Articles: general-anesthesia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy after propofol and methohexital anesthesia.
Fifty-eight patients with major depression were randomly assigned to receive a hypnotic dose of either propofol or methohexital for their complete treatment series of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). As expected, seizure duration was significantly shorter with propofol than with methohexital anesthesia. ⋯ However, this was independent of the choice of propofol or methohexital as the anesthetic. This study supports previous reports that seizure duration does not influence recovery from depression.
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Monaldi Arch Chest Dis · Sep 1994
ReviewAtelectasis formation and gas exchange impairment during anaesthesia.
Anaesthesia is accompanied by impaired oxygenation of the blood, and sometimes hypoxaemia may develop despite an increased oxygen fraction of the inspired gas. The major cause of this derangement is shunt, an effect of prompt atelectasis formation in dependent lung regions. An additional cause is ventilation/perfusion (V/Q) mismatch, possibly produced by intermittent airway closure. The magnitude of shunt and size of atelectasis are independent of the age of the patient, whereas V/Q mismatch increases with age, explaining the age dependent impairment of oxygenation.
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A 68-yr-old man presented for pharyngeal biopsy under general anaesthesia. Coincidentally he was found to have a large mediastinal mass. ⋯ The exact risk of catastrophic airway collapse on induction of anaesthesia in patients with mediastinal masses is controversial but probably small. As there is no test to prevent airway collapse, it is suggested that attempts at biopsy be performed with regional anaesthesia after radiotherapy.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
A simple method for the maintenance of oxygen saturation following intravenous induction of anaesthesia with propofol.
One hundred unpremedicated fit adult patients having elective minor day-stay surgery and general anaesthesia were randomly allocated to one of two groups. During 30 s of intravenous propofol administration (2.5 mg.kg-1), study group patients (n = 50) were instructed to take three vital capacity breaths of room air, whilst control group patients (n = 50) were given no specific instructions. Pulse oximetry was continuously recorded over the next 5 min and the lowest oxygen saturation was noted. ⋯ Oxygen saturation returned to the pre-induction value significantly earlier in the study group patients compared with controls (97 s vs 135 s, p < 0.01). These results demonstrate that significant desaturation occurs in patients following intravenous induction of anaesthesia with propofol. This desaturation may be attenuated by asking patients to take three vital capacity breaths of room air during induction of anaesthesia.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Effects of hydrocortisone and adrenaline on natural killer cell activity.
We have studied the effects of hydrocortisone and adrenaline on natural killer (NK) cell activity and on the distribution of circulating lymphocyte subpopulations in 30 patients undergoing elective partial laminectomy under general anaesthesia. The patients were allocated to receive adrenaline (group 1, n = 11), hydrocortisone and adrenaline (group 2, n = 11) or neither hydrocortisone nor adrenaline (group 3, n = 8). Group 1 and group 2 patients received local adrenaline infiltration during operation to reduce bleeding. ⋯ In groups 1 and 3, the CD4/CD8 cell ratio did not change significantly during operation. However, compared with groups 1 and 3, group 2 showed a significantly reduced CD4/CD8 cell ratio during operation. Therefore, these results suggest that even in cases of such severe stress that the immune response was depressed by increased serum cortisol concentrations, adrenaline-induced NK cell activity enhancement was preserved.