Neurotoxicity of adjuvants used in perineural anesthesia and analgesia in comparison with ropivacaine.

Background And Objectives: Clonidine, buprenorphine, dexamethasone, and midazolam (C, B, D, M) have been used to prolong perineural local anesthesia in the absence of data on the influence of these adjuvants on local anesthetic-induced neurotoxicity. Therefore, the impact of these adjuvants on ropivacaine (R)-induced death of isolated sensory neurons was assessed.

Methods: The trypan blue exclusion assay was used to assess death of sensory neurons isolated from adult male Sprague-Dawley rats.

Screening cardiac surgery patients for MRSA: an economic computer model.

Objective: To estimate the economic value of preoperative methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) screening and decolonization for cardiac surgery patients.

Study Design: Monte Carlo decision-analytic computer simulation model.

Methods: We developed a computer simulation model representing the decision of whether to perform preoperative MRSA screening and decolonizing those patients with a positive MRSA culture.