Comparison of vocal cord view between neutral and sniffing position during orotracheal intubation using fiberoptic bronchoscope: a prospective, randomized cross over study.

BACKGROUND: In intubation using fiberoptic bronchoscope (FOB), partial or complete obstruction of upper airway makes the FOB insertion difficult. Thus, maneuvers to relieve such obstructions are recommended. There have been no studies to determine whether the sniffing or neutral position is superior for this purpose. Therefore, this study was performed to examine the effects of these two positions including vocal cord view. METHODS: Fifty-four patients scheduled to receive general anesthesia by orotracheal intubation were eligible for inclusion in the study with informed consent. After confirmation of proper head positioning depending on the group, the view of the vocal cord was acquired in each position. Images were reviewed using the percentage of glottic opening (POGO) score. RESULTS: A total of 106 images of vocal cords from 53 patients were obtained. The mean of difference of POGO score was 11.09, higher for the neutral position and standard deviation was 23.73 (p = 0.002). Neutral position increased POGO score in 31 patients and decreased POGO score in 13 patients compare to sniffing position (p = 0.017). There were no significant differences between the two head positions with regard to intubation time or degree of convenience during intubation. CONCLUSIONS: Neutral position improved the view of glottic opening than sniffing position during oral fiberoptic intubation. However, there was no difference in the difficulty of tube insertion between the two positions. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinical Trials.gov identifier: NCT02931019 , registered on October 12, 2016.

Population pharmacokinetics of palonosetron and model-based assessment of dosing strategies.

PURPOSE: Palonosetron is the most recent 5-hydroxytryptamine-3 receptor antagonist, and its fixed dose of 0.075 mg is indicated for the prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting. This study aimed to examine whether fixed dosing is more appropriate than body size-based dosing through the development of a population pharmacokinetic model and model-based simulations. METHODS: Fifty-one adult patients undergoing general anesthesia received single intravenous palonosetron administrations 30 min before the end of surgery. Palonosetron concentrations were measured in blood samples collected at various timepoints within 48 h. A population pharmacokinetic analysis was performed by non-linear mixed-effects modeling, and the area under the curves (AUCs) for fixed dosing and body size-based dosing were simulated. RESULTS: The pharmacokinetics of palonosetron were best described by the three-compartment model, and lean body weight (LBW) was the most significant covariate for all pharmacokinetic parameters. In a patient with LBW of 40 kg, typical clearance and central volume of distribution were 0.102 L/min and 6.98 L, respectively. In simulations, the overall interindividual variability in AUC (0, 48 h) of fixed dosing was not much higher than that of body size-based dosing. In subgroup analysis, the AUCs (0, 48 h) of fixed dosing were considerably lower in the high-weight subgroup and higher in the low-weight subgroup than the median-weight subgroup. In contrast, LBW-based dosing showed similar AUC distributions among the three subgroups. CONCLUSION: LBW-based dosing might be suitable for high-weight patients to avoid possible underdosing. Nevertheless, the current fixed dosing of palonosetron is acceptable for adult patients with normal weight.