Intraoperative Fascial Plane Blocks Facilitate Earlier Tracheal Extubation and Intensive Care Unit Discharge After Cardiac Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Analysis.

Objectives: Novel fascial plane blocks may allow early tracheal extubation and discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU). The present study primarily aimed to determine whether fascial plane blocks, in comparison with intravenous analgesia alone, significantly shortened tracheal extubation times in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. The secondary objectives were to compare each block's performance with that of intravenous analgesia alone in terms of the individual tracheal extubation time and length of ICU stay.

[Implementation of an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for Anesthesiology Certification in Chile].

Anesthesiology became the first Chilean medical specialty certification board to incorporate an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) into its certification system. The main reason for the introduction of an OSCE is to include an evaluation that allow candidates to demonstrate what they really "do" in clinical practice domains. Inherent in this justification is that the OSCE detects competences that are not well evaluated in current written and oral exams.

[Analysis of incident reports in an anesthesiology unit of a university hospital].

Background: Incident reporting is an effective strategy used to enhance patient safety. An incident is an event that could eventually result in harm to a patient.

Aim: To classify and analyze incidents reported by an Anesthesiology division at a University hospital in Chile.

World Health Organization (WHO) surgical safety checklist implementation and its impact on perioperative morbidity and mortality in an academic medical center in Chile.

Health care organizations are unsafe. Numerous centers have incorporated the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in their processes with good results; however, only limited information is available about its effectiveness in Latin America. We aimed to evaluate the impact of the checklist implementation on the in-hospital morbidity and mortality rate in a tertiary health care center.

[What preoperative information do the parents of children undergoing surgery want?].

Introduction: Parents feel fear and anxiety before surgery is performed on their child, and those feelings could obstruct their preparation for the surgery. Preoperative information could relieve those feelings.

Objective: To determine the preoperative information needs of parents of children undergoing elective surgery.

The relationship between neuraxial anesthesia and advanced ovarian cancer-related outcomes in the Chilean population.

Background: Mixed evidence has been published relating the use of regional anesthesia during oncologic surgery to a decrease in time to cancer recurrence and improvement in overall survival. We investigated whether the use of epidural anesthesia, in addition to general analgesia during and/or after surgical removal of advanced ovarian cancer, has an impact on time to recurrence and overall survival.

Methods: Patients were identified from a prospective clinical registry.

[Effects on blood glucose of prophylactic dexamethasone for postoperative nausea and vomiting in diabetics and non-diabetics].

Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) prophylaxis with dexamethasone may produce significant hyperglycemia in the postoperative period.

Aim: To evaluate if this effect is of greater severity in type 2 diabetics compared with non-diabetic patients.

Material And Methods: Forty non-diabetic and thirty type 2 diabetic patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were studied in a prospective and double-blind fashion manner.

Dexamethasone for postoperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis: effect on glycaemia in obese patients with impaired glucose tolerance.

Background And Objective: Dexamethasone given to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting may produce significant hyperglycaemia in the perioperative period. The effect of dexamethasone on patients with impaired glucose tolerance is unknown.

Methods: Thirty obese patients with impaired glucose tolerance undergoing laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery were studied in a double-blind fashion.

Motor blocking minimum local anesthetic concentrations of bupivacaine, levobupivacaine, and ropivacaine in labor.

Background And Objectives: Adequate comparison of blocking capabilities of local anesthetics should be done with some knowledge of their relative potencies. The objective of this clinical trial was to simultaneously determine the motor blocking minimum local anesthetic concentrations (MMLAC) and the relative potency ratios for racemic bupivacaine, levobupivacaine, and ropivacaine during labor.

Methods: We studied parturients with singleton term pregnancies in vertex presentation.

Behavioural testing and histological assessments of rabbit spinal cord following intrathecal administration of ondansetron.

1. Intrathecal injection of ondansetron has the potential to reduce opioid-related side-effects. The aim of the present study was to determine whether this route of administration produces neuraxial injury.

Perioperative anesthetic management for Cesarean section of a parturient with gestational diabetes insipidus.

Purpose: Gestational diabetes insipidus (GDI) is a rare endocrinopathy complicating about 4:100,000 deliveries. We present the case of a preterm parturient with GDI and severe hypernatremia (serum sodium concentration = 174 mmol.L(-1)) presenting for an urgent Cesarean section.

Management of Eisenmenger syndrome in pregnancy with sildenafil and L-arginine.

Background: Eisenmenger syndrome in pregnancy may be a life-threatening disease despite recent additions to the treatment options.

Case: We present a woman with severe pulmonary hypertension due to Eisenmenger syndrome treated during pregnancy and delivery and postpartum with L-arginine and sildenafil to enhance the nitric oxide pathway. This combination was associated with significant improvement in the mother's clinical and hemodynamic condition and fetal well-being.

The relative motor blocking potencies of bupivacaine and levobupivacaine in labor.

Unlabelled: Minimum local analgesic concentrations (MLAC) have been used to determine the epidural analgesic potencies of bupivacaine and its levo- counterpart. There are no reports of the motor blocking potencies of these drugs. In this study we sought to determine the motor block MLAC of both drugs and determine the relative potency ratio.

The relative motor blocking potencies of epidural bupivacaine and ropivacaine in labor.

Unlabelled: Minimal local analgesic concentrations (MLAC) have been used to determine the epidural analgesic potencies of bupivacaine and ropivacaine. There are no reports of the motor blocking potencies of these drugs. We sought to determine the motor block MLAC of both drugs and their relative potency ratio.