Efficacy of dexamethasone in reducing the incidence of postoperative sore throat: a double blind randomized study

Introductions: Postoperative sore throat (POST) is a commonly seen adverse event after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation. Dexamethasone, a potent corticosteroid with anti-inflammatory action is the most popular steroid studied in this regard with positive results. Methods: This randomized, prospective, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study was conducted on one hundred and ten adult patients of either sex, undergoing elective surgeries requiring endotracheal tube intubation. After obtaining written informed consent, they were randomly divided into Control (A, n=55) and Dexamethasone (B, n=55) groups and received either an injection of Dexamethasone (Group B) 8 mg intravenously or an equivalent volume of Normal Saline (Group A) just before entering the operating theatre. All the patients received a similar anesthesia with endotracheal tube intubation and at the end of surgery, extubated and transferred to the post-anesthesia care unit. The incidence and severity of sore throat were assessed at 1, 6 and 24 hours post-extubation. Severity of sore throat were graded on a 4 point scale, p <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Incidence of POST in Dexamethasone group was found significantly low compared to the control group up to six hours (p<0.05) but was comparable at 24 hours post extubation. Severity of POST in the study group was of lower grade in compare to control group. Conclusions: Prophylactic intravenous Dexamethasone 8 mg administered to patients undergoing elective surgeries requiring endotracheal tube intubation significantly reduces the incidence and severity of POST up to six hours post-extubation. Keywords: dexamethasone, general anesthesia, post-operative sore throat (POST

Bilateral sympathicotomy for hyperhidrosis without using single-lung ventilation

Background/aim: The goal of this retrospective study was to evaluate the outcomes and complications of bilateral videothoracoscopic sympathicotomy without using single-lung ventilation in the treatment of primary hyperhidrosis and facial blushing. Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 154 consecutive patients (70 females and 84 males) who underwent bilateral sympathicotomy for palmar, axillary, and facial/scalp hyperhidrosis or facial blushing from February 2005 to June 2013. The patients were intubated with single-lumen endotracheal tube, and then sympathicotomies were performed via videothoracoscopy during controlled apnea periods. Results: Sympathicotomies were performed at costal levels 2, 3, and 4. No perioperative mortality or conversion to open surgery was recorded. Mean operation time was 31.2 ± 2.4 min and mean hospital stay was 1.1 ± 0.6 days. One patient experienced a unilateral pneumothorax that required treatment. There were no abnormal hemodynamic parameters measured during the perioperative apnea periods. The long term follow-up period was 21.4 ± 5 months. Twenty-nine cases (18.8%) were complicated by compensatory sweating. No recurrence was observed during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Video-assisted thoracoscopic sympathicotomy without lung isolation provides effective cure of primary hyperhidrosis and facial blushing. This procedure can shorten the operative time without any aberrant hemodynamic shifts

Dose pre-hospital laryngeal mask airway use has a survival benefit in non-shockable cardiac arrest?

Background. Whether pre-hospital laryngeal mask airway (LMA) use poses a survival benefit and should be approved as routine airway management in non-shockable cardiac arrest is of major concern. The present study examined the effectiveness of LMA, in comparison to other pre-hospital airway management on individuals who have experienced non-shockable cardiac arrest. Methods. Adult patients who experienced non-shockable cardiac arrest with activation of the emergency medical service (EMS) made up our study cohort in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The data were abstracted from EMS records and cardiac arrest registration protocols. Results. Among the 1912 enrolled patients, most received LMA insertion (72.4%), 108 (5.6%) bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation, 376 (19.7%) high-flow oxygen non-rebreather facemask, and only 44 (2.3%) received endotracheal tube intubation (ETI). With regard to survival to discharge, no significant differences in prevalence were evident among the groups: 2.8% of oxygen facial mask, 1.1% of BVM, 2.1% of LMA, and 4.5% of the ETI group survived to discharge (p = 0.314). In comparison to oxygen facial mask use, different types of airway management remained unassociated with survival to discharge after adjusting for variables by logistic regression analysis (BVM: 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.079 – 1.639 [p = 0.186]; LMA: 95% CI, 0.220–2.487 [p = 0.627]; ETI: 95% CI, 0.325–17.820 [p = 0.390]). The results of Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test of logistic regression model revealed good calibration. Conclusions. Pre-hospital LMA use was not associated with additional survival to discharge compared with facial oxygen mask, BVM, or ETI following non-shockable cardiac arrest

Assessment of endotracheal tube intubation. Review of existing scales

Due to the complications associated with endotracheal intubation, contraindications should be assessed prior to initiating the procedure when possible. Several scales have been created to assess the ease of intubation. These intubation scales use numerous scoring systems combined with subjective assessments to provide a quantifiable suggestion for the patients difficulty of tracheal intubation. While there is no formal definition of what comprises a difficult intubation, some parameters include effort, number of attempts and complications. Some of the most common scales to assess this difficulty include the Mallampati score, the Cormack Lehane scale, the intubation difficulty scale, the level of difficulty of intubation, as well as the simplified airway risk index. There have been several other proposed methods as well that are less frequently used contributing to even less cohesion in the evaluation of airways

General Anestesi pada Pasien Wound Dehiscence post Mandibulectomi a/i tumor Mandibula Sinistra Susp. Ganas

Setiap  tindakan  bedah  memiliki  risiko  terjadinya  komplikasi  yang  dapat  berasal dari  faktor  pasien  ataupun  faktor  kebersihan  dari  ruangan  operasi,  dan  dokter bedah  yang  dapat  menentukan  keberhasilan dalam proses  penyembuhan dari luka pasca operasi   tersebut. Mandibulektomi adalah operasi untuk membuka mandibula dengan maksud untuk mengetahui dan memperbaiki kerusakan di daerah mandibula atau rahang bawah. Pasien berusia 34 tahun didiagnosis dengan tumor mandibula sisnistra suspek ganas telah menjalani operasi mandibulektomi (pengangkatan tumor) pada tanggal 19 April 2022, 3 hari setelah operasi, luka operasi mengeluarkan nanah dan ada benang yang terlepas. Pasien juga mengeluhkan nyeri pada luka operasi dengan intensitas nyeri sedang dan dirasakan sesekali. Nyeri akan bertambah berat ketika dilakukan penekanan pada luka. Pasien dilakukan operasi ulang berupa secondary hecting menggunakan anestesi umum dengan intubasi endotrakeal tub

Efficacy of double-lumen intubation performed by paramedics on patients with lung damage. Experimental, pilot simulation trial

INTRODUCTION: The airway management and the implementation of optimal oxygen therapy in trauma patients, especially unconscious ones, is a key element of prehospital management. However, in cases of trauma lung or bronchial rupture, both lungs ventilation may not be advisable. In such cases, intubation with a double-lumen endotracheal tube may be helpful, allowing to provide one-lung ventilation. The aim of the experimental study was to assess the impact of short training in intubation using double-lumen tubes on the effectiveness of intubation performance and one-lung ventilation by paramedics in a simulated trauma patient setting. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This was a prospective, observational, randomized experimental trial. The study involved 30 paramedics. The participants had to perform tracheal intubation using Double Lumen Tube VivaSight-DL (VS-DL; ETView Ltd.; Misgav, Israel) under normal airway conditions. The effectiveness of the first intubation attempt, the time of intubation and the Cormack-Lehane scale were evaluated. RESULTS: The effectiveness of the first attempt at intubation with a double-lumen tube was 90% and the total effectiveness of intubation was 100%. The median time of the procedure was 63 (IQR; 38–72.5) seconds. CONCLUSIONS: In the simulation study, the paramedics were able to intubate using a double tube after a short training

An overview of adult cardiopulmonary resuscitation equipment

Nurses have many roles and responsibilities in relation to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), including: recognising that a patient is deteriorating; recognising cardiac arrest and commencing CPR while waiting for the resuscitation team to arrive; ensuring the contents of the resuscitation trolley are present, in date and in full working order; and completing documentation for the National Cardiac Arrest Audit in participating healthcare organisations. Many patient safety incidents involving resuscitation trolley equipment and resuscitation have been reported, and predominantly relate to a lack of equipment, missing equipment and inadequately stocked trolleys. This article provides an overview of the contents of the standard resuscitation trolley and a rationale for the use of each item. It discusses the importance of checking and restocking the resuscitation trolley, as well as the documentation of CPR efforts

Emergency medicine physicians infrequently perform pediatric critical procedures: a national perspective

Objective To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study using a nationally representative database to estimate the frequency of critical procedures (endotracheal tube intubation [ETI], cardiopulmonary resuscitation [CPR], and central line insertion [CLI]) in children and adults. Methods The study was based on the secondary analysis of the 2010-2014 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. We included adult and pediatric patients undergoing critical procedures in the emergency department. We extracted demographic and clinical information, including the performance of critical procedures. For frequent procedures (≥1 per year), we estimated the annual number of critical procedures per emergency physician (EP) by dividing the total number of annual critical procedures by the total number of EPs (estimated at 40,000). For infrequent procedures, we calculated the average interval between procedures. We summarized the data with descriptive statistics and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results There were an estimated 668 million total emergency department visits (24% pediatric). On average, a single EP performed 8.6 (95% CI, 5.5 to 11.7) CLIs, 3.7 (95% CI, 2.4 to 5.0) CPRs, and 6.3 (95% CI, 5.3 to 7.4) ETIs per year in adults. In comparison, a single EP performed one pediatric CLI, CPR, and ETI every 3.2 (95% CI, 1.9 to 9.8), 5.2 (95% CI, 2.8 to 33.5), and 2.8 (95% CI, 1.6 to 8.9) years, respectively. Conclusion Our nationwide findings confirm those of previous smaller studies that critical procedures are significantly fewer in children than adults. We suggest that methods to retain skills in pediatric critical procedures should be developed for general EPs to ensure that they deliver the highest level of care across the entire age spectrum

Comparison of remimazolam–remifentanil and propofol–remifentanil during laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Background Remimazolam is a novel benzodiazepine with fast onset and short half-life. We compared the effects of remimazolam and propofol on recovery profiles for general anesthesia in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Methods We randomly assigned 108 patients to either a remimazolam (n=54) or propofol (n=54) group. Remimazolam and propofol were used for induction and maintanance of anesthesia. Following anesthesia, we recorded the time until an Aldrete score of 9 was achieved as the primary surrogate marker of complete recovery. The time to reach a Modified Observer’s Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (MOAA/S) score of 2 and the time from the end of anesthesia to eye opening time, recovery time of orientation, time to spontaneous breathing, extubation time, and the time required for analgesics were measured. Heart rate, blood pressure, and bispectral index were assessed before, during, and after pneumoperitoneum. Results We included 101 patients in the analysis. In the remimazolam group, it took longer to reach an Aldrete score of 9 after the drug infusion ended (P = 0.031). There was no difference in the time to reach MOAA/S 2 between the two groups. The time to eye opening, recovery time of orientation, and time required for analgesics were longer and heart rate was higher in the remimazolam group. Neither blood pressure, nor extubation time differed between groups. Conclusions Remimazolam and propofol provided safe induction and maintenance of anesthesia in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. The recovery time from anesthesia was longer than that with propofol. Fewer hemodynamic changes were observed with remimazolam, but further studies are needed