[Awake craniotomy. Considerations in special situations]. / Craneotomía en el paciente consciente. Consideraciones en situaciones especiales.

Awake craniotomy was the earliest surgical procedure known, and it has become fashionable again. In the past it was used for the surgical management of intractable epilepsy, but nowadays, its indications are increasing, and it is a widely recognized technique for the resection of mass lesions involving the eloquent cortex, and for deep brain stimulation. The procedure is safe, provides excellent results, and saves money and resources. The anesthesiologist should know the principles underlying neuroanesthesia, the technique of scalp blockade, and the sedation protocols, as well as feeling comfortable with advanced airway management. The main anesthetic aim is to keep patients cooperating when required (analgesia-based anesthesia). This review attempts to summarize the most recent evidence from the clinical literature, a long as the number of patients undergoing craniotomies in the awake state are increasing, specifically in the pediatric population.

[Analysis of the causes for increases in the length of stay in the Recovery Unit of La Paz Maternity Hospital in 2008]. / Análisis de las causas de prolongación de la estancia en la Unidad de Reanimación del Hospital Maternal La Paz en el año 2008.

OBJECTIVE: To establish the spectrum of diseases in the obstetric patient that involves an increase in the length of stay in the Recovery Unit of a specialist Maternity Hospital. To analyse the severity of these conditions as regards the means required for their resolu-tion, as well as to identify the factors that influence on post-operative morbidity in the obstetric patient. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All the case histories of all the patients admitted to the Maternity Hospital Recovery Unit during the year 2008 were reviewed. Those who required a lon-ger stay than usual were selected, which included, those with more than 6hours after a caesarean, and all admissions made during pregnancy, or after dilation and curettage or partum. RESULTS: Out of a total of 10419 births delivered in 2008, 3000 obstetric patients were ad-mitted to the Maternity Hospital Recovery Unit, of which 285 (9.5%) required critical care. The most frequent cause of increased length of stay was obstetric haemorrhage, followed by hypertensive states of pregnancy. No patients died in this Unit in the year 2008. CONCLUSIONS: The number of patients who had an increased length of stay in the Mater-nity Hospital Recovery Unit is similar to the percentage of patients who are admitted to Intensive Care Units in countries such as Canada or the United Kingdom, but our Unit had a lower death rate in the year evaluated. The main causes are obstetric haemorrhage and hypertensive states of pregnancy, thus patients with risk factors for developing these complications must be observed closely and monitored.