Depressive symptoms underestimated in vertiginous patients.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of depression in a group of vertiginous patients gathered by the use of a questionnaire.

Study Design And Setting: Prospective study on 100 randomly selected vertiginous individuals, who were invited for further investigations to the Helsinki University ENT clinic. They also filled in a Beck Depression Index, Zung anxiety scale and DIP-Q, which are self-rating scales to investigate psychiatric symptoms.

Etoricoxib pre-medication combined with intra-operative subacromial block for pain after arthroscopic acromioplasty.

Background: Arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anaesthesia is often associated with severe post-operative pain which may delay discharge and the start of rehabilitation. Etoricoxib is a new cyclo-oxygenase-2 inhibitor with a long duration of action and a lack of a deteriorating effect on platelet function. Therefore, the effect of pre-operative etoricoxib combined with local anaesthesia on post-operative pain and the discharge profile was studied in day-surgery patients undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anaesthesia.

Postdischarge symptoms after ambulatory surgery: first-week incidence, intensity, and risk factors.

Minor sequelae, such as pain, nausea, and drowsiness, often occur in surgical outpatients in the immediate postdischarge period. In this prospective, observational study was defined the daily incidence and intensity of several symptoms during the first week after surgery and determined predictive factors of minor morbidity. In two similar mixed ambulatory surgery units, 3910 patients received a questionnaire to grade daily the intensity of predefined symptoms on a 4-point scale.

Comparison between intra-articular bupivacaine with epinephrine and epinephrine alone on short-term and long-term pain after knee arthroscopic surgery under general anesthesia in day-surgery patients.

Background: : Postarthroscopy analgesia has been provided with intra-articular bupivacaine, but reported results are conflicting regarding efficacy and the duration of analgesia. The immediate and long-term effects of intra-articular bupivacaine with epinephrine after arthroscopic knee surgery were therefore studied in a day surgery setting.

Methods: : 120 ASA I-II patients scheduled for arthroscopic knee surgery were given general anesthesia with spontaneous breathing via a laryngeal mask.

Effect of preincisional ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block on postoperative analgesic requirement in day-surgery patients undergoing herniorrhaphy under spinal anaesthesia.

Background: By choosing spinal anaesthesia instead of general anaesthesia, and by infiltrating the wound area with local anaesthetic the need for postoperative analgesics may be reduced. An ilioinguinal and iliohypogastric nerve block (IINB) in inguinal herniorrhaphy was, therefore, studied in a day surgery setting in combination with a spinal block.

Methods: One hundred ASA I-II adult patients scheduled for inguinal herniorrhaphy were given spinal anaesthesia with hyperbaric 0.

Tranexamic acid radically decreases blood loss and transfusions associated with total knee arthroplasty.

The application of a pneumatic tourniquet in orthopedic procedures enhances local fibrinolysis. Consequently, a short-term antifibrinolytic therapy may be indicated in this clinical situation to reduce postoperative blood loss. The purpose of this prospective double-blind study was to investigate the effect of tranexamic acid (TA) on blood loss associated with total knee arthroplasty (TKA).

Dextran and hydroxyethyl starch interfere with fibrinogen assays.

We studied the haemostatic and volume effects of synthetic plasma substitutes and Ringer's solution in 48 surgical patients and found that the measured fibrinogen concentrations of patients receiving either dextran or hydroxyethyl starch (HES) were significantly higher than those predicted by the dilutional effects. The groups given Ringer's solution showed no apparent disproportion between fibrinogen concentration and plasma volume change. The results suggested that the presence of artificial colloids might interfere with the indirect fibrinogen assay used in the study.

Tranexamic acid (Cyklokapron) reduces perioperative blood loss associated with total knee arthroplasty.

In this prospective, randomized, double-blind study, we have investigated the effect of an antifibrinolytic agent, tranexamic acid (Cyklokapron), on blood loss and transfusion requirements associated with total knee arthroplasty. Twenty-nine patients were allocated randomly to receive either tranexamic acid 15 mg kg-1 or an equal volume of placebo a few minutes before a tourniquet was deflated. Blood loss during surgery, in the recovery room and on the surgical ward was recorded, together with the number of units of blood transfused in hospital.

Haemodynamic and plasma catecholamine responses during total intravenous anaesthesia for laryngomicroscopy. Thiopentone compared with propofol.

We compared the haemodynamic responses to endolaryngeal procedures during anaesthesia with propofol or thiopentone. Two minutes after administration of glycopyrronium 4 micrograms.kg-1 and alfentanil 17.