Articles: anesthesia.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jun 2006
Meta AnalysisA systematic review (meta-analysis) of the accuracy of the Mallampati tests to predict the difficult airway.
The original and modified Mallampati tests are commonly used to predict the difficult airway, but there is controversy regarding their accuracy. We searched MEDLINE and other databases for prospective studies of patients undergoing general anesthesia in which the results of a preoperative Mallampati test were compared with the subsequent rate of difficult airway (difficult laryngoscopy, difficult intubation, or difficult ventilation as reference tests). Forty-two studies enrolling 34,513 patients were included. ⋯ The Mallampati tests were poor at identifying difficult mask ventilation. Publication bias was not detected. Used alone, the Mallampati tests have limited accuracy for predicting the difficult airway and thus are not useful screening tests.
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Review Meta Analysis
[Levobupivacaine for regional anesthesia. A systematic review].
Levobupivacaine [S(-)bupivacaine], the levorotatory S-enantiomer of racemic bupivacaine, is commercially available in the U. S. and in most European countries. We performed a systematic review (MEDLINE database) and identified 88 articles on the clinical application of levobupivacaine in more than 3,000 patients. ⋯ In these regional techniques, levobupivacaine was used for all common indications in a wide range of clinical settings. Epidural levobupivacaine was combined with fentanyl, morphine, sufentanil, epinephrine, and clonidine, spinal levobupivacaine was combined with sufentanil, fentanyl, and epinephrine. In most studies, levobupivacaine was compared to bupivacaine and/or ropivacaine.
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Patients have the right to be informed about the expected benefits and risks of medical and surgical procedures. Ideally this information should be scientifically based and presented to the patient in time. In morbidly obese patient undergoing general anaesthesia, postoperative pulmonary complications are an important cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality. A 46-yr-old female with a body mass index of 89.8 kg m(-2) was scheduled to undergo radical abdominal surgery for cervix carcinoma. In order to inform her accurately on the risk of developing postoperative pulmonary complications, we undertook to answer the following question: What is the risk to develop postoperative pulmonary complications in a morbidly obese patient about to undergo abdominal surgery under general anaesthesia? ⋯ Considering the positive correlation coefficient and the high body mass index of this patient she has a risk of at least 29.3% to develop pneumonia and/or atelectasis, which should affect the anaesthetic strategy in this patient.
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Journal of anesthesia · Jan 2006
Review Meta AnalysisThe benefits of adding epidural analgesia to general anesthesia: a metaanalysis.
The purpose of this metaanalysis was to determine the benefits of postoperative epidural analgesia in patients operated on under general anesthesia. By searching the American National Library of Medicine's Pubmed database from 1966 to July 10, 2004, 70 studies were identified. These included 5402 patients, of which 2660 had had epidural analgesia. ⋯ It also reduces the first 24-h morphine consumption, OR = -13.62 mg (95%CI = -22.70, -4.54, P = 0.003), and improves the forced vital capacity (FVC), OR = 0.23 l (95%CI = 0.09, 0.37, P = 0.001) at 24 h. A thoracic epidural containing a local anesthetic reduces the incidence of renal failure: OR = 0.34 (95%CI = 0.14, 0.81, P = 0.01). Epidural analgesia may thus offer many advantages over other modes of postoperative analgesia.
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Cochrane Db Syst Rev · Jan 2006
Review Meta AnalysisRegional versus general anaesthesia for caesarean section.
Regional and general anaesthesia (GA) are commonly used for caesarean section (CS) and both have advantages and disadvantages. It is important to clarify what type of anaesthesia is more efficacious. ⋯ There is no evidence from this review to show that RA is superior to GA in terms of major maternal or neonatal outcomes. Further research to evaluate neonatal morbidity and maternal outcomes, such as satisfaction with technique, will be useful.