Phrenic nerve stimulation experiences. A single centre, controlled, prospective study.

Patients with central apnoea may use electro ventilation, provided their phrenic nerves and diaphragm muscles are normal. A tendency towards better survival has been found, and both an improved quality of life and facilitated nursing have been claimed with electro ventilation compared to mechanical ventilation. The high investment for the device may form a hurdle for fund providers like our hospital administration board.

Threshold currents of platinum electrodes used for functional electrical stimulation of the phrenic nerves for treatment of central apnea.

Background: Stability of threshold currents during long-term use of phrenic nerve stimulation has been questioned.

Methods And Results: Between January 5, 1988, and March 5, 2008, 49 patients with functional C2-tetraplegia received an Atrostim PNS (Atrotech Ltd., Tampere, Finland) as treatment of their respiratory insufficiency; a follow-up of 35 of such patients was carried out exclusively in our institution for 6.

Children's drawings as a measure of anxiety level: a clinical pilot study.

Background: No simple method exists to distinguish children in need for premedication. The present study was planned to detect preoperative anxiety levels of children by rating their drawings.

Methods: Sixty ASA I children aged 4-7 years undergoing adenoidectomy were divided into AGIT and CALM groups according to agitation level observed during venous cannulation.

Electroencephalographic burst suppression versus loss of reflexes anesthesia with propofol or thiopental: differences of variance in the catecholamine and cardiovascular response to tracheal intubation.

Unlabelled: The electroencephalographic burst suppression pattern (BSP) might indicate the brain's effect-site concentration of anesthetics more precisely than clinical signs and thus eliminate bias from studies on the reaction to tracheal intubation after different induction drugs. To test this hypothesis, we compared the catecholamine and cardiovascular responses and their variances to tracheal intubation when either BSP was induced by infusion of propofol (30 mg x kg(-1) x h(-1); n = 14) or thiopental (75 mg x kg(-1) x h(-1); n = 14) or anesthesia by repeated bolus doses until loss of reflexes (LR), initially of propofol 2.5 mg/kg (n = 15) or thiopental 5 mg/kg (n = 15).

Peripherally administered sufentanil inhibits pain perception after postpartum tubal ligation.

The clinical effectiveness of locally administered opioids is still under discussion; in particular, the potency of morphine in settings other than intra-articular arthroscopy has been questioned. We developed another pain model, postpartum resection of the fallopian tubes for sterilisation, in which each patient serves as her own control when one side is infiltrated with the active drug (in this study sufentanil 5 mg) and the contralateral side with normal saline. In the control group both sides are infiltrated with plain saline.