The effects of 45 degree head up tilt on the lumbar puncture success rate in children undergoing spinal anesthesia.

Background: There are few studies for procedural techniques of lumbar puncture (LP) for spinal anesthesia in children. There are no controlled studies on the effect of patient positioning. We designed this prospective, randomized study to compare the success rates of LP of the lateral decubitus and lateral decubitus position with a 45 degree head up tilt in children undergoing spinal anesthesia.

A new reversible ischemic neurologic deficit model in dogs.

Background: The aim of this study was to produce an internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion model in dogs that can be used for studying the effects of surgical revascularization procedures.

Material/methods: After left frontoparietal craniectomy, the ICA and arterial circle of the brain were coagulated and transected, letting the middle cerebral artery be perfused by the contralateral ICA by way of the rostral cerebral artery in five mongrel dogs. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and brain single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) were performed during the first 24 to 48 hours and 7 to 10 days after the operation.

The concomitant presence of two anomalous muscles in the forearm.

This article describes the concomitant presence of two anomalous forearm muscles in a 20-year-old man, discovered accidentally during an operation for a forearm injury. The first one was similar to a reverse palmaris longus muscle except for its direction to the Guyon's canal. The second one originated from the radial antebrachial fascia, superficial to all other forearm muscles in the lower half of the forearm, then diverged medially and extended into the Guyon's canal and was innervated by the ulnar nerve.

Wrist tourniquet: the most patient-friendly way of bloodless hand surgery.

Background: The literature is scarce on wrist tourniquets. In this study, three well-established locations of tourniquet setting including upper arm, proximal forearm, and wrist were compared on the same limb using both clinical as well as biochemical variables in paramedical volunteers.

Methods: Twenty unmedicated, healthy, paramedical, right-hand dominant volunteers participated in the study.

Prediction of arterial blood gas values from venous blood gas values in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis has an important role in the clinical assessment of patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). However, arterial puncture or insertion of an arterial catheter has many drawbacks. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether venous blood gas (VBG) values of pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO(2)) and oxygen (PO(2)), bicarbonate (HCO(3)), and oxygen saturation (SO(2)) can reliably predict ABG levels in patients with AECOPD.

The mechanisms of the direct vascular effects of fentanyl on isolated human saphenous veins in vitro.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the mechanism of the direct effects of fentanyl on human veins in vitro.

Design: In vitro, prospective with repeated measures.

Setting: University research laboratory.

The in vitro effects of remifentanil and fentanyl on isolated human right atria and saphenous veins.

Objective: To determine the myocardial and vascular effects of remifentanil and fentanyl in human atria and saphenous veins.

Design: In vitro, prospective with repeated measures.

Setting: University research laboratory.

Vertebral artery loop formation: a frequent cause of cervicobrachial pain.

Study Design: Patients with cervicobrachial pain were examined in detail with special attention to vertebral artery loop formation.

Objectives: To determine the incidence, short-time natural course and response to a conservative approach to vertebral artery loop formation in a group of patients with cervicobrachial pain.

Summary Of The Background Data: Vertebral artery loop formation is reported to be a rare cause of cervicobrachial neuralgia, discovered incidentally during the search for its cause.

Correlation between tissue lactate levels and electroencephalogram in evaluating the severity of experimental head trauma.

Objective: The objective of this study was to develop an electroencephalographic grading scale for evaluating the severity of head trauma and assessing the correlation of this scale with brain tissue lactate concentrations.

Design: Animal experiment.

Setting: Animal research laboratory in a university hospital.