Surgical neurology international
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The ideal sedative-hypnotic drug would be a rapidly titratable intravenous agent with a high therapeutic index and minimal side effects. The current efforts to develop such agents are primarily focused on modifying the structures of existing drugs to improve their pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties. Drugs currently under development using this rational design approach include analogues of midazolam, propofol, and etomidate, such as remimazolam, PF0713, and cyclopropyl methoxycarbonyl-etomidate (MOC-etomidate), respectively. ⋯ Such high-throughput screening offers the potential for identifying completely novel classes of drugs. Anesthetic drug development is experiencing a resurgence of interest because there are new demands on our clinical practice that can be met, at least in part, with better agents. The goal of this review is to provide the reader with a glimpse of the novel anesthetic drugs and new developmental approaches that lie on the horizon.
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The authors sought to assess long-term efficacy, surgical morbidity, and postoperative quality of life in patients who have undergone dorsal root entry zone (DREZ) lesioning. ⋯ With appropriate patient selection, DREZ lesioning is an efficacious and durable procedure that can be performed with low morbidity and good patient outcomes.
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Occurrence of pneumonia challenges the medical management of patients who have undergone surgery for aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage, and is associated with significant mortality and morbidity. There are very few studies evaluating the incidence and outcome of postoperative pneumonia in patients undergoing microsurgical clipping of ruptured intracranial aneurysms. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence, risk factors, and outcome of postoperative pneumonia in patients undergoing surgery for ruptured intracranial aneurysms. ⋯ There is a high incidence of postoperative pneumonia and mortality associated with pneumonia (27.2% and 9.7%, respectively in our study) in patients of ruptured intracranial aneurysms undergoing microsurgical clipping at our center, with Acinetobacter species being the predominant causative organism.
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We analyzed factors associated with worsened paresis in a large series of patients with brain lesions located within or near the primary motor area (M1) to establish protocols for safe, awake craniotomy of eloquent lesions. ⋯ Successful awake surgery and prevention of deterioration of paresis immediately after surgery without intraoperative complications may help prevent worsening of paresis at one month. Factors associated with intraoperative worsening of paresis were preoperative motor deficit, type A and tumor location in M1, possibly leading to PR of the tumor.
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Considering wide variations regarding the incidence of trigeminocardiac reflex (TCR) during cranial neurosurgical procedures, and paucity of reliable data, we intended to design a prospective study to determine the incidence of TCR in patients undergoing standard general anesthesia for surgery of supra/infra-tentorial cranial and skull base lesions. ⋯ TCR is a rare phenomenon during brain surgeries when patient is anesthetized using standard techniques. Keeping the adequate depth of anesthesia using CSI monitoring method may be an advisable strategy during whole period of a neurosurgical procedure.