Influence of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors on hypotension after anesthetic induction: is the preoperative discontinuation of this drug necessary?

Background And Objectives: The discontinuation of drugs such as angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) has been suggested based on reports of hypotension during anesthesia. This may imply on a higher risk of intraoperative hypertensive peaks with deleterious consequences for the patient. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the preoperative use of ACE inhibitors on the development of hypotension during anesthesia.

Postoperative analgesia for the surgical correction of congenital clubfoot: comparison between peripheral nerve block and caudal epidural block.

Background And Objectives: Correction of congenital clubfoot (CCF) is associated with severe postoperative pain. Caudal epidural block associated with general anesthesia is the anesthetic technique used more often in children, but it is limited by the short duration of the postoperative analgesia. Peripheral nerve blocks are associated with a low incidence of complications and prolonged analgesia.

Markov decision process applied to the control of hospital elective admissions.

Objective: To present a decision model for elective (non-emergency) patient admissions control for distinct specialties on a periodic basis. The purpose of controlling patient admissions is to promote a more efficient utilization of hospital resources, thereby preventing idleness or excessive use of these resources, while considering their relative importance.

Methods: The patient admission control is modeled as a Markov decision process.

Hand skill assessment with a reduced version of the Peg Moving Task (PMT-5) in children: normative data and application in children with cerebral palsy.

This paper proposes a simple method of hand skill assessment in children that can be useful in clinical practice. A reduced 5-hole version of Annett's Peg Moving Task was used to quantify hand skill bilaterally in 435 normally developing preschool and school-children, and adolescents aged 3-18 years from Brazil. The cross-cultural validity of the normative data obtained in Brazil was verified in 157 school-children aged 6-11 years from France.