Articles: general-anesthesia.
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Int J Clin Monit Comput · Aug 1994
Assessment of depth of general anesthesia. Observations on processed EEG and spectral edge frequency.
The daily use of muscle relaxants and the lack of correlation between the hemodynamic behavior and stages of general anesthesia represent the main obstacles in defining the level of cortical activity depression by the anesthetic drugs. Since classical EEG is cumbersome in the operating room, and demands special knowledge, computerized methods of EEG wave analysis have more or less replaced the 'raw' display of the electrical activity of CNS. The paper describes the place of spectral edge frequency (SEF), one of the parameters obtained by processing the EEG waves, in the list of variables which could be monitored during general anesthesia. ⋯ Some data also suggested that a stable SEF on that range contributed to a higher degree of immediate postoperative analgesia after Cesarean section. The limits of SEF oblige the scientists to go on looking for other monitored parameters, to be studied in correlation with processed EEG. Further studies are needed, in order to improve the anesthesiologist's capabilities to define correctly the stage of general anesthesia.
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A postal survey of 160 members of the Neurosurgical Anaesthetists' Travelling Club was conducted in 1991 to investigate the current use of the sitting position in neurosurgery. There was a 78% response rate; at least one reply was received from every neurosurgical centre in the UK. ⋯ Thus in the period 1981-1991, the number of neurosurgical centres using the sitting position routinely, decreased by more than 50%. Current techniques of ventilation and monitoring for the sitting position are discussed briefly.
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Animal anaesthesia is a wide and varied subject considering the great number of available animal models, each having its characteristic tolerance and reaction to anaesthesia and its behavioural peculiarity. It is more often than not that experimental researchers tend to give scant attention to animal anaesthesia in the preparation of a research protocol as a result of which their research findings can become difficult or impossible to interpret. This article outlines the fundamental anaesthetic requirements and techniques in various animals and the practices adopted by the Department of Experimental Surgery, Singapore General Hospital. Consideration in the choice of anaesthetic drugs in various animal models and experimental situations, and problems of animal handling before and after anaesthesia are highlighted.