Post-Operative Pain After Knee Arthroscopy and Related Factors

The aim of this study was to explore the intensity of post-arthroscopy knee pain during the first 24 hours, and to study the influence of pre-operative pain, tourniquet time and amount of surgical trauma on post-arthroscopy pain. In 78 male patients that underwent elective arthroscopic menisectomy or diagnostic arthroscopy of the knee, preoperative and post-operative pain were registered using the Visual Analogue Scale. Variance for repeated measures and for independent observations was analysed. Supplementary analgesia was required for 23% of the patients, more often in the recovery room and between 2 and 8 hours postoperatively. Of all factors analyzed, only time was statistically significant in determining the level of post-operative pain. Supplementary analgesia was required only in patients that underwent operative arthroscopy, and more often in patients with tourniquet time of more than 40 minutes. In conclusions, post-operative time is the most significant factor related to the post-arthroscopy knee pain

Rocuronium antagonized by sugammadex for series of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in a patient with pseudocholinesterase deficiency

We report the anesthetic management of a patient with catatonic schizophrenia and pseudocholinesterase deficiency, using the nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking drug, rocuronium, reversed by its specific reversal agent, sugammadex, for a series of electroconvulsive therapy sessions. Rocuronium and sugammadex were used every 48 hours for 8 consecutive times and proved to be an effective and safe combination in a situation where succinylcholine was contraindicated. © 2011 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc

Sevoflurane impairs post-operative olfactory memory but preserves olfactory function

Background and objective The effect of anaesthesia on olfaction has not been systematically studied. Our aim is to compare the effects of general and regional anaesthesia on olfactory acuity and memory in the immediate post-operative period. Methods Sixty adult patients with the American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II status scheduled for elective minor surgery were included. Exclusion criteria were smoking, alcoholism, psychiatric disease and recent or past airway infection with resulting hyposmia. Patients were randomly allocated to one of three groups (in the analysis, n16 in each group): Epidural anaesthesia (group E), general anaesthesia with propofol (group P) and general anaesthesia with sevoflurane (group S) of 40-120 min duration. The evening before surgery, at 0.5 and at 3 h post-operatively olfactory acuity and memory were tested, along with blood sampling to measure plasma melatonin and oxytocin levels. Olfactory acuity was tested with successive dilutions of n-butyl-alcohol, and olfactory memory (interpretation of odours) with the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test. Results Patient characteristics did not differ between groups. Olfactory acuity was intact in all patients, before and after anaesthesia. Olfactory memory deteriorated in group S compared to groups P and E at both post-operative time-points. This was accompanied by a significant post-operative reduction of plasma melatonin levels in group S. Oxytocin levels remained constant in all groups. Conclusion Our results manifest a specific effect of sevoflurane on olfactory memory, not observed with neuraxial or total intravenous anaesthesia. The misinterpretation of odours in the immediate post-operative period by sevoflurane could be mediated by the decreased levels of melatonin. © 2011 Copyright European Society of Anaesthesiology

A System for Processing and Recognition of Old Greek Manuscripts (The D-SCRIBE Project)

Abstract:- After many years of scholar study, manuscript collections continue to be an important source of novel information for scholars, concerning both the history of earlier times as well as the development of cultural documentation over the centuries. In this paper we present research efforts leading to the creation of a comprehensive software product, which can assist the content holders in turning an archive of manuscripts into a digital collection using automated methods. The system aims at supporting and facilitating current and future efforts in Early Christian Greek manuscript digitization and processing. A number of modules have been developed for the study and processing of the digital collections and are integrated under a common software environment. These modules include a document management system particularly adapted for manuscripts, a module for automatic processing and transliteration of manuscripts incorporating OCR techniques and a self study tool for the use of paleographers. In this paper, we focus on the description of the aforementioned modules that comprise the final system for processing and recognition of old Greek Manuscripts