Nicorandil, a K Channel Opener, Attenuates Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Isolated Rat Lungs.

Purpose: Nicorandil is a hybrid between nitrates and K channel opener activators. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nicorandil's effects on ischemia-reperfusion (IR) lung injury and examine the mechanism of its effects.

Methods: Isolated rat lungs were divided into 6 groups.

Effect of lidocaine cream analgesia for chest drain tube removal after video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery for lung cancer: a randomized clinical trial.

Background And Objectives: Pain management makes an important contribution to good respiratory care and early recovery after thoracic surgery. Although the development of video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) has led to improved patient outcomes, chest tube removal could be distressful experience for many patients. The aim of this trial was to test whether the addition of lidocaine cream would have a significant impact on the pain treatment during chest tube removal from patients who had undergone VATS for lung cancer.

Neuroprotective Effects of Fasudil, a Rho-Kinase Inhibitor, After Spinal Cord Ischemia and Reperfusion in Rats.

Background: Excessive Rho/Rho-kinase pathway activation occurs subsequent to stroke. We examined the neuroprotective effects of pre- and posttreatment with fasudil (a Rho-kinase inhibitor) in a rat transient spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion model under normothermic conditions.

Methods: After approval by our animal research committee, male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to 1 of 6 groups: pre- and postcontrol (C); pre- and postfasudil (F); and pre- and postsham (S).

Recovery From Ropivacaine-Induced or Levobupivacaine-Induced Cardiac Arrest in Rats: Comparison of Lipid Emulsion Effects.

Background: Lipid emulsion treatment appears to have application in the treatment of local anesthetic-induced cardiac arrest. To examine whether the efficacy of lipid resuscitation in the treatment of local anesthetic-induced cardiac arrest is affected by lipophilicity, the effects of lipid infusions were compared between levobupivacaine-induced (high lipophilicity) and ropivacaine-induced (lower lipophilicity) rat cardiac arrest model.

Methods: A total of 28 female Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized using sevoflurane, which subsequently underwent tracheostomy, followed by femoral artery and vein cannulation.

The suppressive effects of landiolol administration on the occurrence of postoperative atrial fibrillation and tachycardia, and plasma IL-6 elevation in patients undergoing esophageal surgery: A randomized controlled clinical trial.

Study Objective: To determine whether perioperative landiolol administration suppresses postoperative atrial fibrillation (AF) and the plasma cytokines elevation in patients undergoing esophageal cancer surgery.

Design: A prospective, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Akita University Hospital, Akita, Japan, from April 2012 to January 2015.

Evaluation of postoperative pregabalin for attenuation of postoperative shoulder pain after thoracotomy in patients with lung cancer, a preliminary result.

Objective: Thirty-one to 97% of patients who undergo thoracotomy for lung cancer experience ipsilateral shoulder pain, marring the otherwise excellent relief provided by thoracic epidural analgesia. The aim of this study was to test whether the addition of pregabalin to the treatment for shoulder pain would provide a significant benefit.

Methods: Twenty patients undergoing thoracic surgery for lung cancer were enrolled in the control group between May 2012 and December 2012, and 20 patients were enrolled in the pregabalin group between January 2013 and July 2013, consecutively.

Combination of oral clonidine and intravenous low-dose ketamine reduces the consumption of postoperative patient-controlled analgesia morphine after spine surgery.

Objective: Because ketamine, clonidine, and morphine modulate nociceptive pain, coadministration of these drugs would augment the activity of postoperative analgesic drugs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of coadministration of ketamine and clonidine on postoperative morphine consumption in patients after spine surgery.

Methods: The patients undergoing spine surgery were allocated randomly to one of the four study groups, which are as follows: group M (n = 12), intravenously (IV) administered patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) morphine alone; group MK (n = 12), IV-PCA morphine plus intra- and postoperative ketamine; group MC (n = 13), IV-PCA morphine plus oral clonidine premedication; group MCK (n = 12), IV-PCA morphine plus intra- and postoperative ketamine and clonidine premedication.

[Comparative performance of Airway Scope, Trueview EVO2, and Fibertech video laryngoscope used by inexperienced medical students in a simulated manikin with normal and difficult airways].

Background: Many kinds of video-typed laryngoscopes are widely used for tracheal intubation in many clinical situations. The present study was performed to compare the ease in the use of the Airway Scope (AWS), Trueview EVO2 (TVE), and Fibertech Video Laryngoscope (FVL).

Methods: Twenty-seven inexperienced medical students used AWS, TVE and FVL in a simulated manikin with normal and difficult airways.

Neuroprotective effects of selective β-1 adrenoceptor antagonists, landiolol and esmolol, on transient forebrain ischemia in rats; a dose-response study.

Although selective beta-1 adrenoceptor antagonists are known to provide neuroprotective effects after brain ischemia, dose-response relationships of their neuroprotective effects have not been examined. The present study was conducted to evaluate whether the degree of brain protection against transient forebrain ischemia would be influenced by different doses of selective beta-1 adrenoceptor antagonists, esmolol and landiolol, in rats. Adult male S.

Neuroprotective effects and suppression of ischemia-induced glutamate elevation by β1-adrenoreceptor antagonists administered before transient focal ischemia in rats.

Background: β-Adrenoreceptor antagonists provide neuroprotective effects after focal cerebral ischemia in experimental settings. This study was conducted to compare the neuroprotective effects of low-dose and high-dose of selective β1-adrenoreceptor antagonists in rats after focal cerebral ischemia. We also investigated whether glutamate and norepinephrine contribute to neuroprotection of the β-adrenoreceptor antagonists.

[Comparison of levobupivacaine and ropivacaine for postoperative epidural analgesia].

Background: Levobupivacaine is a long acting local anesthetic with less cardiovascular toxicity. Recently we can use levobupivacaine for postoperative analgesia. We retrospectively compared levobupivacaine with ropivacaine for the postoperative epidural analgesia in patients undergoing gynecological abdominal surgery.

Post-treatment with selective β1 adrenoceptor antagonists provides neuroprotection against transient focal ischemia in rats.

We have reported the neuroprotective effects of pre-treatment with beta-adrenoceptor antagonists on the cerebral infarction at 1 and 7 days after focal ischemia in rats. However, the protective effect of post-treatment with beta-adrenoceptor antagonists has not been investigated yet. This study was conducted to evaluate the post-treatment effects of selective beta(1)-adrenoceptor antagonists in the rat focal cerebral ischemia.

Esmolol and landiolol, selective beta1-adrenoreceptor antagonists, provide neuroprotection against spinal cord ischemia and reperfusion in rats.

Background: Paraplegia is a devastating and unpredictable complication occasionally resulting from surgery of the thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta. Because ultrashort-acting selective beta(1)-adrenoreceptor antagonists provide neuroprotective effects after brain ischemia, we hypothesized that they would also ameliorate spinal cord injury after transient ischemia and reperfusion in rats.

Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of the following 4 groups: saline (received IV infusion of 0.

[An index of cerebral perfusion: noninvasive monitoring of regional cerebral oxygen saturation by use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS, NIRO) or NIRS cerebral oximetry (INVOS)].

Noninvasive monitoring of regional cerebral oxygen saturation has been introduced in clinical settings for estimation of cerebral perfusion and cerebral blood flow. In this article, I have described several issues regarding the usefulness and clinical limitations associated with the use of these monitors, as well as relevant information on basic principles of monitoring. At present, there is not enough clinical data concerning critical levels of measured variables that are essential for safe perioperative management of patients susceptible for cerebral ischemia.

[Risk management for neurosurgical anesthesia].

Even a trivial increase in intracranial pressure is likely to induce cerebral ischemia, hernia, and neurogenic pulmonary edema in patients with intracranial hypertension. In this article, I have described several issues that are essential for safe perioperative management in patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures for treatment of subarachonoid hemorrhage, and intracerebral and subdural hematoma, as well as relevant information on basic physiology and pathology of the brain.

Intravenous dexmedetomidine decreases lung permeability induced by intracranial hypertension in rats.

Background: Intracisternal dexmedetomidine (Dex) attenuates cardiac dysfunction in rats with intracranial hypertension (ICH). However, the effects of IV Dex on cardiac function and lung permeability during ICH have not been evaluated. We tested the hypothesis that IV Dex attenuates hemodynamic changes and decreases lung permeability induced by ICH in rats.

[Emergent percutaneous coronary intervention therapy after renal transplantation].

A 54-year-old man was scheduled for renal transplantation. There was no cardiac event except ST-segment depression during surgery. One hour after surgery, the patient complained of a chest pain, and received immediate percutaneous coronary intervention therapy, which was successfully performed.

[Preface and comments: Protection of the brain and the spinal cord].

Basic and clinical investigations have been performed, focusing on the mechanism of ischemic brain and spinal cord injuries, and preventive measures against ischemic insults such as drug therapy, hypothermia, maintenace of blood flow to brain and spinal cord, preconditioning, and no use of high dose fentanyl. In this special issue, five experts have provided new relevant information concerning brain and spinal cord protection. Further research in brain and spinal cord protection will contribute to better understanding of ischemic central nervous system injuries and to the establishment of novel therapies for protection of central nervous system.

[Successful epidural anesthesia using 120 mm epidural needle for cesarean section in a morbidly obese parturient with body mass index 50.2 kg x m(-2)].

In a morbidly obese parturient, epidural anesthesia is occasionally difficult because of great distance from the skin to the epidural space, and difficulty in identification of appropriate landmarks. We successfully managed cesarean section in a morbidly obese parturient with body mass index of 50.2 kg x m(-2) under epidural anesthesia.

Beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists attenuate brain injury after transient focal ischemia in rats.

Beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists experimentally reduce cardiac and renal injury after ischemia and are also clinically useful for myocardial infarction and severe burns. In addition, beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists provide neuroprotective effects after focal cerebral ischemia in experimental settings. We conducted the present study to compare the neuroprotective effects of several beta-adrenoreceptor antagonists in rat transient focal cerebral ischemia.

[Organ protection by anesthetics: preface and comments].

Numerous investigations have been performed, focusing on the anesthetic toxicity such as hepatotoxity or nephrotoxicity, for more than 40 years. However, recent basic researche has demonstrated several beneficial effects of anesthetics, including organ protection against ischemia and subsequent reperfusion, and anesthetic preconditioning, as well as clarified mechanisms of acute and delayed cell death, and apoptosis. In this special issue, four experts have provided new relevant information concerning brain, heart, lung, and liver protection by anesthetics, respectively.

Effects of sevoflurane anesthesia on carotid-cardiac baroreflex responses in humans.

Sevoflurane depresses cardio-vagal baroreflex gain (ability of vagally mediated R-R interval response to arterial blood pressure change). We examined the effects of sevoflurane anesthesia on maximum buffering capacity of vagally mediated hemodynamic control (baroreflex range) by examining the entire stimulus-response baroreflex relation. Electrocardiogram and invasive arterial blood pressure were monitored in 11 healthy volunteers.