A pictorial review of signature patterns living in musculoskeletal ultrasonography.

The musculoskeletal system is mainly composed of the bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments, in addition to nerves and blood vessels. The greatest difficulty in an ultrasonographic freeze-frame created by the examiner is recognition of the targeted structures without indicators, since an elephant's trunk may not be easily distinguished from its leg. It is not difficult to find descriptive ultrasonographic terms used for educational purposes, which help in distinguishing features of these structures either in a normal or abnormal anatomic condition.

Effect of a target-controlled infusion of remifentanil in combination with desflurane during the "maintenance" phase of general anesthesia.

Background: The goal of this study was to determine the optimal target-controlled concentration of remifentanil combined with desflurane, by using a more widely and decreasing end-tidal concentration of desflurane.

Methods: Ninety ASA I patients, who underwent general anesthesia for elective orthopedic or extremity surgeries, were registered and randomly allocated to receive either a target-controlled concentration of 1 ng/ml (group R1), 2 ng/ml (group R2) remifentanil, or desflurane only without remifentanil infusion (group D). Mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded at 5-min intervals from after a 10-15 min period of surgical incision to before a 10-min period prior to the end of an operation.