Use of the Univent System tube for difficult intubation and for achieving one-lung anaesthesia.

Background: One-lung ventilation in major thoracic surgery is the most commonly accepted technique, not only for surgery on the lung but also in procedures involving the oesophagus, mediastinum and thoracic aorta. Conventional double-lumen tubes may sometimes be difficult to place correctly in patients in whom intubation is difficult. In such cases, the Univent System tube may be of help.

Predictors of patient satisfaction with regional anesthesia.

Background And Objectives: The practice and success of regional anesthesia (RA) are influenced by a number of factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate patients' attitudes toward RA--perhaps the aspect least evaluated in anesthesia practice--and the factors influencing it.

Methods: A total of 154 patients (59 male, 95 female) aged 13 to 96 years were subjected to different RA techniques for orthopedic and trauma surgery.

[Analysis of knowledge about the anesthesiology specialty among a population of medical students].

Objectives: To analyze the knowledge of anesthesiology possessed by a group of medical students representative of medically trained individuals who have not yet worked in a hospital.

Material And Method: Students in their fifth year of medical studies at the University of Valencia were invited to voluntarily and anonymously answer a questionnaire with dichotomous and multiple choice responses covering general and specific aspects of anesthesiology. The survey also collected personal and epidemiological data.

[Anesthesia with continuous + infusion of propofol for trans-sternal thymectomy in myasthenic patients].

Patients with myasthenia gravis respond unpredictably to muscle relaxants and more often suffer respiratory complications after surgery. We describe the use of total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and alfentanil without muscle relaxants is three myasthenic patients classified as Osserman I-IIB. Mean time since appearance of the disease was 1 year and all were undergoing transsternal thymectomy.

Continuous spinal anaesthesia versus single dosing. A comparative study.

Continuous and single dose spinal anaesthesia were compared in a prospective randomized fashion in 108 patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery. Continuous spinal anaesthesia was via a 20 gauge polyamide multiperforated catheter introduced through an 18 gauge Tuohy needle. Single-dose spinal anaesthesia was performed with a 24 guage x 103 mm Sprotte spinal needle.

Comparison of continuous spinal anaesthesia using a 32-gauge catheter with anaesthesia using a single-dose 24-gauge atraumatic needle in young patients.

One hundred and twenty-eight ASA I-III patients less than 40 yr of age, undergoing orthopaedic or trauma lower limb surgery, were allocated randomly to receive either continuous spinal anaesthesia (CSA) using a 32-gauge polyimide microcatheter with a permanent stylet (Rusch/TFX Medical, Duluth, GA, USA) or single-dose spinal anaesthesia (SDSA) with a 24-gauge x 103-mm Sprotte spinal needle (Pajunk, Germany). Plain bupivacaine (0.5%) was used as the local anaesthetic.

[Comparative study of propofol and midazolam for sedation in regional anesthesia].

Objectives: To compare the efficacy of propofol and midazolam as sedatives in non-premedicated patients receiving regional anesthesia.

Material And Methods: Parameters measured were quality of sedation, intraoperative changes in hemodynamics, respiration and plasma biochemistry as compared with baseline, preinduction and post-anesthetic recovery levels. Forty patients were distributed randomly into two groups.

A comparative study of analgesia after knee surgery with intraarticular bupivacaine, intraarticular morphine, and lumbar plexus block.

Following arthroscopic surgery of the knee, 60 ASA I-II patients were randomly allocated to three different groups (n = 20 each) in an attempt to establish the best postoperative analgesic protocol: 20 ml of bupivacaine (0.25%; 50 mg) intra-articularly (IA) (Group 1); continuous three-in-one lumbar plexus block using a catheter to administer 0.25 ml/kg of bupivacaine (0.

[Continuous intradural anesthesia in geriatric patients undergoing orthopedic and traumatologic surgery].

Objectives: The aim of the study was to prospectively evaluate the results of continuous intradural anesthesia with 18G Tuohy needle and 20G catheter in geriatric patients.

Material And Methods: We studied 70 patients with a mean age of 75.9 +/- 10.

[Importance of the needle in regional anesthesia].

The safety of regional anesthesia lies on a set of factors, namely, selection of the adequate technique, skill and proper training from the part of anesthesiologists and use of right equipment. The needle, as a prolongation of the hand of the anesthesiologist, must provide references in technique either by itself or joined to an objective method of nerve localization; this will result in a high percentage of success without iatrogenesis. We have reviewed 1,132 cases of regional anesthesia and grouped them into: intradural anesthesia, epidural anesthesia, and plexus anesthesia.

[Continuous block of the brachial plexus with nerve stimulation. Intra and postoperative control in orthopedic surgery of the arm].

A perivascular axillary plexus block was performed to 87 patients scheduled for orthopedic surgery of hand or arm using an electric nerve stimulator. A catheter was inserted for the postoperative pain control. The success rate was of 90.

Dependence of hepatic gluconeogenesis on PO2: inhibitory effects of halothane.

The dependence of gluconeogenesis and O2 uptake on PO2 in isolated rat hepatocytes is presented. Maintenance of steady-state PO2 was achieved with an oxystat system (Biochem. J.