Articles: general-anesthesia.
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Anasthesiol Intensivmed Notfallmed Schmerzther · Sep 1996
[Patient knowledge concerning anesthesia general practice and the responsibilities of the anesthetist].
In two Austrian university hospitals 104 patients were interviewed on the basis of questionnaires about their knowledge of the role of anaesthetists. Although 93% of the Patients considered anaesthesists to be physicians, major deficits were found regarding the knowledge about the spheres of activities of anaesthetists. 60% of the respondents confined the anaesthetist to the operating theatre. ⋯ To current practice of informing the patient calls for improvement and new approaches. In addition to this further evaluation work on the influence of the mass media and public knowledge about anaesthesia and the anaesthetists' role should be undertaken.
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Clinical Trial
Sternomental distance as the sole predictor of difficult laryngoscopy in obstetric anaesthesia.
Sternomental distance and view at laryngoscopy were documented in 523 parturients undergoing elective or emergency Caesarean section under general anaesthesia. Eighteen (3.5%) had a grade III or IV laryngoscopic view (Cormack and Lehane's classification) and were classified as potentially difficult tracheal intubations. There was a significant difference between sternomental distance in those patients with a grade III or IV laryngoscopic view compared with those with a grade I or II (13.17 (SD 1.54) cm vs 14.3 (1.49) cm; P = 0.0013). ⋯ A sternomental distance of 13.5 cm or less had a sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of 66.7%, 71.1%, 7.6% and 98.4%, respectively. While there was no association between sternomental distance and age, weight, height or body mass index (BMI), there was a significant association between grade of laryngoscopy (III and IV) and older (P = 0.049) and heavier (P = 0.0495) mothers. The results suggest that while sternomental distance on its own may not be an adequate sole predictor of subsequent difficult laryngoscopy the measurement should be incorporated into a series of quick and simple preoperative tests.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Sep 1996
Prone positioning improves pulmonary function in obese patients during general anesthesia.
We investigated the effects of prone position on functional residual capacity (FRC), the mechanical properties (compliance and resistance) of the total respiratory system, lung and chest wall, and the gas exchange in 10 anesthetized and paralyzed obese (body mass index more than 30 kg/m2) patients, undergoing elective surgery. We used the esophageal balloon technique together with rapid airway occlusions during constant inspiratory flow to partition the mechanics of the respiratory system into its pulmonary and chest wall components. FRC was measured by the helium dilution technique. ⋯ Resistance of the total respiratory system, lung, and chest wall were not modified on turning the patients prone. The increase in FRC and lung compliance was paralleled by a significant (P < 0.01) improvement of PaO2 from supine to prone position (130 +/- 31 vs 181 +/- 28 mm Hg, P < 0.01), while PaCO2 was unchanged. We conclude that, in anesthetized and paralyzed obese subjects, the prone position improves pulmonary function, increasing FRC, lung compliance, and oxygenation.
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Anaesthesia induction and deep anaesthesia may be accompanied by a considerable haemodynamic depression, especially in patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases. A decrease in cardiac index (CI) leads to a concomitant decrease in oxygen transport (DO2I). We examined whether these changes in haemodynamic performance and oxygenation can cause an oxygen debt and anaerobic metabolism. ⋯ We conclude that in patients suffering from a substantial cardiovascular disease systemic oxygenation is not impaired by considerable haemodynamic changes induced by general anaesthesia. This fact can be explained by the parallel decrease in oxygen demand, expressed by the decrease in VO2I.
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Anasthesiol Intensivmed Notfallmed Schmerzther · Sep 1996
Review[Mucociliary clearance function and medicamentous modification].
Mucociliary clearance represents a complex self-cleaning mechanism of the lung and is based on the functional unity of ciliated columnar cells and the special viscoelastic properties of the secretion produced in the tracheobronchial system. It has been known for a long time that intubation and mechanical ventilation can impair mucous transport and lead to morphological damage to the tracheobronchial mucosa. Recent studies made it clear, however, that mechanical ventilation during anaesthesia using an appropriate anaesthesiological technique has no deleterious effect on mucus transport in patients with healthy lungs. ⋯ In these patients a number of factors combine to form a formidable potential insult to the mucociliary transport mechanism. Numerous drugs can affect mucociliary transport. Beta-mimetics and theophylline, in particular, have a favourable effect on mucociliary transport, whereas the effect of mucolytic agents is controversial.