EO technique provides better mask seal than the EC clamp technique during single handed mask holding by novices in anaesthetised and paralysed patients.

Background And Aims: Bag mask ventilation (BMV) allows for oxygenation and ventilation of patients until a definitive airway is secured and when definitive airway is difficult/impossible. This study hypothesised that the EO (thumb and index finger form a O shape around the mask) technique of mask holding provides better mask seal with the novices compared to the classic EC clamp technique (thumb and index finger form a C shape around the mask).

Methods: Sixty patients participated in this double blinded, prospective, crossover study.

Severed cuff inflation tubing of endotracheal tube: A novel way to prevent cuff deflation.

A well-secured endotracheal tube (ETT) is essential for safe anesthesia. The ETT has to be fixed with the adhesive plasters or with tie along with adhesive plasters appropriately. It is specially required in patients having beard, in intensive care unit (ICU) patients or in oral surgeries.

Premedication with gabapentin, alprazolam or a placebo for abdominal hysterectomy: Effect on pre-operative anxiety, post-operative pain and morphine consumption.

Background And Aims: Utility of gabapentin for pre-operative anxiolysis as compared to commonly administered alprazolam is not evident. The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of pre-operative oral gabapentin 600 mg, alprazolam 0.5 mg or a placebo on pre-operative anxiety along with post-operative pain and morphine consumption.

Airway management in Escobar syndrome: A formidable challenge.

Escobar syndrome is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by flexion joint and digit contractures, skin webbing, cleft palate, deformity of spine and cervical spine fusion. Associated difficult airway is mainly due to micrognathia, retrognathia, webbing of neck and limitation of the mouth opening and neck extension. We report a case of a 1 year old child with Escobar syndrome posted for bilateral hamstrings to quadriceps transfer.

E-O technique is superior to E-C technique in manikins during single person bag mask ventilation performed by novices.

Conventional E-C technique of mask holding is unreliable during single person bag mask ventilation (BMV) due mainly to leak around the mask and inexperience of the persons. In this manikin study, conventional E-C technique was compared with E-O technique during single person BMV both with experienced (n = 50) and novice (n = 50) volunteers. The E-O technique involved encircling the mask neck with the web between thumb and index finger while the other digits provided chin lift.

Child with bilateral pheochromocytoma and a surgically solitary kidney: Anesthetic challenges.

Pheochromocytoma is a rare neuroendocrine tumor of childhood. We present a 14-year-old boy with bilateral pheochromocytoma, post nephrectomy in view of a non-functioning kidney presenting with severe hypertension and end organ damage. Diagnosis was confirmed with 24-hour urinary VMA, catechol amines, and CT scan.

Utility of intra-operative ultrasound in choosing the appropriate site for blood pressure monitoring in Takayasu's arteritis.

Takayasu's arteritis (TA) is rare, chronic progressive, pan-endarteritis involving the aorta and its main branches, with a specific predilection for young Asian women. Anaesthesia for TA patients is complicated by their severe uncontrolled hypertension, extreme arterial blood pressure differentials, aortic regurgitation (AR), end-organ dysfunction, stenosis/aneurysms of major blood vessels and difficulties encountered in monitoring arterial blood pressure. We present the usefulness of ultrasound during anaesthetic management of a 35-year-old woman posted for emergency caesarean section due to intra-uterine growth retardation, foetal tachycardia in active labour, who was already diagnosed to have TA along with moderate AR and uncontrolled hypertension, using epidural technique.

Umesh's intubation detector (UID) for rapid and reliable identification of tracheal intubation by novices in anaesthetised, paralysed adult patients.

Oesophageal intubation can lead to life threatening complications if left undetected. Several devices and techniques are available to confirm tracheal intubation and for early detection of oesophageal intubation. This study was carried out to evaluate the utility of the Umesh's intubation detector device for rapid and reliable differentiation of tracheal from oesophageal intubation by novice users.

Selection of appropriate size endotracheal tube in cases of large goiters causing tracheal compression.

Tracheal compression due to any cause can lead to difficulty in either ventilating or intubating the patient. Most often, it is due to a large thyroid swelling. Often the anesthetist is completely guided by the radiological findings to plan the airway management, giving much less importance to the patient's clinical picture.

Congenital lobar emphysema: Challenges in diagnosis and ventilation.

Congenital lobar emphysema (CLE) is a rare congenital anomaly of lung causing over aeration of one or more lobes of a histologically normal lung. It presents in infancy with respiratory distress due to compression atelectasis and often associated with mediastinal shift and hypotension. CLE poses a challenge in diagnosis and positive pressure ventilation due to air trapping.

Validation of the new intubation detector device: a manikin study.

This study was done to validate the utility of Umesh's intubation detector in detection of tracheal or oesophageal intubation in manikin using volunteers with different levels of experience in tracheal intubation (including novices). The Sim Man II, (Laerdal Medical AS, Norway) manikin was used. Two cuffed tracheal tubes of size 6.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome at term pregnancy.

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a cliniconeuroradiological syndrome associated with various clinical conditions, presenting with headache, encephalopathy, seizures, cortical visual disturbances or blindness. Imaging predominantly shows parieto-occipital white matter changes, with vasogenic oedema being the most accepted pathophysiology. We report a 25-year-old primigravida who presented in term pregnancy with seizures and blindness, scheduled for emergency caesarean section.