Pain during caesarean delivery in a tertiary maternity hospital: a retrospective cohort study (2022-2023).

Background: Intra-operative pain during Caesarean delivery (PDCD) is the leading cause of successful litigation against obstetric anaesthesiologists. PDCD may require conversion to general anaesthesia (GA). The aim of this analysis is to assess our incidence of PDCD and associated GA conversion.

Immunological assessment of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy from diagnosis to delivery: A multicentre prospective study.

Background: Background Population-based data on SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy and assessment of passive immunity to the neonate, is lacking. We profiled the maternal and fetal response using a combination of viral RNA from naso-pharyngeal swabs and serological assessment of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

Methods: This multicentre prospective observational study was conducted between March 24th and August 31st 2020.

Optical Sensor for Real-Time pH Monitoring in Human Tissue.

This article reports on a fiber-based ratiometric optical pH sensor for use in real-time and continuous in vivo pH monitoring in human tissue. Stable hybrid sol-gel-based pH sensing material is deposited on a highly flexible plastic optical fiber tip and integrated with excitation and detection electronics. The sensor is extensively tested in a laboratory environment before it is applied in vivo in a human model.

Arterial blood gases and oxygen content in climbers on Mount Everest.

Background: The level of environmental hypobaric hypoxia that affects climbers at the summit of Mount Everest (8848 m [29,029 ft]) is close to the limit of tolerance by humans. We performed direct field measurements of arterial blood gases in climbers breathing ambient air on Mount Everest.

Methods: We obtained samples of arterial blood from 10 climbers during their ascent to and descent from the summit of Mount Everest.

Oxygen on Everest: the development of modern open-circuit systems for mountaineers.

The use of supplemental oxygen on Mt. Everest is now commonplace. From 1990 to 2006, more than 95% of those summiting the mountain did so using supplemental oxygen at some point during their ascent.

Near infra-red spectroscopy and arterial oxygen extraction at altitude.

The ratio of oxygenated to total haemoglobin (Hb), or rSO2, obtained by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), includes both arterial and venous blood of the region examined. The relationship of arterial oxygen extraction, E, and saturation, SaO2, to rSO2 can be expressed, for normally functioning tissue, as E = 1.39 (1 - rSO2/SaO2).

Pulse oximetry.

Purpose Of Review: Pulse oximetry is now a ubiquitous and essential tool of modern medicine, and while it is a relatively recent invention, the technology has rapidly matured since the first commercially available oximeters were introduced in the 1970s. This review seeks to provide an overview of the basic physical operation of the probe and discuss its limitations, sources of error and some current advances in the use of multi-wavelength probes.

Recent Findings: New multi-wavelength oximeters and plethysmographic waveform analysis may expand the information that we can collect and use non-invasively.