Once thought to be an isolated perioperative phenomenon, QTc prolongation seems to be common during surgery under general and spinal—but not local—anesthesia, a study has found. Additionally, the relative risk for extended QTc prolongation is more than five times greater with general anesthesia than with spinal. “QTc prolongation is an indicator of abnormal cardiac repolarization,” […]
Read MoreThe risk for rare but potentially catastrophic neurological injuries from epidural steroid injections (ESIs) can be substantially reduced if anesthesiologists and other clinicians follow specific safety measures, according to members of a consensus panel representing 13 national medical organizations. “We acknowledge that catastrophic neurologic injuries can and do occur during epidural steroid injections. The actual […]
Read MoreGenetic factors help to explain the commonly found association between low back pain and depression, according to a large study of twins published in the journal Pain. Genetic factors affecting both conditions may be involved in the association between back pain and depression. For the study, Marina B. Pinheiro, MD, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia, […]
Read MoreAlthough sedatives are often administered before surgery, a randomised trial finds that among patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia, receiving lorazepam before surgery, compared with placebo or no premedication, did not improve the self-reported patient experience the day after surgery, but was associated with longer time till extubation and a lower rate of early […]
Read MorePublished in BMJ 2015 Feb 23;350:h846. AUTHORS: Freeman LM et al OBJECTIVE: To determine women’s satisfaction with pain relief using patient controlled analgesia with remifentanil compared with epidural analgesia during labour. DESIGN: Multicentre randomised controlled equivalence trial. SETTING: 15 hospitals in the Netherlands. PARTICIPANTS: Women with an intermediate to high obstetric risk with an intention to deliver […]
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