Esmolol versus ketamine-remifentanil combination for early postoperative analgesia after laparoscopic cholecystectomy: a randomized controlled trial.

Purpose: Controversy surrounds the optimal technique to moderate pain after laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC). Opioid analgesics, sympatholytic drugs, and adjuvants, such as ketamine, have all been used. We compared esmolol with a combination of remifentanil plus ketamine in patients undergoing LC to determine the impact of these drugs on morphine requirements and pain control.

[Repair of congenital heart disease in an adult with septal defects and pulmonary stenosis: anesthetic management].

A 66-year-old man with complex congenital heart defects (atrial septal defects, with incomplete cor triatriatum, an aneurysmal sac in the membranous septum, ventricular communication and pulmonary valve stenosis) was scheduled for surgery for progressive dyspnea even at rest. During anesthetic induction, effort was made to avoid increased shunting. Surgery consisted of resection of the cor triatriatum membrane, closure of communications with pericardial patches, pulmonary valve replacement, replacement of the root with a porcine root, and pulmonary artery aneurysmorrhaphy.

[Evaluation of 2 invasive techniques for treating myofascial pain].

Objective: To assess the efficacy of 2 invasive techniques for treating myofascial pain: trigger point acupuncture and 1% lidocaine infiltration of trigger points.

Material And Methods: Patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomized to 2 groups for evaluation at our pain clinic over a period of 7 months. Each patient had 4 treatment sessions.

[Lung transplantation for emphysema: retrospective study of 65 patients].

Background And Objective: Our goal was to analyze the incidence of perioperative complications in patients with pulmonary emphysema who underwent lung transplantation and to identify variables associated with the incidence of morbidity and mortality during the immediate postoperative period.

Patients And Method: We undertook a retrospective study of 65 pulmonary emphysema patients who received lung transplants from 1994 through 2002 with the aim of determining the most common intra- and early postoperative complications in the ICU. An univariate analysis was carried out in order to identify variables associated with the incidence of mortality and postoperative complications.

[Prevalence and risk factors for early postoperative infection after liver transplantation].

Objectives: To analyze factors related to the development of infection soon after a liver transplant.

Patients And Method: Retrospective study of 1000 liver transplants in adults between 1991 and 2004. Pre-, intra- and postoperative variables of recipients were analyzed in 2 groups according to whether infection did or did not develop.

[Anesthesia for a patient with superior vena cava syndrome].

An 18-year-old male with a history of surgery to correct partial drainage of the pulmonary veins had been experiencing symptoms of superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) for 2 years. Severe obstruction of the superior vena cava where it joined the right atrium became evident upon cardiac catheterization. Because the catheter could not be inserted into the atrium, angioplasty was ruled out and surgery was scheduled.