Evaluation of changes in Mallampati class in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgeries in the prone position: A prospective observational study.

Background: Positioning of patients during surgery, whether prone or head down, can lead to airway edema which, in turn, may lead to a difficult airway, and enhanced chances for reintubation. We aimed to assess and evaluate modified Mallampati class (MMC) change in patients scheduled for lumbar spine surgery in the prone position. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study included 80 patients scheduled for lumbar spine surgery. The MMC was assessed up to 48 h postoperatively. The time taken by the patients in the postoperative period for MMC class to revert to preoperative value and airway complications, if any, was noted. Other parameters observed were surgical duration, intraoperative fluids used, and blood loss to look for any significant correlation with changes in MMC. Results: MMC increase by one grade was observed in 73 patients (91%). MMC in 54 patients (74%) returned to baseline within 18 h, in 12 patients (16%) it took 24 h, and in the remaining 7 patients (10%) the time taken was 36 h. Conclusion: It was concluded and established by this study that the MMC declined by one grade and reverted to baseline value within 36 h. This change in MMC necessitates extra caution to be adopted during the postoperative period as surgery in a prone position may predispose to an increased risk of encountering difficult reintubation. The change in MMC was not significantly correlated to intraoperative variables like duration of surgery, amount of intraoperative fluid given, and blood loss.

10-degree reverse Trendelenburg position on hemodynamic parameters and block characteristics in unilateral spinal anesthesia in below knee orthopedic surgeries - can head up position do the trick?

Unilateral spinal anesthesia (USpA) is a technique used to restrict the effect of the spinal block on the operative side. 10-15 degrees reverse Trendelenburg position has been used to control the height of the spinal block using hyperbaric drugs. We aimed to study the effect of the 10-degree reverse Trendelenburg position on the quality of block and hemodynamic stability in unilateral spinal anesthesia in this hospital-based, double-blind, randomized clinical trial. 60 patients of both sexes between 20-60 years of age, undergoing below-knee orthopedic surgeries, were randomized into 2 groups. In both groups, spinal anesthesia was given with 2 mL bupivacaine heavy (0.5%), and the lateral position was maintained for 10 mins. Group 2 patients were kept in a 10-degree reverse Trendelenburg position throughout the surgery. The hemodynamic parameters and block characteristics of the two groups were compared using Epi Info statistical software. The onset of sensory block was faster in Group 1 (recumbent) compared to Group 2 (reverse Trendelenburg). The two-segment regression time was longer in the second group. In group 2, 73.3% of patients reached a level at T8 or below T8, compared to 46.7% in Group 1. The duration of sensory block and anesthesia was longer in Group 2. We conclude that reverse Trendelenburg of 10 degrees immediately after spinal anesthesia significantly limits the level of sensory block and prolongs the duration of unilateral spinal anesthesia.

Investigating the Effect of the 10° Reverse Trendelenburg Position on Spinal Block Characteristics and Hemodynamic Parameters in Lower Limb Surgeries.

INTRODUCTION: The primary goal of spinal anesthesia in lower limb surgeries is to achieve a successful sensory and motor block. Adequate level of spinal block for lower limb orthopedic surgery is T10. Due to multiple factors affecting the level of spinal anesthesia, it is not always easy to control the level of spinal anesthesia.We proposed that maintaining patients in a 10° reverse Trendelenburg position after spinal anesthesia can significantly control the height of the sensory block, resulting in stable hemodynamics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is a single centric, prospective, single-blinded randomized clinical trial (CTRI/2018/08/015455) conducted in a tertiary care center in Sub-Himalayan region in India from July 2018 to June 2019. Total 60 patients fulfilling our inclusion and exclusion criteria were recruited in the study and were divided into two groups. In the supine group, patients were positioned in the supine position, and in the Trendelenburg group, patients were positioned in a 10° reverse Trendelenburg position after administering spinal anesthesia with 12.5 mg bupivacaine heavy. The two groups were compared in terms of sensory block, motor block, and analgesia duration. Heart rate, blood pressure, mean arterial pressure, and hypotension were also compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Duration of sensory block, motor block, and analgesia were significantly higher in patients of the reverse Trendelenburg group (group T) compared to the supine group (group S). In group T, 26.6% had a sensory block level above T8, whereas in group S, 86.6% of patients had a sensory block level above T8. No hypotension was observed in the Trendelenburg group, which was present in 33% of patients in the supine group (group S). CONCLUSION: Ten-degree reverse Trendelenburg position immediately after giving spinal anesthesia significantly limits the level of sensory block and provides better hemodynamic stability, and can be more beneficial, especially in geriatric patients and other high-risk patients for lower limb surgeries.

A randomized open-label trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of triple therapy with aspirin, atorvastatin, and nicorandil in hospitalised patients with SARS Cov-2 infection: A structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: The pathophysiology of SARS-Cov-2 is characterized by inflammation, immune dysregulation, coagulopathy, and endothelial dysfunction. No single therapeutic agent can target all these pathophysiologic substrates. Moreover, the current therapies are not fully effective in reducing mortality in moderate and severe disease. Hence, we aim to evaluate the combination of drugs (aspirin, atorvastatin, and nicorandil) with anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, immunomodulatory, and vasodilator properties as adjuvant therapy in covid- 19. TRIAL DESIGN: Single-centre, prospective, two-arm parallel design, open-label randomized control superiority trial. PARTICIPANTS: The study will be conducted at the covid centre of Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College Tanda Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India. All SARS-CoV-2 infected patients requiring admission to the study centre will be screened for the trial. All patients >18years who are RT-PCR/RAT positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection with pneumonia but without ARDS at presentation (presence of clinical features of dyspnoea hypoxia, fever, cough, spo2 <94% on room air and respiratory rate >24/minute) requiring hospital admission and consenting to participate in the trial will be included. Patients with documented significant liver disease/dysfunction (AST/ALT > 240), myopathy and rhabdomyolysis (CPK > 5x normal), allergy or intolerance to statins, allergy or intolerance to aspirin, patients taking medications with significant interaction with statins, prior statin use (within 30 days), prior aspirin use (within 30 days), history of active GI bleeding in past three months, coagulopathy, thrombocytopenia (platelet count < 100000/ dl), pregnancy, active breastfeeding, patient unable to take oral or nasogastric medications, patients in altered mental status, shock, acute renal failure, acute coronary syndrome, sepsis and ARDS at presentation will be excluded. INTERVENTION AND COMPARATOR: After randomization, participants in the intervention group will receive aspirin, atorvastatin, and nicorandil (Fig. 1). Atorvastatin will be prescribed as 40 mg starting dose followed by 40 mg oral tablets once daily for ten days or till hospital discharge whichever is later. Aspirin dose will be 325 starting dose followed by 75 mg once daily for ten days or till hospital discharge whichever is later. Nicorandil will be given as 10 mg starting dose followed by 5mg twice daily ten days or till hospital discharge whichever is later. All patients in the intervention and control group will receive a standard of care for covid management as per national guidelines. All patients will receive symptomatic treatment with antipyretics, adequate hydration, anticoagulation with low molecular weight heparin, intravenous remdesivir, corticosteroids (intravenous dexamethasone for 5 days or more duration if oxygen requirement increasing or inflammatory markers are raised), and oxygen support. Patients will receive treatment for comorbid conditions as per guidelines. Fig. 1 Schematic study design MAIN OUTCOMES: The patients will be followed up for outcomes during the hospital stay or for ten days whichever is longer. The primary outcome will be in-hospital mortality. Any progression to ARDS, shock, acute kidney injury, impaired consciousness, length of hospital stay, length of mechanical ventilation (invasive plus non-invasive) will be secondary outcomes. Changes in serum markers (CRP, D -dimer, S ferritin) will be other secondary outcomes. The safety endpoints will be hepatotoxicity (ALT/AST > 3x ULN; hyperbilirubinemia), myalgia-muscle ache, or weakness without creatine kinase (CK) elevation, myositis-muscle symptoms with increased CK levels (3-10) ULN, rhabdomyolysis-muscle symptoms with marked CK elevation (typically substantially greater than 10 times the upper limit of normal [ULN]) and with creatinine elevation (usually with brown urine and urinary myoglobin) observed during the hospital stay. RANDOMIZATION: Computer-generated block randomization will be used to randomize the participants in a 1:1 ratio to the active intervention group A (Aspirin, Atorvastatin, Nicorandil) plus conventional therapy and control group B conventional therapy only. BLINDING (MASKING): The study will be an open-label trial. NUMBERS TO BE RANDOMIZED (SAMPLE SIZE): A total of 396 patients will participate in this study, which is randomly divided with 198 participants in each group. TRIAL STATUS: The first version of the protocol was approved by the institutional ethical committee on 1st February 2021, IEC /006/2021. The recruitment started on 8/4/2021 and will continue until 08/07/2021. A total of 281 patients have been enrolled till 21/5/2021. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial has been prospectively registered in Clinical Trial Registry - India (ICMR- NIMS): CTRI/2021/04/032648 [Registered on: 8 April 2021]. FULL PROTOCOL: The full protocol is attached as an additional file, accessible from the Trials website (Additional file 1). In the interest in expediting dissemination of this material, the familiar formatting has been eliminated; this letter serves as a summary of the key elements of the full protocol. The study protocol has been reported under the Standard Protocol Items: Recommendations for Clinical Interventional Trials (SPIRIT) guidelines.

Point-of-care ultrasound in the airway assessment: A correlation of ultrasonography-guided parameters to the Cormack-Lehane Classification.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The sonographic assessment of airway in the preoperative period has encouraging results in predicting difficult laryngoscopy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The prospective, observational study was conducted on 120 patients scheduled for elective surgery requiring general anesthesia and tracheal intubation. The depth of the pre-epiglottic space (Pre-E), the distance from the epiglottis to the midpoint of the distance between the vocal cords (E-VC) was measured sonographically. Similarly, hyomental distance ratio (HMDR) was sonographically measured with head in neutral and extended positions. The primary outcome was the efficacy of Pre E/E-VC, HMDR for predicting difficult laryngoscopy (Cormack-Lehane [CL] Grade 3, 4). The secondary outcome was to correlate these parameters to CL grading. RESULTS: Difficult intubation was observed in 12.5% of patients. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of Pre E/E-VC ratio was 1.33±0.335, 1.62±0.264 and 1.87±.243, 2.22±.29 for CL Grade 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively (P = 0.00). The mean ± SD of HMDR was 1.11±.35, 1.12±.29, and 1.07±.39, 1.04 ± 0.01 for CL Grade 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively (P = 0.00). Pre E/E-VC ratio of more than 1.77 cm had 82% sensitivity, specificity 80%, whereas HMDR less than1.085 had sensitivity 75% and specificity 85.3%, in predicting difficult laryngoscopy (P = 0.00). CONCLUSION: The sonographic measurement of the Pre E/E-VC ratio is a better predictor of CL grading as compared to HMDR. The noninvasive prediction of CL grading can be precisely done by Pre-E/E-VC ratio (range: 0-1.425 corresponds to CL Grade 1; 1.425-1.77 ≈ CL Grade 2; 1.77-1.865 ≈ CL Grade 3, more than 1.865 corresponds to CL Grade 4).

Sternomental distance and sternomental displacement as predictors of difficult laryngoscopy and intubation in adult patients.

BACKGROUND: Several morphometric airway measurements have been used to predict difficult laryngoscopy (DL). This study evaluated sternomental distance (SMD) and sternomental displacement (SMDD, difference between SMD measured in neutral and extended head position), as predictors of DL and difficult intubation (DI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied 610 adult patients scheduled to receive general anesthesia with tracheal intubation. SMD, SMDD, physical, and airway characteristics were measured. DL (Cormack-Lehane grade 3/4) and DI (assessed by Intubation Difficulty Scale) were evaluated. The optimal cut-off points for SMD and SMDD were identified by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Multivariate logistic regression was used to predict DL and ROC curve was used to assess accuracy on developed regression model. RESULTS: The incidence of DL and DI was 15.4% and 8.3%, respectively. The cut-off values for SMD and SMDD were ≤14.75 cm (sensitivity 66%, specificity 60%) and ≤5.25 cm (sensitivity 70%, specificity 53%), respectively, for predicting DL. The area under the curve (AUC) with 95% confidence interval (CI) for SMD was 0.66 (0.60-0.72) and that for SMDD was 0.687 (0.63-0.74). Multivariate analysis with logistic regression identified inter-incisor distance, neck movement <80°, SMD, SMDD, short neck and history of snoring as predictors and the predictive model so obtained exhibited a higher diagnostic accuracy (AUC: 0.82; 95% CI 0.77-0.86). SMDD, but not SMD, correlated with DI. CONCLUSIONS: Both SMD and SMDD provide a rapid, simple, objective test that may help identifying patients at risk of DL. Their predictive value improves considerably when combined with the other predictors identified by logistic regression.

Difficult laryngoscopy and intubation in the Indian population: An assessment of anatomical and clinical risk factors.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Differences in patient characteristics due to race or ethnicity may influence the incidence of difficult airway. Our purpose was to determine the incidence of difficult laryngoscopy and intubation, as well as the anatomical features and clinical risk factors that influence them, in the Indian population. METHODS: In 330 adult patients receiving general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation, airway characteristics and clinical factors were determined and their association with difficult laryngoscopy (Cormack and Lehane grade 3 and 4) was analysed. Intubation Difficulty Scale score was used to identify degree of difficult laryngoscopy. RESULTS: The incidence of difficult laryngoscopy and intubation was 9.7% and 4.5%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed that increasing age and weight, male gender, modified Mallampati class (MMC) 3 and 4 in sitting and supine positions, inter-incisor distance (IID) ≤3.5 cm, thyromental (TMD) and sternomental distance, ratio of height and TMD, short neck, limited mandibular protrusion, decreased range of neck movement, history of snoring, receding mandible and cervical spondylosis were associated with difficult laryngoscopy. Multivariate analysis identified four variables that were independently associated with difficult laryngoscopy: MMC class 3 and 4, range of neck movement <80°, IID ≤ 3.5 cm and snoring. CONCLUSIONS: We found an incidence of 9.7% and 4.5% for difficult laryngoscopy and difficult intubation, respectively, in Indian patients with apparently normal airways. MMC class 3 and 4, range of neck movement <80°, IID ≤ 3.5 cm and snoring were independently related to difficult laryngoscopy. There was a high incidence (48.5%) of minor difficulty in intubation.

Table Tilt Versus Pelvic Tilt Position for Intrauterine Resuscitation during Spinal Anaesthesia for Caesarian Section.

BACKGROUND: This study was undertaken to compare the effects on intrauterine resuscitation by table tilt versus pelvic tilt position after spinal anaesthesia for Caesarian Section. PATIENTS #ENTITYSTARTX00026; METHODS: FIFTY ASA I AND II PATIENTS WHO FULFILLED THE ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA WERE ENROLLED IN THE STUDY AND WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: group W (Pelvic tilt with wedge under right hip and group L- (15(0)left lateral table tilt) and received spinal anaesthesia. The following parameters were recorded. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP) at baseline, 2mins, 5 min and then 5 min thereafter. Mean height of block, Total no. of segments blocked, Onset Time of sensory block (in Minutes), ephedrine doses, incidence of hypotension & bradycardia, APGAR score at 1& 5 Minutes. RESULTS: The decrease in MAP was much more in wedged position as compared to table tilt position also the incidence of hypotension was 40% in wedged position as compared to 12% in table tilt position. Mean height of block, Total no. of segments blocked, and boluses of inj. ephedrine used were more in the wedged position than in table tilt position. CONCLUSION: Wedge placement caused increased incidence of hypotension and higher blockade after spinal anaesthesia as compared to left lateral table tilt position, there was no adverse effects on foetus and patients tolerated wedge better than left lateral table tilt position. Also surgery was easier to perform after wedge placement.

A case of hypotension after intranasal adrenaline infiltration causing a clinical dilemma during the intraoperative period.

Solutions containing adrenaline are widely used for presurgical infiltration. Haemodynamic changes associated with its use are well documented in the literature. Prolonged intraoperative hypotension after subcutaneous infiltration of diluted adrenaline is an uncommon scenario. We believe that our case of the prolonged episode of hypotension was secondary to infiltration of nasal septum with a high concentration of adrenaline. As ß2 receptor activation leads to skeletal muscle vasodilation, a decrease in preload may have lead to profound hypotension. Postoperatively, the patient was examined and any autonomic or endocrinological pathology was ruled out.