Propofol-Remifentanil Combination for Management of Electroconvulsive Therapy in a Patient with Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

Electroconvulsive therapy can be effective in severe or treatment resistant neuroleptic malignant syndrome patients. Anesthesia and use of muscle relaxant agents for electroconvulsive therapy in such patients may encounter anesthesiologists with specific challenges. This case report describes successful management of anesthesia in 28-year-old male patient undergoing eight electroconvulsive therapy sessions for treatment of neuroleptic malignant syndrome

Comparing the effects of epidural methylprednisolone acetate injected in patients with pain due to lumbar spinal stenosis or herniated disks: a prospective study

Jafar Mobaleghi1, Faramarz Allahdini2, Karim Nasseri3, Behzad Ahsan3, Shoaleh Shami4, Mansour Faizi5, Fardin Gharibi51Department of Surgery, 2Department of Neurosurgery, 3Department of Anesthesia, 4Faculty of Nursing, 5Faculty of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Kurdistan, IranObjective: Satisfactory results have been seen with epidural steroid injections (ESI) in patients with herniated disks (HD), but the role in lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) has been less investigated. We compared long-term effects of ESI in HD and LSS patients.Methods: In a prospective, single-blind uncontrolled study, 60 patients with radicular pain due to HD (n = 32) or LSS (n = 28) were enrolled over a 9-month period. Methylprednisolone acetate 80 mg plus 0.5% bupivacaine 10 mg were diluted in normal saline up to a total volume of 10 mL, and injected into the epidural space. The amount of pain based on numeric pain score, level of activity, and subjective improvement were reported by patients after 2 and 6 months by telephone. Demographic data were analyzed with the chi-square test. The differences in numeric pain scale scores between the two groups at different times were analyzed with the t-test.Results: There were no differences between HD and LSS patients regarding age, sex, and average duration of pain prior to ESI. The degree of pain was significantly higher in LSS patients in comparison with HD patients in the pre-injection period. The amount of pain was significantly reduced in both groups 2 months after injection. This pain reduction period lasted for 6 months in the HD group, but to a lesser extent in LSS patients (P < 0.05).Discussion: Epidural methylprednisolone injection has less analgesic effect in LSS, with less permanent effect in comparison with HD.Keywords: methylprednisolone acetate, lumbar spinal stenosis, herniated dis

Comparison of lidocaine-dexmedetomidine and lidocaine-saline on the characteristics of the modified forearm bier block: A clinical trial

Background and aims: Forearm Modified Bier Block (FMBB) reduces local anesthetic systemic toxicity risks compared to the traditional method. This study was designed and implemented to compare the effects of lidocaine-dexmedetomidine (LD) and lidocaine-saline (LS) on the characteristics of the MFBB in distal forearm and hand surgery. Material and methods: In this randomized double-blind trial, which was conducted after obtaining institutional ethical committee approval, 60 patients were enrolled and randomly divided into two groups. In both groups, the analgesic base of the block was 20 mL lidocaine 0.5% that was supplemented by 1 μg/kg dexmedetomidine in the LD group or 1 mL of 0.9% saline in the LS group. Patients were evaluated for the onset and duration of sensory block, time of the first request for postoperative analgesic, and analgesic request frequency during the first 24 h after surgery. Results: Sensory block onset in the LD group (7.1 ± 1.4 min) compared to the LS group (8.4 ± 1.4) was faster (P = 0.008). Duration of the sensory block in LD group (49.7 ± 7.2 min) was longer than LS group (33.3 ± 2.6) (P < 0.001). Compared to LS group, time of the first request for postoperative analgesic in LD group was later (P = 0.6), and had lesser analgesic requests during the first 24 h after surgery (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Based on our study's finding, adding dexmedetomidine to lidocaine in the MFBB increases the duration of sensory block

Effect of Low-dose Atracurium on Laryngeal Mask Airway Insertion Conditions: A Randomized Double-blind Clinical Trial

Background: The amount of sedation and muscle relaxation of the jaw may have an impact on complications caused by laryngeal mask airway (LMA). The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of low-dose Atracurium on conditions of insertion, complications, and hemodynamic responses to LMA insertion following induction of anesthesia with propofol, in patients undergoing cataract surgery. Patients and Methods: In this double-blind randomized clinical trial study, 60 patients were randomly divided into two groups. Initially, the patients in the study group received 0.15 mg/kg intravenous injection of atracurium, and the patients in the control group received 2 ml of intravenous injection of normal saline, after which anesthesia in both groups were induced with midazolam, fentanyl, lidocaine, and propofol. The amount of jaw relaxation, ease of insertion, and the time needed for insertion, hemodynamic responses and complications of LMA insertion were evaluated. Results: Jaw relaxation and ease of LMA insertion in the study group was significantly better than that of the control group (P = 0.02). Average time needed for LMA placement in the study group (5/06 ± 0.52 second) was significantly lower than the control group (5/76 ± 0.67 second) (P = 0.001). Hemodynamic response to LMA insertion was similar in both groups. Sore throat at recovery and 24 h after surgery in the control group was significantly higher than that of the study group (3/30 vs. 10/30) (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Using low doses of atracurium decreases the time needed for LMA insertion and sore throat after the operation. Atracurium also increases jaw relaxation and facilitates the placement of LMA

Shortening Anesthesia Duration does not Affect Severity of Withdrawal Syndrome in Patients Undergoing Ultra Rapid Opioid Detoxification

Ultra rapid opioid detoxification (UROD) is one of the new methods of detoxification. This method of detoxification involves putting patients under general anesthesia and actively giving them opioid antagonists. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of anesthesia duration in UROD on severity of withdrawal syndrome. Sixty addicted patients seeking UROD procedure assigned randomly to one of the 2hr, 4hr or 6hr anesthesia duration groups. Premedication and anesthesia procedure (induction and maintenance) were the same for three groups. Detoxification was done for all patients with 50 mg oral naltroxane (prior to induction) and 20 mg intravenous naloxane (8 mg/bolus and 12 mg/infusion). Blood pressure, heart rate and respiratory rate were automatically measured and recorded every 5 minutes. The severity of withdrawal syndrome was measured and recorded every one hour during anesthesia, 2hours post-anesthesia, and 12 and 24 hours following the induction of anesthesia according to the Wang Scale modified by Lomier (WSMBL). Patients aged 20-58 in three groups. Three cases experienced delirium after detoxification that lasted 24 hours in one. Severity of withdrawal syndrome in patients of groups 2, 4 and 6 hour were 8.7, 7.4 and 5.1 respectively during anesthesia and 12.3, 11.1 and 13.9 after 18 hours of anesthesia. Results of this study showed that, in standard settings, UROD is a safe method for detoxification and has low complications. The withdrawal symptoms during and after anesthesia are low. Shortening the duration of anesthesia has no affect on severity of withdrawal syndrome during and after anesthesia

Effect of gabapentin in comparison with hydrocortisone on postlaparoscopic cholecystectomy pain control

Background and Aim: Although laparoscopic cholecystectomy causes less pain than open cholecystectomy, it is still not completely painless. Several methods have been used to relieve the pain of laparoscopic surgery. The aim of this research was to compare the effect of gabapentin and hydrocortisone on pain control after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Materials and Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial, a total of 60 adult patients aged 18–70 years from both sexes American Society of Anesthesiologists Classification (ASA Classification 1 and 2) who were selected for laparoscopic cholecystectomy were divided into two groups of 30 subjects to be studied. 150 mg gabapentin and 100 mg hydrocortisone were administered to the first and second groups before the operation, respectively. Pain score and vital signs (systolic blood pressure and heart rate) were recorded. Data were fed into SPSS 23 software and analyzed using Fisher-test, independent t-test, and repeated measurement. P 0.05), VAS score 24 hours after operation was 2.87 ± 1.57 and 3.92 ± 1.28 in gabapentin and hydrocortisone groups, respectively (P < 0.05), indicating a significant difference in VAS score between the two groups 2 and 24 h postoperation. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that gabapentin was more effective than hydrocortisone within the first 4 h of laparoscopic cholecystectomy. In addition, gabapentin was shown to be a better pain controller 24 h postoperation