Influence of awareness and availability of medical alternatives on parents seeking paediatric emergency care

Aims: Direct seeking of care at paediatric emergency departments may result from an inadequate awareness or a short supply of medical alternatives. We therefore evaluated the care-seeking patterns, availability of medical options and initial medical assessments – with overall reference to socioeconomic status – of parents at an urban paediatric emergency department in a Scandinavian country providing free paediatric healthcare. Methods: The parents of children assessed by paediatric emergency department physicians at a Swedish university hospital over a 25-day winter period completed a questionnaire on recent medical contacts and their reasons for attendance. Additional information was obtained from ledgers, patient records and population demographics. Results: In total, 657 of 713 eligible patients (92%) were included. Seventy-nine per cent of their parents either failed to or managed to establish medical contact before the emergency department visit, whereas 21% sought care with no attempt at recent medical contact. Visits with a failed telephone or primary care contact (18%) were more common outside office hours (p=0.014) and were scored as less urgent (p=0.014). A perceived emergency was the main reason for no attempt at medical contact before the visit. Direct emergency department care-seeking was more common from the city district with the lowest socioeconomic status (p=0.027). Conclusions: Although most parents in this Swedish study tried to seek medical advice before attending a paediatric emergency department, perceived emergency, a short supply of telephone health line or primary care facilities and lower socioeconomic status contributed to direct care-seeking by almost 40% of parents. Pre-hospital awareness and the availability of medical alternatives with an emphasis on major differences in socioeconomic status should therefore be considered to further optimize care-seeking in paediatric emergency departments

Preoperative rectal diclofenac versus paracetamol for tonsillectomy: effects on pain and blood loss

BACKGROUND: Diclofenac is widely used for postoperative analgesia but the perioperative safety of this drug is controversial because of its effect on platelet aggregation, which might increase blood loss. In a prospective investigator-blinded study the effects of diclofenac and paracetamol on pain and blood loss were compared in patients undergoing tonsillectomy. METHOD: Ninety patients were randomised to receive rectal diclofenac 0.65-1.0 mg x kg(-1) or paracetamol 13-20 mg x kg(-1) preoperatively. Ten patients were excluded after randomisation. Pain was evaluated postoperatively by means of the visual analogue scale and by recording the use of pethidine for rescue analgesia. Perioperative blood loss was estimated from measured intraoperative blood loss; use of drugs to achieve haemostasis, and the incidence of reoperations. RESULTS: Anaesthetic or surgical managements did not differ between the groups, but a significantly longer period of surgery was found in the diclofenac group, 32+/-16 vs. 25+/-11 min (P = 0.024). Pain scores or pethidine consumption were not significantly different between the groups. Intraoperative blood loss was significantly larger in the diclofenac group, 1.9 (1.1-3.1) vs. 1.1 (0.7-2.0) ml x kg(-1) (P = 0.007). CONCLUSION: Preoperative rectal diclofenac offers no advantage over paracetamol with respect to postoperative analgesia in tonsillectomy patients but increases intraoperative blood loss

Survey of central venous catheterisation practice in Sweden

BackgroundClinical guidelines on central venous catheterisation were introduced by the Swedish Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine in 2011. The purpose of this study was to investigate current national practice and assess to what extent these guidelines influence clinical routines in Swedish operating wards and intensive care units. MethodsAn invitation to participate in an online survey regarding central venous catheterisation was sent to 65 departments of anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine in Sweden. The survey aimed at investigating routine standards (part 1) and 24-h clinical practice (part 2). ResultsForty-seven (72%) and 49 (75%) of 65 departments took part in parts 1 and 2, respectively, and 73% adhered to the national guidelines. Many units monitored mechanical (42%) and infectious (69%) complications. Ultrasound was used by more than 50%. Checklists for insertion were used by 22%. Physicians inserted most catheters. No serious complications were reported during the 24-h study period. Ninety-seven non-tunnelled, 17 venous ports, 9 tunnelled and 8 peripheral central venous catheters were inserted. Ninety-three (71%) catheters were inserted in operating rooms, and 31 (24%) in intensive care units. Catheterisations were followed up by chest X-ray in most departments. ConclusionKnowledge of the Swedish guidelines was adequate, and most participating departments had local catheterisation routines. We could identify some variation in practice, but overall adherence to the guidelines was good. Nevertheless, monitoring of procedures and complications of cannulation and maintenance could be in need of improvement. Accepted for publication 18 August 2013 (c) 2013 The Acta Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica Foundation. Published by John Wiley & Sons Lt

Cerebral haemodynamic and electrocortical CO2 reactivity in pigs anaesthetized with fentanyl, nitrous oxide and pancuronium

Cerebral haemodynamic, metabolic and electrocortical reactivity to alterations in arterial CO2 tension (PaCO2) was assessed in seven mechanically ventilated juvenile pigs to test an experimental model designed for cerebral pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic studies. The animals were anaesthetized with fentanyl, nitrous oxide and pancuronium and sequentially normo- and hyperventilated over a 100-min period. Five measurements were made at 25-min intervals. The cerebral blood flow (CBF) was measured with the intra-arterial 133Xe technique and the cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen (CMRO2) determined from CBF and the cerebral arteriovenous oxygen content difference. A linear correlation (r = 0.845) was found between CBF and PaCO2. The cerebrovascular reactivity to hypocapnia (delta CBF/delta PaCO2) was maintained throughout the experimental period and amounted to (95% confidence interval) 9.1 (7.1-11.1) ml x 100 g-1 x min-1 x kPa-1 within the PaCO2 range 3.3-6.3 kPa. The CMRO2 was not influenced by hyperventilation. The baseline electroencephalographic (EEG) pattern was stable at normocapnia (mean PaCO2 5.6 kPa), whereas spectral values for delta and total average voltage increased significantly (P < 0.05) at extensive hypocapnia (3.5 kPa). Maintenance of cerebral CO2 reactivity and spectral EEG voltage at a stable plasma level of fentanyl is complementary to the cerebral haemodynamic and metabolic stability previously found at sustained normocapnia in this model

Cerebral pharmacodynamics of anaesthetic and subanaesthetic doses of ketamine in the normoventilated pig

There are still divergent opinions regarding the pharmacodynamic effects of ketamine on the brain. In this study, the cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral metabolic rate for oxygen (CMRO2) and electroencephalographic (EEG) activity were sequentially assessed over 80 min in 17 normoventilated pigs following rapid i.v. infusions of anaesthetic (10.0 mg.kg-1; n = 7) or subanaesthetic (2.0 mg.kg-1; n = 7) doses of ketamine or of its major metabolite norketamine (10.0 mg.kg-1; n = 3). The animals were continuously anaesthetized with fentanyl, nitrous oxide and pancuronium. CBF was determined by the intra-arterial 133Xe technique. Ketamine (10.0 mg.kg-1) induced an instant, gradually reverting decrease in CBF, amounting to -26% (P < 0.01) at 1 min and -13% (P < 0.05) at 10 min, a delayed increase in CMRO2 by 42% (P < 0.01) at 10 min and a sustained rise in low- and intermediate-frequency EEG voltage by 87% at 1 and 97% at 10 min (P < 0.0001). It is concluded that metabolically formed norketamine does not contribute to these effects. Considering the dissociation of CBF from CMRO2 found 10-20 min after ketamine (10.0 mg.kg-1) administration, it is suggested that ketamine should be used with caution for anaesthesia in patients with suspected cerebral ischaemia in order not to increase the vulnerability of brain tissue to hypoxic injury. Ketamine (2.0 mg.kg-1) had no significant effects on CBF, CMRO2 or EEG. It therefore seems that up to one fifth of the minimal anaesthetic i.v. dose can be used safely for analgesia, provided that normocapnaemia is preserved