man was scheduled for open stoma closure under general anesthesia. Given the patient's history of difficult mask ventilation during anesthesia for resection of rectal cancer, we decided to perform awake i-gel insertion under DEX sedation and regional anesthesia with lidocaine. ⋯ We also performed transversus abdominis plane block and rectus sheath block with ropivacaine, as severe respiratory suppression due to continuous intravenous fentanyl infusion had been observed in the previous operation. No vital sign change or respiratory suppression was noted upon recovery from general anesthesia. Awake insertion of a supraglottic airway device, such as i-gel, under DEX sedation can be effective for airway management in patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.