Articles: general-anesthesia.
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Trends in neurosciences · Dec 1995
ReviewAnesthetic actions within the spinal cord: contributions to the state of general anesthesia.
The behavioral state known as general anesthesia is the result of actions of general anesthetic agents at multiple sites within the neuraxis. The most common end point used to measure the presence of anesthesia is absence of movement following the presentation of a noxious stimulus. ⋯ Studies in the spinal cord are likely to increase our understanding of the pharmacology by which general anesthetics alter the transmission of somatomotor information. It now appears that the pharmacology responsible for the production of anesthesia is agent- and site-selective, and not the result of a unitary mechanism of action.
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Review Case Reports
[Bronchospasm during anesthesia in a patient with Prader-Willi syndrome].
A patient with Prader-Willi syndrome developed bronchospasm during anesthesia. The patient was a 9-year-old boy and was scheduled for orchiopexy. His psychomotor development was delayed, and at 12 months of age he was diagnosed as Prader-Willi syndrome by chromosomal examination. ⋯ The bronchospasm was improved gradually and surgery was finished. Prader-Willi syndrome is an uncommon disease first reported by Prader in 1956 and characterized by hypotonia, hypomentia, hypogonadism and obesity. In the perioperative management for a patient with Prader-Willi syndrome, special attention must be paid to the abnormalities in the upper and lower respiratory systems.
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Review Comparative Study
Recovery advantages of regional anesthesia compared with general anesthesia: adult patients.
The data support but do not conclusively prove, that RA results in a superior recovery compared with GA. However, several questions need to be answered. ⋯ Anesthetic techniques need to be carefully compared to determine whether they are equal in quality, efficiency, and cost. Finally, to determine whether RA is cost-effective, future studies involving ambulatory patients with a focus on outcome and well-being need to be conducted.
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The possibility that a patient during general anaesthesia is aware of the operation going on and aware of severe pain that might be remembered postoperatively must be very alarming to patients and anaesthetists alike. Furthermore, there is experimental evidence showing that conscious recall of intraoperative events is only the tip of an iceberg; it seems very probable that there is even a higher incidence of unconscious perception during general anaesthesia. Therefore, the following stages of intraoperative awareness must be distinguished: (1) conscious awareness with explicit recall and with severe pain; (2) conscious awareness with explicit recall but no complaints of pains; (3) conscious awareness without explicit recall and possible implicit recall; (4) subconscious awareness without explicit recall and possible implicit recall; (5) no awareness. ⋯ Some general anaesthetics or anaesthetic procedures, e.g. the combination of a relaxant and N2O, opioid mono-anaesthetics, or opioids combined with benzodiazepines, seem to involve a higher risk of intraoperative awareness than do volatile anaesthetics. The bases of litigation are medical malpractice, breach of contract by the anaesthesiologist or lack of informed consent from the patient. Therefore, patients who are at risk of intraoperative awareness should be given detailed information on this special risk before the operation.