[Patient controlled epidural analgesia: interest in thoracic surgery].

Aim: To compare efficacy of pain control, the consumption of local anaesthetics and opioids as well as the side effects between continuous epidural analgesia, patient controlled analgesia and patient controlled epidural analgesia in thoracic surgery.

Methods: Prospective randomised study included 66 patients who had thoracotomy. Patients were divided into 3 groups, to receive different pain control methods.

[Isolated acute renal failure is not associated to an increase in mortality of patients in intensive care units].

This study assess the prognostic factors increasing mortality of patients with acute renal failure in intensive care units. The study included 923 patients admitted to the intensive care unit over a period of two years. Acute renal failure was defined by the following criteria, a blood urea concentration of more than 30 mmol/l, a serum creatinine concentration of more than 180 micromol/l or creatinine clearance less than 50 ml/min.