The Influence of Centralization and Directional Preference on Spinal Control in Patients With Nonspecific Low Back Pain.

Study Design: Prospective cohort, test-retest design.

Background: Directional preference (DP) with centralization (CEN) and DP without CEN are common pain-pattern responses assessed by Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT). Although there is evidence that MDT can reduce pain and disability in the short term by treating the patient with direction-specific exercises concordant with the patient's DP, the mechanism responsible for this is unclear.

A prospective, observational study comparing postoperative residual curarisation and early adverse respiratory events in patients reversed with neostigmine or sugammadex or after apparent spontaneous recovery.

Six years ago, a study performed in our department reported that the incidence of postoperative residual curarisation (PORC) was 39%. The reassessment of neuromuscular monitoring and reversal of neuromuscular block in routine anaesthetic practice is relevant now that sugammadex has become available. The incidence of PORC, defined by a train-of-four (TOF) <90%, was evaluated at post-anaesthesia care unit (PACU) arrival in patients whose neuromuscular block had been reversed with neostigmine or sugammadex and those in whom reversal was felt unnecessary (adequate spontaneous recovery).

Postoperative residual paralysis in outpatients versus inpatients.

Postoperative residual paralysis is an important complication of the use of neuromuscular blocking drugs. In this prospective study, the incidence of residual paralysis detected as a train-of-four response <90% was less frequent in surgical outpatients (38%) than inpatients (47%) (P = 0.001).

Air-oxygen mixtures in circle systems.

Study Objective: To determine the effect of different air-O(2) mixtures and fresh gas flows (FGF) on the relationship between the delivered (F(Del)O(2)) and inspired O(2) fraction (FIO(2)) in a circle system.

Study Design: Randomized clinical study.

Setting: Large teaching hospital.

The ADU vaporizing unit: a new vaporizer.

Unlabelled: We determined the performance of the vaporizer of the ADU machine (Anesthesia Delivery Unit; Datex-Ohmeda, Helsinki, Finland). The effects of carrier gas composition (oxygen, oxygen/N(2)O mixture, and air) and fresh gas flow (0.2 to 10 L/min) on vaporizer performance were examined with variable concentrations of isoflurane, sevoflurane, and desflurane across the whole range of each vaporizer's output.

Maintaining sevoflurane anesthesia during low-flow anesthesia using a single vaporizer setting change after overpressure induction.

Study Objective: A sevoflurane vaporizer dial setting of 1.9% was previously found to maintain the end-expired sevoflurane concentration (Et(sevo)) at 1.3% during maintenance of anesthesia for procedures up to one hour with an O(2) FGF of 1 L/min.

Coasting after overpressure induction with sevoflurane.

Study Objective: To evaluate the clinical feasibility of using a coasting technique to temporarily maintain anesthesia after overpressure induction with sevoflurane.

Study Design: Prospective clinical study.

Setting: Large teaching hospital.

Patient-controlled epidural analgesia with sufentanil following caesarean section: the effect of adrenaline and clonidine admixture.

Sixty patients, scheduled for Caesarean section were randomly allocated to receive by the epidural route in a double-blind fashion one of the following patient-controlled analgesia mixtures for the relief of postoperative pain: sufentanil 2 micrograms.ml-1 in 0.9% sodium chloride, sufentanil 2 micrograms.

Combined continuous spinal-epidural anaesthesia with a single interspace, double-catheter technique.

A double catheter, single interspace combined spinal-epidural anaesthetic was performed in 12 ASA grade 3 patients. The technique failed in one patient in whom the intrathecal catheter could not be inserted satisfactorily. In another patient, the epidural catheter was accidentally placed intrathecally.