Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Quality of Labor Analgesia with Dural Puncture Epidural versus Standard Epidural Technique in Obese Parturients: A Double-blind Randomized Controlled Study.
The dural puncture epidural technique may improve analgesia quality by confirming midline placement and increasing intrathecal translocation of epidural medications. This would be advantageous in obese parturients with increased risk of block failure. This study hypothesizes that quality of labor analgesia will be improved with dural puncture epidural compared to standard epidural technique in obese parturients. ⋯ A lack of differences in quality of labor analgesia between the two techniques in this study does not support routine use of the dural puncture epidural technique in obese parturients.
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Editorial Comment
Fluid Balance: Another Variable to Consider with Diaphragm Dysfunction?
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Pulse oximetry is ubiquitous in anesthesia and is generally a reliable noninvasive measure of arterial oxygen saturation. Concerns regarding the impact of skin pigmentation and race/ethnicity on the accuracy of pulse oximeter accuracy exist. The authors hypothesized a greater prevalence of occult hypoxemia (arterial oxygen saturation [Sao2] less than 88% despite oxygen saturation measured by pulse oximetry [Spo2] greater than 92%) in patients undergoing anesthesia who self-reported a race/ethnicity other than White. ⋯ Self-reported Black and Hispanic race/ethnicity are associated with a greater prevalence of intraoperative occult hypoxemia in the Spo2 range of 92 to 100% when compared with self-reported White race/ethnicity.