Myofascial involvement of supra- and infraspinatus muscles contributes to ipsilateral shoulder pain after muscle-sparing thoracotomy and video-assisted thoracic surgery.

Objective: This study examined the hypothesis that ipsilateral upper extremity elevation for muscle-sparing thoracotomy procedures contributes to the postoperative shoulder pain.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Setting: Medical center.

Is recall of dreaming during anesthesia a sign of occurrence of postoperative nausea and vomiting?

We examined the relationships between recall of dreaming during anesthesia and postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV). We found a relationship between PONV within 24 h and age <50 years, use of postoperative epidural analgesia with morphine, and female gender. We also found a relationship between PONV lasting more than 24 h and dream recall.

Risk factors for postoperative mortality and morbidities in emergency surgeries.

Background: Emergency surgery itself induces high risk for postoperative mortality and morbidities; however, it remains unknown which concomitant pathological conditions of emergency surgeries are causative factors of deteriorating outcomes. This study examined the causal factors of postoperative mortality and morbidity in cases of emergency surgery.

Methods: Patients undergoing emergency surgery from January to December 2007 were enrolled in this retrospective cohort study.

Isoflurane pretreatment preserves adenosine triphosphate-sensitive K(+) channel function in the human artery exposed to oxidative stress caused by high glucose levels.

Background: Adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive K(+) channels contribute to significant regulatory mechanisms related to organ blood flow in both physiological and pathological conditions. High glucose impairs arterial ATP-sensitive K(+) channel activity via superoxide production. However, the effects of anesthetics on this pathological process have not been evaluated in humans.

High-dose remifentanil suppresses sinoatrial conduction and sinus node automaticity in pediatric patients under propofol-based anesthesia.

Background: We sought to determine the effect of remifentanil on sinus node function and the atrial-His (AH) interval in pediatric patients undergoing radiofrequency catheter ablation.

Methods: Sixty pediatric patients with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome were prospectively enrolled in this study. General anesthesia was induced and maintained with a continuous infusion of propofol.

Sevoflurane does not alter norepinephrine-induced intracellular Ca²(+) changes in the diabetic rat aorta.

Purpose: The effect of volatile anesthetics on the mechanism(s) of vascular contraction in diabetes mellitus (DM) has not been fully understood. The current study was designed to determine the effects of sevoflurane on the norepinephrine (NE)-induced changes in contractile state and intracellular Ca²(+) concentrations ([Ca²(+)](i)) in the spontaneously developing type 2 DM rat.

Methods: The effects of sevoflurane on NE (10⁻⁶M)-induced vasoconstriction and increase in [Ca²(+)](i) in the aortas from Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, a type 2 DM model, and from age-matched control Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats were investigated using an isometric force transducer and fluorometer with fura-2 as an indicator of [Ca²(+)](i).

Severe methemoglobinemia after dental anesthesia: a warning about propitocaine-induced methemoglobinemia in neonates.

Methemoglobinemia is a fatal complication of local anesthesia. We describe a case report of female neonate who developed severe methemoglobinemia after extraction of neonatal teeth conducted with general anesthesia plus local injection of Citanest-Octapressin(®) (propitocaine of approximately 10 mg/kg). Central cyanosis appeared within an hour after surgery.

Fentanyl added to propofol anesthesia elongates sinus node recovery time in pediatric patients with paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.

Background: In some types of pediatric supraventricular tachycardia, reentrant mechanisms are sensitive to enhanced vagal tone. Propofol is a feasible anesthetic for pediatric electrophysiological study and radiofrequency catheter ablation. Although fentanyl and propofol infusions both enhance cardiac vagal tone, it is unclear whether the combination of propofol and fentanyl has a potential to enhance it.

Roles of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt and NADPH oxidase in adenosine 5'-triphosphate-sensitive K+ channel function impaired by high glucose in the human artery.

The present study was designed to examine roles of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt pathway and reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidases in the reduced ATP-sensitive K(+) channel function via superoxide produced by high glucose in the human artery. We evaluated the activity of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase-Akt pathway, as well as reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidases, the intracellular levels of superoxide and ATP-sensitive K(+) channel function in the human omental artery without endothelium. Levels of the p85-alpha subunit and reduced nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase subunits, including p47phox, p22phox, and Rac-1, increased in the membrane fraction from arteries treated with D-glucose (20 mmol/L) accompanied by increased intracellular superoxide production.

Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty decreases levels of C-reactive protein in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.

Background: C-reactive protein is a crucial risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Previous studies demonstrated that in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), levels of this protein elevate dependently on the degree of upper airway obstruction. However, it has not been determined whether the surgery for OSAS reduces the levels of C-reactive protein by restoring the airway opening.

Synthetic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonists restore impaired vasorelaxation via ATP-sensitive K+ channels by high glucose.

The present study was designed to examine whether in the human artery, synthetic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-gamma agonists restore vasorelaxation as well as hyperpolarization via ATP-sensitive K+ channels impaired by the high concentration of D-glucose and whether the restoration may be mediated by the antioxidant capacity of these agents. The isometric force and membrane potential of human omental arteries without endothelium were recorded. The production rate of superoxide was evaluated using a superoxide-generating system with xanthine-xanthine oxidase in the absence of smooth muscle cells.

Landiolol attenuates tachycardia in response to endotracheal intubation without affecting blood pressure.

Purpose: Beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists (beta-antagonists) have long been used to control perioperative tachyarrhythmias. The effects of a beta(1)-antagonist, landiolol, on perioperative hemodynamics are unknown. We aimed to determine the appropriate dosage of landiolol for the treatment of hemodynamic changes in response to endotracheal intubation.

Inhibitory effect of high concentration of glucose on relaxations to activation of ATP-sensitive K+ channels in human omental artery.

Objective: The present study was designed to examine in the human omental artery whether high concentrations of D-glucose inhibit the activity of ATP-sensitive K+ channels in the vascular smooth muscle and whether this inhibitory effect is mediated by the production of superoxide.

Methods And Results: Human omental arteries without endothelium were suspended for isometric force recording. Changes in membrane potentials were recorded and production of superoxide was evaluated.

Mild hypercapnia induces vasodilation via adenosine triphosphate-sensitive K+ channels in parenchymal microvessels of the rat cerebral cortex.

Background: Carbon dioxide is an important vasodilator of cerebral blood vessels. Cerebral vasodilation mediated by adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-sensitive K+ channels has not been demonstrated in precapillary microvessel levels. Therefore, the current study was designed to examine whether ATP-sensitive K+ channels play a role in vasodilation induced by mild hypercapnia in precapillary arterioles of the rat cerebral cortex.

The use of bone cement induces an increase in serum astroglial S-100B protein in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty.

Unlabelled: Cerebral microemboli can occur during arthroplasty with the use of bone cement. Astroglial S-100B protein is a sensitive marker of cerebral damage. Therefore, we designed this study to determine the effect of bone cement on the brain by investigating serum levels of S-100B protein in patients undergoing bone surgery with or without bone cement.

Effects of halothane and isoflurane on acetylcholine-induced, endothelium-dependent vasodilation in perfused rat mesenteric arterial beds.

Purpose: The present study was designed to examine the effects of halothane and isoflurane on acetylcholine-induced, endothelium-dependent vasodilation in rat mesenteric arterial beds perfused at a constant flow both in vitro and in situ.

Methods: In the in-vitro preparation, the mesenteric artery was cannulated and perfused (5 ml x min(-1)). The perfusion pressure was continuously monitored.

The role of K+ channels in vasorelaxation induced by hypoxia and the modulator effects of lidocaine in the rat carotid artery.

Unlabelled: Hypoxia induces vasodilation, partly via the activation of K(+) channels. Lidocaine impairs vasorelaxation mediated by a K(+) channel opener, suggesting that this antiarrhythmic drug may inhibit hypoxia-induced vasodilation mediated by K(+) channels. We designed the current study to determine whether, in the carotid artery, K(+) channels contribute to vasorelaxation in response to hypoxia and whether lidocaine modulates vasorelaxation induced by K(+) channels via pathophysiological and pharmacological stimuli.