Postoperative pain reduction by pre-emptive N-acetylcysteine: an exploratory randomized controlled clinical trial.

Background: A new potential target for multimodal pain management is the group-II metabotropic glutamate receptor subtypes, which can be activated by N-acetylcysteine. We investigated whether pre-emptive administration of N-acetylcysteine leads to a reduction in postoperative pain after laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair.

Methods: Sixty American Society of Anesthesiologists I-II patients scheduled for elective inguinal hernia repair were randomized to receive either N-acetylcysteine (150 mg/kg) or placebo intravenously 1 hour before surgery.

Chronic stress indicated by hair cortisol concentration in anaesthesiologists and its relationship to work experience and emotional intelligence: A cross-sectional biomarker and survey study.

Background: Anaesthesia is a stressful medical specialty. The reaction to stress is constituted by behavioural, psychological and physiological components. Chronic physiological stress can have negative consequences for health.

Peri-operative swelling of fingers: A prospective observational study.

Background: In most Dutch hospitals, because of putative peri-operative swelling of the fingers, patients must remove rings before entering the operating theatre. If this proves impossible, destructive methods for removal may be required. For some patients, this might be too radical, as the risk of wearing rings may not be in proportion to the economic and emotional damage to the patient.

Shared decision-making for postoperative analgesia: A semistructured qualitative study.

Background: Shared decision-making (SDM) and decision-support tools have attracted broad support in healthcare as they improve medical decision-making. Experts disagree on how these can help patients evaluate their present situation and possible outcomes of therapy, and how they might reduce decisional conflict. Little is known about their implementation, especially in anaesthesiology.

Occupational stress, burnout and personality in anesthesiologists.

Purpose Of Review: There is a growing awareness of the problem of occupational stress and burnout among anesthesiologists. Occupational stress was found to be related to burnout, a process that is supposed to be moderated by personality. This article will discuss the topic of stress and burnout in relationship to anesthesiologists' personality based on recent literature.

Work stress and satisfaction in relation to personality profiles in a sample of Dutch anaesthesiologists: A questionnaire survey.

Background: Working in anaesthesia is stressful, but also satisfying. Work-related stress can have a negative impact on mental health, whereas work-related satisfaction protects against these harmful effects.

Objective(s): How work stress and satisfaction are experienced may be related to personality.

Preoperative use of anxiolytic-sedative agents; are we on the right track?

Study Objective: Although anxiolytic-sedative agents are used preoperatively since the advent of anesthesia, many aspects of this treatment, including the intended effects among which anxiolysis, effectiveness, and optimal agents, remain unclear. The objective of this study was to provide insight into the preoperative use of anxiolytic-sedative agents in the Netherlands and to relate the administration of these agents to the anxiolytic-sedative state of patients.

Design: Questionnaire study.

Psychological distress, burnout and personality traits in Dutch anaesthesiologists: A survey.

Background: The practice of anaesthesia comes with stress. If the demands of a stressful job exceed the resources of an individual, that person may develop burnout. Burnout poses a threat to the mental and physical health of the anaesthesiologist and therefore also to patient safety.

A simple intervention to reduce the anesthetic pharmacy budget; the effect of price list stickers placed on vaporizers.

Study Objective: The study objective is to investigate the effects of a simple price list sticker placed on vaporizers on anesthetic use and costs. The price list only showed the cost per hour of the annually most expensive drugs, which had a low-cost alternative.

Design: The design is a prospective database study with historical controls.

[The 'paper-based' preoperative evaluation: sometimes, a suitable alternative].

In the Netherlands, the majority of elective-surgery patients are evaluated by the anaesthesiologist at the preoperative assessment clinic. We believe that this visit can be omitted in selected patients as it has only minimal benefit, whereas its disadvantages can be substantial. Alternatively, the initial screening could be performed by the completion of a questionnaire via the telephone, via internet, by a nurse or by the surgeon.

The prolonged use of the laryngeal mask airway in a neonate with airway obstruction and Treacher Collins syndrome.

Upper airway obstruction and difficult tracheal intubation are often encountered in patients with Treacher Collins syndrome (mandibulofacial dysostosis). In this case report, the use of a laryngeal mask airway (LMATM) in a 10-day-old newborn with severe Treacher Collins syndrome and acute airway obstruction is described. It successfully relieved the airway obstruction and was left in situ for an exceptionally long period of 4 days.