Nitrous oxide does not produce a clinically important sparing effect during closed-loop delivered propofol-remifentanil anaesthesia guided by the bispectral index: a randomized multicentre study.

Background: Nitrous oxide (N2O) offers both hypnotic and analgesic characteristics. We therefore tested the hypothesis that N2O administration decreases the amount of propofol and remifentanil given by a closed-loop automated controller to maintain a similar bispectral index (BIS).

Methods: In a randomized multicentre double-blind study, patients undergoing elective surgery were randomly assigned to breathe 60% inspired N2O (N2O group) or 40% oxygen (AIR group).

[Aneurysm of the abdominal aorta and preoperative disseminated intravascular coagulation].

A case of abdominal aortic aneurysm associated with preoperative signs of disseminated intravascular coagulation is reported. The 69-year-old female patient presented with spontaneously appearing petechiae and bruising. She had 0.

[The "high concentration" oxygen mask: a dangerous defect].

Three cases of unidirectional valve inversion in airtight oxygen masks are reported. These defects were discovered before use on a patient. One of the masks was tested on a healthy volunteer.

[Urinary excretion of creatinine and 3-methylhistidine in multiply injured patients].

The daily urinary excretion of 3,methylhistidine (3,MeHis) was measured in eight severely injured patients for periods of at least two weeks to at most one month after the trauma. The patients were fed with 0.20 +/- 0.

[Severe confusion following a theophylline-cimetidine combination].

Cimetidine and theophylline were given together to a 67 year old chronic bronchitic post-operatively: the patient became very confused, shook of all his limbs, vomited, and presented a tachycardia. The greater than normal blood levels of theophylline (27.8 mg .