Trending Articles
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2007
EditorialSugammadex: an opportunity to change the practice of anesthesiology?
Miller enthusiastically states:
“Sugammadex is likely the most exciting drug in clinical neuromuscular pharmacology since the introduction of atracurium and vecuronium in the middle 1980s.”
...and hints at where benefits may begin:
summary“Will sugammadex’s increased effectiveness, in comparison to neostigmine, lessen the need for or use of monitoring neuromuscular function?”
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Obstetrics and gynecology · Jan 2011
Anesthesia-related maternal mortality in the United States: 1979-2002.
This follow-up paper to Hawkin's original "Anesthesia-related deaths during obstetric delivery in the United States, 1979-1990" showed a dramatic improvement in the relative risk of cesarean section death with general vs regional anesthesia compared with the original 1979-1990.
Where previously (1979-1990) the relative risk of death during GA CS was 16.7, from 1997-2002 the relative risk had fallen to 1.7. Worryingly though this was both due to a falling mortality rate for GA CS and an increasing mortality rate for regional anesthesia CS.
Cesarean section under general anesthesia still exposes mothers to an increased risk of perioperative death, but this risk is much lower than previously, likely due to better anesthesia training, supervision and respect of the obstetric airway.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
The safety of addition of nitrous oxide to general anaesthesia in at-risk patients having major non-cardiac surgery (ENIGMA-II): a randomised, single-blind trial.
Nitrous oxide use in non-cardiac surgery does not increase the risk of death, cardiovascular complications or wound infection.
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Journal of anesthesia · Oct 2011
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyAdjuvant dexamethasone with bupivacaine prolongs the duration of interscalene block: a prospective randomized trial.
Dexamethasone added to bupivacaine significantly prolongs the duration of interscalene analgesia and motor blockade.
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This historical landmark paper demonstrated the terribly-higher maternal mortality during cesarean section performed under general anesthesia vs regional anesthesia in the United States from 1979-1990.
This resulted in the oft-quoted statistic of being '...17 times more likely to die under a GA cesarean section than epidural or spinal.'
It is very important to note that this is a historical article and that the demonstrated very high mortality was greatly contributed to by a culture tolerating inexperienced anesthesia residents performing GA CS after-hours with limited senior support.
Hawkins followed up this study with another in 2011: Anesthesia-related maternal mortality in the United States: 1979-2002. This reassuringly showed a much improved GA CS maternal mortality from 1997-2002 (although still higher than regional CS).
The important take-home from this paper is that a GA cesarean section increases the risk of serious airway events, and if this is not managed by experienced and appropriately trained anaesthetists/anesthesiologists, will result in maternal deaths.
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