Blockade of the mental nerve for lower lip surgery as a safe alternative to general anesthesia in two very old patients

Purpose: Regional anesthesia is gaining popularity with anesthesiologists as it offers superb postoperative analgesia. However, as the sole anesthetic technique in high-risk patients in whom general anesthesia is not preferred, some regional anesthetic possibilities may be easily overlooked. By presenting two cases of very old patients with considerable comorbidities, we would like to bring the mental nerve field block under renewed attention as a safe alternative to general anesthesia and to achieve broader application of this simple nerve block. Patients and methods: Two very old male patients(84 and 91 years) both presented with an ulcerative lesion at the lower lip for which surgical removal was scheduled. Because of their considerable comorbidities and increased frailty, bilateral blockade of the mental nerve was considered superior to general anesthesia. As an additional advantage for the 84-year-old patient, who had a pneumonectomy in his medical history, the procedure could be safely performed in a beach-chair position to prevent atelectasis and optimize the ventilation/perfusion ratio of the single lung. The mental nerve blockades were performed intraorally in a blind fashion, after eversion of the lip and identifying the lower canine. A 5 mL syringe with a 23-gauge needle attached was passed into the buccal mucosa until it approximated the mental foramen, where 2 mL of lidocaine 2% with adrenaline 1:100.000 was injected. The other side was anesthetized in a similar fashion. Results: Both patients underwent the surgical procedure uneventfully under a bilateral mental nerve block and were discharged from the hospital on the same day. Conclusion: A mental nerve block is an easy-to-perform regional anesthetic technique for lower lip surgery. This technique might be especially advantageous in the very old, frail patient

Rapid acting fentanyl formulations in breakthrough pain in cancer: drug selection by means of the System of Objectified Judgement Analysis

Drug selection of rapid acting fentanyl formulations in the treatment of breakthrough pain in patients with cancer is performed by the System of Objectified Judgement Analysis method. All seven available formulations were included in the analysis. The following selection criteria were used: number of available strengths, variability in the rate of absorption, interactions, clinical efficacy, side effects, ease of administration and documentation. No direct double-blind comparative studies between two or more formulations were identified and the clinical documentation of all formulations is limited. The most distinguishing criterion was ease of use. This led to slightly higher scores for Abstral, Instanyl and PecFent than for the other formulations. The pros and cons of each formulation should be discussed with the patient, and the most suitable formulation selected for each individual patient

Kinship and interaction in neuromuscular pharmacology

The background of this thesis is presented in the introductory chapters and stafts with a brief history of neuromuscular relaxants. It is followed by a short description of the neuromuscular physiology and pharmacology in chapters 2 and 3, respectively. In chapter 4 the aim of the thesis is presented: To investigate the dose-concentration-effect relationship of some non-depolarising muscle relaxants and their interactions. Zie: summary