Intramuscular ephedrine reduces emesis during the first three hours after abdominal hysterectomy.

Background: We tested the hypothesis that intramuscularly administered ephedrine prevents postoperative nausea and vomiting. Ephedrine is cheap, and for this indication poorly documented.

Methods: One hundred and nine patients undergoing elective abdominal hysterectomy under general anaesthesia were studied in a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study.

Distribution of nickel in lungs from former nickel workers.

Objective: The purpose of this work was to study the distribution of nickel within lung tissue obtained from nickel-exposed people and to evaluate the use of only one single sample for determination of the nickel burden of the lung.

Methods And Materials: The material used was lung tissue obtained from 15 former nickel refinery workers who had been exposed to a variety of nickel compounds such as Ni3S2, NiO, Ni0, NiSO4, and NiCl2. Ten samples taken from different locations of the lung as well as from the right and left bronchus and from the right lower lobe (total 13 samples per individual) were analyzed for nickel by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry.