Neuraxial morphine after unintentional dural puncture is not associated with reduced postdural puncture headache in obstetric patients.

Study Objective: To examine the relationship between neuraxial morphine exposure after unintentional dural puncture and the risk for postdural puncture headache in obstetric patients.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: Obstetrical unit at a tertiary care referral center.

Crisis Teams for Obstetric Patients.

An obstetric-specific crisis team allows institutions to optimize the care response for patients with emergent maternal or fetal needs. Characteristics of optimal obstetric rapid response teams are team member role designations; streamlined communication; prompt access to resources; ongoing education, rehearsal, and training; and continual team quality analysis. The outcomes must be incorporated into team responses and reinforced in training.

Cell salvage for postpartum haemorrhage during vaginal delivery: a case series.

Background: The safety and effectiveness of cell salvage for vaginal delivery is unknown. This case series aimed to assess the utility and adverse events related to the use of cell salvage for maternal haemorrhage during vaginal delivery.

Materials And Methods: A cohort study design was chosen, focused on postpartum haemorrhages that occurred after vaginal delivery for which cell salvage equipment was requested to be set up in the labour and delivery room outside of a sterile operating room environment.

A Clinical Procedures Course for Medical Students.

Introduction: Doctors perform many clinical procedures throughout their careers. It is important for students to learn these procedures in a nonthreatening environment. This clinical procedures course introduces students to several basic diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, both invasive and noninvasive.

Transdermal scopolamine patch in addition to ondansetron for postoperative nausea and vomiting prophylaxis in patients undergoing ambulatory cosmetic surgery.

Study Objective: To determine the efficacy of transdermal scopolamine in addition to ondansetron in decreasing the incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV).

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Academic hospital.

Eliminating postoperative nausea and vomiting in outpatient surgery with multimodal strategies including low doses of nonsedating, off-patent antiemetics: is "zero tolerance" achievable?

For ondansetron, dexamethasone, and droperidol (when used for prophylaxis), each is estimated to reduce risk of postoperative nausea and/or vomiting (PONV) by approximately 25%. Current consensus guidelines denote that patients with 0-1 risk factors still have a 10-20% risk of encountering PONV, but do not yet advocate routine prophylaxis for all patients with 10-20% risk. In ambulatory surgery, however, multimodal prophylaxis has gained favor, and our previously published experience with routine prophylaxis has yielded PONV rates below 10%.

Plasma and saliva substance P levels: the effects of acute pain in pregnant and non-pregnant women.

Substance P like immunoreactivity (SPLI) and total protein (TP) concentrations in plasma and saliva were measured in 80 healthy female patients divided into the following four groups: women in group 1 were not pregnant and they were awaiting tubal ligation; women in group 2 were not pregnant but they experienced acute postoperative pain following hysterectomy; women in group 3 were pregnant and were awaiting elective cesarean section; and women in group 4 were in active labor and experienced acute labor pain. Pain intensity was assessed using verbal Likert pain scores. The absolute measured concentration of SPLI (SPLIabs) was divided by the TP concentration to obtain corrected SPLI (SPLIcorr) concentration.