[Indomethacin enema in treatment of postoperative pain after knee arthrotomy. A double-blind controlled trial].

Twenty-three patients subjected to arthrotomy of the knee were in a double-blind trial randomly allocated to either: 1) Indomethacin 100 mg (Confortid) administered as an enema immediately before induction of anaesthesia and repeated morning and evening for the next two days, or: b) a placebo. The patients' demand for postoperative pain treatment were registered. Survival analysis was applied to the time passed from recovery from anaesthesia until patients first asked for postoperative pain treatment.

Prophylactic ephedrine during spinal anaesthesia: double-blind study in patients in ASA groups I-III.

Forty-eight patients scheduled to undergo spinal anaesthesia were allocated to three groups of 16 each according to ASA classification I-II-III. Each patient received a fluid load of 7 ml kg-1 and either ephedrine 12.5 mg i.

Prediction of severe postoperative complications in patients admitted to neuroanaesthesia.

The purpose of this study was to identify factors which will predict the risk of severe postoperative complications in individual patients in a neurosurgical unit. Eleven risk factors were investigated in 363 neurosurgical patients, of whom 40 (11%) developed postoperative complications requiring mechanical ventilation for more than 24 h in an intensive care unit, 16 were found to be severely disabled or in a vegetative state at follow-up 1 month after admission, and 28 patients died. By applying stepwise, logistic regression analysis to the patient's data, we were able to select two significant risk variables, i.

Buprenorphine antagonism of ventilatory depression following fentanyl anaesthesia.

In order to compare the effect of buprenorphine and naloxone on respiratory depression after fentanyl anaesthesia (25 micrograms/kg), 32 women scheduled for elective abdominal hysterectomy participated in a double-blind randomized investigation. At termination of anaesthesia, after antagonizing residual neuromuscular blockade, 20 normocapnic patients with a respiratory rate of 4 breaths/min or less entered the study, receiving either buprenorphine (0.6 mg in 20 ml NaCl) or naloxone (0.

Peroperative buprenorphine: do high dosages shorten analgesia postoperatively?

Fifty-two patients undergoing biliary surgery were investigated in a prospective randomized study, in which they received buprenorphine 10, 20, 30, and 40 micrograms X kg-1, respectively, as sole intravenous analgesic as a bolus 15 min before induction of anaesthesia. The anaesthetic was uneventful in all four groups, although when receiving 10 and 20 micrograms X kg-1 almost two-thirds of the patients needed supplemental analgesics during the operation. When receiving buprenorphine in the dosage of 30 and 40 micrograms X kg-1, 50% of the patients requested an analgesic within 5 min of extubation.

Comparison of oral controlled release morphine and epidural morphine in the management of postoperative pain.

Oral controlled release morphine (CRM) was compared in a double-blind study with epidural morphine (EM) for postoperative pain relief in 20 patients undergoing knee arthrotomy under epidural anesthesia. Ten patients received 30 mg CRM orally and saline epidurally (CRM group), and ten patients received placebo tablets orally and 4 mg morphine epidurally (EM group), both at the time of skin incision and then every 8 hr for 48 hr during which patients evaluated pain intensity using a visual analog scale. Nine of the ten patients in the EM group had good relief of pain throughout the study period.

Postoperative pain relief with naloxone. Severe respiratory depression and pain after high dose buprenorphine.

Buprenorphine 30 and 40 micrograms/kg was given as the sole intravenous analgesic in balanced anaesthesia to 12 patients undergoing cholecystectomy. Significant and severe respiratory depression was found 15 minutes after preoperative loading with buprenorphine. In the immediate postoperative period six patients were in pain.

Sublingual buprenorphine for premedication and postoperative pain relief in orthopaedic surgery.

The effect of sublingual buprenorphine (Temgesic) as a premedicant and for postoperative pain relief compared with morphine/pethidine was studied in 50 patients scheduled for elective surgery of the knee joint. Twenty-five patients received buprenorphine 0.4 mg sublingually 1 h before surgery and the same dose on demand postoperatively.

Regular interval preventive pain relief compared with on demand treatment after hysterectomy.

Eighty otherwise healthy women, aged 22-64 years, admitted for elective hysterectomy were studied in a prospective randomized trial. The aim was to compare two different postoperative pain relief schedules--one with the analgesic given at regular intervals and the other with the analgesic given on demand. All the patients had a neuroleptanaesthesia with fentanyl.

Peroral diazepam compared with parenteral morphine/scopolamine with regard to gastric content.

In a prospective study, 62 adult patients were studied with respect to the volume and pH of their gastric contents after receiving randomly one of three different premedications. One group received flunitrazepam 2 mg perorally on the night before operation and diazepam 0.2 mg per kg body weight perorally at 7.

Catecholamine response to the clinical use of alpha adrenergic receptor blocking agents.

Treatment with alpha adrenergic receptor blocking agents has been used clinically for many years to obviate peripheral vasoconstriction in patients suffering from circulatory or thermoregulatory distress. Various reports indicating that administration of these agents may be followed by an increased plasma concentration of catecholamines, and subsequently an increased oxygen demand, led to 29 investigations on humans who were placed in a horizontal position in a thermoneutral environment and given 25 mg chlorpromazine intravenously, dissolved in 500 cc low molecular weight dextran. Blood pressure and heart rate remained unchanged during the infusions and significant changes in plasma noradrenaline (average fall: 4.

Impaired platelet aggregation and increased bleeding time during general anaesthesia with halothane.

A significant correlation was found between the inhibition produced by 1% halothane with nitrous oxide and oxygen on platelet aggregation in vitro and the increase in bleeding time during anaesthesia with halothane, nitrous oxide and oxygen in 10 patients. It is suggested that halothane in nitrous oxide with oxygen inhibits platelet aggregation in vivo and in vitro. The inhibition is not seen when platelet aggregation is studied in platelet-rich plasma from anaesthetized patients because the agents evaporate during preparation of platelet-rich plasma and during analysis in the aggregometer.

Human body temperature and controlled cold exposure during moderate and severe experimental alcohol-intoxication.

In an attempt to obtain more conclusive data, especially concerning the condition in many cases of very high alcohol concentration, two groups of healthy volunteers were exposed to controlled cold surroundings in a climate chamber after i.v. infusion of 96% ethyl alcohol, 1-2 1/2 ml per kg bodyweight, supplemented with alcohol perorally; the maximum blood alcohol concentration measured was 57 mmol/l, corresponding to 2.

Carbamezepine poisoning, a surprisingly severe case.

A case of carbamazepine (Tegretol) poisoning is presented. The symptoms and signs were surprisingly severe after ingestion of only 10g. Treatment and unusual features of the case are discussed.