Use of a Fogarty catheter after tracheobronchial inhalation of a bead.

We describe a case of tracheobronchial inhalation of a bead by a five-year-old girl in Djibouti. The bead was extracted using a Fogarty balloon catheter passed through the rigid bronchoscope without complication. This kind of accident is not exceptional and we discuss the management of such cases with limited diagnostic tools and therapeutic environments.

The use of boluses of propofol for the management of severe tetanus in a child.

Tetanus is endemic in many developing countries. Although propofol has been proposed for sedation in tetanus, the routine use of this drug has not been clearly documented in published reports. A few studies have reported its beneficial effects but no randomized studies are available.

Effects of bupivacaine, levobupivacaine and ropivacaine on myocardial relaxation.

Purpose: Ropivacaine and levobupivacaine were developed to reduce the risk of occasional toxicity reported with bupivacaine. While the effects of long-acting local anesthetics (LAAs) on myocardial contractility (inotropy) are well described, their effects on relaxation (lusitropy) remain largely unknown. The present study aimed to compare the effects of LAAs on rat myocardium.