The incidences of nausea and vomiting after general anesthesia with remimazolam versus sevoflurane: a prospective randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) refers to nausea and vomiting that occurs within 24-h after surgery or in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU). Previous studies have reported that the use of remimazolam, a newer benzodiazepine (BDZ) hypnotic, for anesthesia results in less PONV. In this study, we compared the rate of PONV between sevoflurane and remimazolam after general anesthesia. METHODS: In this prospective randomized controlled trial, participants aged 20-80 years who underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy or hemicolectomy were randomized to either the remimazolam or sevoflurane group. The primary outcome was PONV incidence for 24-h after surgery. Secondary outcomes comprised of PONV at 30-min post-surgery, postoperative additional antiemetic use, and Quality of Recovery-15 (QOR-15) score at 24-h postoperatively. RESULTS: Forty patients were enrolled in the study. The remimazolam group exhibited significantly lower rates of PONV for 24-h after surgery than did the sevoflurane group (remimazolam group vs. sevoflurane group; 5% vs. 45%, P = 0.003, respectively). The use of dexamethasone, a rescue antiemetic administered within 24 h of surgery, was substantially lower in the remimazolam group than in the sevoflurane group (0% in remimazolam vs. 30% in sevoflurane, P = 0.020). The QOR-15 score at 24-h after surgery showed no significant difference between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to sevoflurane, opting for remimazolam as an intraoperative hypnotic may decrease the incidence of PONV and reduce antiemetic use for 24 h after laparoscopic surgery.

Effect of Remifentanil on Postoperative Vomiting After Strabismus Surgery in Preschool Children: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Strabismus surgery and the use of opioid are risk factors of postoperative vomiting. We evaluated whether there is a dose-dependent effect of remifentanil on the incidence of postoperative vomiting. Methods: Sixty pediatric patients who were scheduled for strabismus surgery were enrolled. Patients were randomly divided into three groups; Group H (high-dose remifentanil group), Group L (low-dose remifentanil group), and Group C (control group). After endotracheal intubation, patients in the Group H and L received an intravenous bolus dose of remifentanil of 1.0 µg/kg and 0.5 µg/kg over 2 min, respectively. Group H and L patients received a continuous infusion of remifentanil (0.1 µg/kg/min) during the surgery. The patients in Group C did not have any dose of remifentanil. Intravenous fentanyl (1 µg/kg) was administered to the patients for postoperative pain control. Results: The primary outcome was a difference of the incidence of postoperative vomiting within 24 hours after surgery. There was no significant difference in incidence of postoperative vomiting between three groups. The degree of emergence agitation and postoperative pain did not show any significant difference between three groups. Conclusions: The intraoperative administration of remifentanil did not show dose-dependent effect on postoperative vomiting in pediatric strabismus surgery.

Leriche Syndrome Misdiagnosed as Complex Regional Pain Syndrome in a Patient with Neuropathic Pain Caused by a Chip Fracture: A Case Report.

INTRODUCTION: Leriche syndrome is an aortoiliac occlusive disease caused by atherosclerotic occlusion. We report a case of Leriche syndrome with a fracture that was suspected as complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), as the post-traumatic pain gradually worsened in the form of excruciating neuropathic pain. CASE REPORT: A 52-year-old woman with a history of hypertension was referred to the Department of Pain Medicine from a local orthopedic clinic because of suspected CRPS for excruciating neuropathic pain for one month. She complained of gait dysfunction and severe pain in the right foot following an incident of trauma with the right first toe. The average pain intensity assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) was 90 (0: no pain, 100: the worst pain imaginable), and the neuropathic pain was evident as a score of 6/10 on Douleur neuropathique 4. Allodynia, hyperalgesia, blue discoloration of the skin, asymmetric temperature change (1.38 °C), and edematous soft tissue changes were observed. Ultrasonography showed a chip fracture in the first distal phalanx of the right first toe. The diagnosis was most probably CRPS type I according to the Budapest research criteria for CRPS. However, multiple pain management techniques were insufficient in controlling the symptoms. A month and a half later, an ankle-brachial index score of less than 0.4 suggested severe peripheral artery disease. Computed tomography angiography showed total occlusion between the infrarenal abdominal aorta and the bilateral common iliac arteries. Therefore, she underwent aortic-bifemoral bypass surgery with a diagnosis of Leriche syndrome. Three months after the surgery, the average pain intensity was graded as 10 on the VAS (0-100), the color of the skin of the right first toe improved and no gait dysfunction was observed. CONCLUSION: A chip fracture in a region with insufficient blood flow could manifest as excruciating neuropathic pain in Leriche syndrome.

Severe Atrophy of the Ipsilateral Psoas Muscle Associated with Hip Osteoarthritis and Spinal Stenosis-A Case Report.

Pathology of the lumbar spine and hip joint can commonly coexist in the elderly. Anterior and lateral leg pain as symptoms of hip osteoarthritis and spinal stenosis can closely resemble each other, with only subtle differences in both history and physical examinations. It is not easy to identify the origin of this kind of hip pain. The possibility of hip osteoarthritis should not be underestimated, as this could lead to an incorrect diagnosis and inappropriate spinal surgery. We report the case of a 54-year-old female with chronic right anterior and lateral leg pain who did not respond to repeated spinal blocks based on lumbar MRI, but in whom hip osteoarthritis was considered since severe atrophy of the ipsilateral psoas muscle was identified. We suggest that severe psoas muscle atrophy can be a clinical clue to identify hip osteoarthritis and is related to lower extremity pain, even if there is a coexisting lumbar spine pathology.

Effect of phenylephrine infusion on hypotension induced by the beach chair position: A prospective randomized trial.

BACKGROUND: The beach chair position (BCP), used during shoulder surgery, is associated with hypotension, bradycardia, and risk of cerebral hypoperfusion. Phenylephrine is commonly used as a first treatment of choice of intraoperative hypotension during surgery. We evaluated the hemodynamic effects of 2 doses of intravenous phenylephrine infusion administered before being placed in BCP for arthroscopic shoulder surgery. The primary endpoint was the incidence of hypotension after positional change. METHODS: Sixty-six patients were randomized to receive either intravenous normal saline (group NS) or intravenous phenylephrine infusion (0.5 µg/kg/min, group LP or 1.0 µg/kg/min, group HP) for 5 minutes before being placed in the BCP. Mean arterial pressure(MAP), heart rate, stroke volume variation, and cardiac index were measured before and after positional change. RESULTS: The total incidence of hypotension after the BCP was 93.65%, but was not significantly different among the 3 groups. However, there was a significant difference in trends between the groups for MAP for 5 minutes after BCP (P = .028). Comparison of changes in MAP at 1 minute compared to post-induction MAP was significantly different between group HP and group NS (P = .014). CONCLUSION: Infusion of 0.5 and 1.0 µg/kg/min of phenylephrine for 5 minutes before the BCP has no preventive effect for incidence of hypotension. However, this study showed that 1.0 µg/kg/min of phenylephrine infusion for 5 minutes can attenuate the severity of hypotension.

Analgesia for spinal anesthesia positioning in elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures: Dexmedetomidine-ketamine versus dexmedetomidine-fentanyl.

Elderly patients with femoral fractures are anticipated to endure the most pain caused by positional changes required for spinal anesthesia. To improve pain relief, we compared the analgesic effects of intravenous dexmedetomidine-ketamine and dexmedetomidine-fentanyl combinations to facilitate patient positioning for spinal anesthesia in elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures. Forty-six patients were randomly assigned to two groups and received either 1 mg/kg of intravenous ketamine (group K) or 1 µg/kg of intravenous fentanyl (group F) concomitant with a loading dose of dexmedetomidine 1 µg/kg over 10 minutes, then dexmedetomidine infusion only was continued at 0.6 µg/kg/h for following 20 minutes, and titrated at a rate of 0.2 to 0.6 µg/kg/h until the end of surgery. After completion of the infusion of either ketamine or fentanyl, the patients were placed in the lateral position with the fracture site up. The pain score (0 = calm, 1 = facial grimacing, 2 = moaning, 3 = screaming, and 4 = unable to proceed because of restlessness or agitation) was used to describe the pain intensity in each step during the procedure (lateral positioning, hip flexion, and lumbar puncture), and quality score (0 = poor hip flexion, 1 = satisfactory hip flexion, 2 = good hip flexion, and 3 = optimal hip flexion) was used to describe the quality of posture. Group K showed a median pain score of 0 (0-1), 0 (0-0) and 0 (0-0) in lateral positioning, hip flexion and lumbar puncture, respectively, while group F showed a score of 3 (2.75-3), 3 (2-3) and 0 (0-1), respectively. The pain score in lateral positioning (P < .0001) and hip flexion (P < .0001) was significantly lower in group K than group F. Group K showed the significantly higher quality scores of spinal anesthesia positioning (P = .0044) than group F. Hemodynamic adverse effects, such as bradycardia, hypotension, and desaturation, were not significantly different between the groups. The administration of dexmedetomidine-ketamine showed a greater advantage in reducing pain intensity and increasing the quality with patient positioning during spinal anesthesia in elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures, without any serious adverse effects.

Predictive value of neurophysiologic monitoring during neurovascular intervention for postoperative new neurologic deficits.

PURPOSE: Forms of intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring (IONM), including somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEPs) and motor evoked potentials (MEPs), have been widely used in the field of neurosurgery. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of IONM in identifying intraoperative events and predicting postoperative neurologic deficits in neurovascular intervention. METHODS: From January 2013 to December 2016, we retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent neurovascular intervention under general anesthesia with the use of IONM. Associations between significant changes in MEPs or SSEPs which were defined as a decrease more than 50% in amplitude and/or an increase more than 10% in latency and any identifiable intraoperative events and/or postoperative neurologic deficits were determined. The sensitivity and specificity values for both MEPs and SSEPs were calculated. RESULTS: In total, 578 patients (175 men and 403 women) were included. Their mean age was 59.5 years. SSEP changes occurred in 1% (n = 6), and MEP changes occurred in 1.2% (n = 7). Four patients suffered postoperative neurologic deficits, and identifiable intraoperative events were observed in seven patients. Both SSEP and MEP changes were significantly associated with identifiable intraoperative events and/or postoperative neurologic deficits (p < 0.001, Fisher's exact test). The calculated sensitivity and specificity of MEP monitoring were 50 and 99.5%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of SSEP monitoring were both 100%. CONCLUSION: Intraoperative SSEP monitoring might be a reliable and sensitive method to surveil neurologic complications during neurovascular intervention. Intraoperative MEP monitoring appears to be feasible. However, it is unclear whether MEP monitoring has any additive benefit over SSEP monitoring.

The timing of administration of intravenous dexmedetomidine during lower limb surgery: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Dexmedetomidine, a selective alpha-2 agonist, has sedative, analgesic, and anxiolytic effects without respiratory depression. Dexmedetomidine can cause a biphasic cardiovascular response, and induce transient hypertension. Hypotension is a common complication of spinal anesthesia. Decreasing anxiety of patients before procedure is important for high quality of procedure. This study aimed to compare the incidence of hypotension and patients' anxiety and comfort levels when dexmedetomidine was intravenously administered before and after spinal anesthesia. METHODS: Seventy-four patients with American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status classification I or II were randomly allocated into two groups. Spinal anesthesia was performed using 12 mg of 0.5% heavy bupivacaine. In Group A, 1 µg/kg of dexmedetomidine was intravenously administered for 10 min, followed by the maintenance infusion of dexmedetomidine 0.2 µg/kg/hr after 5 min of intrathecal bupivacaine injection. Patients in Group B received same dose of dexmedetomidine by intravenous administration before 5 min of intrathecal bupivacaine injection. Perioperative vital signs, anxiety (using the Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and comfort (using the numerical rating scale) were evaluated. RESULTS: The incidence of hypotension was significantly lower in Group A (16.1%) than in Group B (48.4%) during infusion of dexmedetomidine (p = 0.01). The need for treatment of hypotension is higher in Group B than Group A (p = 0.02). The incidence of bradycardia and desaturation did not significantly differ between the two groups. There were no statistically significant differences regarding the patients' anxiety and comfort. CONCLUSIONS: Hypotension is more frequently occurred, and the treatment of hypotension is more needed in Group B. The intravenously administration of dexmedetomidine before spinal anesthesia has no advantages in hemodynamic status and patients' comfort compared to that after spinal anesthesia during lower limb surgery. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT02155010 . Retrospectively registered on May 22, 2014.

Comparison of effects of intravenous midazolam and ketamine on emergence agitation in children: Randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: A prospective, double-blind, randomized controlled trial to compare the effect of preoperative midazolam or ketamine on the incidence of emergence agitation (EA) following sevoflurane anaesthesia in children. METHODS: Paediatric patients (2-6 years old) undergoing ophthalmic surgery were allocated to receive premedication with either 0.1 mg/kg midazolam or 1 mg/kg ketamine. Incidence of EA and postoperative pain scores were recorded at 10-min intervals in the postanaesthetic care unit (PACU). The use of EA rescue medications (fentanyl or midazolam) was recorded. RESULTS: The incidence of EA was significantly lower in the ketamine group (n = 33) than the midazolam group (n = 34) at 10 and 20 min after transfer to PACU. There was no significant difference in overall incidence of EA. The frequency of midazolam use as rescue medication was significantly lower in the katamine group than in the midazolam group. CONCLUSION: Premedication with ketamine is more effective than midazolam in preventing EA during the early emergence period after sevoflurane anaesthesia in children.

Influence of Ketamine on Early Postoperative Cognitive Function After Orthopedic Surgery in Elderly Patients.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) is a serious and frequent complication after surgery, especially in elderly patients. Ketamine is an N-methyl D-aspartic acid receptor antagonist with demonstrated neuroprotective effects. An intravenous bolus of a sub-anesthetic dose (0.5 mg/kg) of ketamine can reduce postoperative delirium (POD) and POCD after cardiac surgery. But, the influence of ketamine on early POCD after non-cardiac surgery is unclear. OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to evaluate the influence of ketamine on early postoperative cognitive function after orthopedic surgery in elderly patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty six elderly patients (> 60-years-old), scheduled for elective orthopedic surgery during general anesthesia (duration of anesthesia > two hours) were enrolled. Patients received intravenous bolus, a total of 3 mL mixed with 0.9% normal saline and 0.5 mg/kg ketamine (K group) or 3 mL of 0.9% normal saline (N group). Three neurocognitive function tests (mini-mental status examination, trail-making test, digit substitution test), and c-reactive protein (CRP) concentration were determined before surgery and on postoperative day one (POD 1) and postoperative day six (POD 6). RESULTS: The two groups had similar demographic characteristics except for the gender. Surgical and anesthetic data were not significantly different. A statistically significant difference was observed in comparison of trail-making test score. Trail-making test score increased more in the N group (52.5 points) than the K group (13 points) at POD 1 (P = 0.047) compared with baseline scores. There were no significant differences in the mini-mental status examination, digit substitution test and CRP concentration at POD 1 and POD 6 between the two groups. POCD (the two Z-scores in more than two tests or the combined Z-score was 1.96 or more) was present in one patient (4%) in the K group at POD 6 (P = 0.98). CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of POCD was not significantly influenced by a bolus dose of ketamine (0.5 mg/kg) after orthopedic surgery in elderly patients. There were no negative effects of ketamine on early POCD.

Processed Aloe vera gel ameliorates cyclophosphamide-induced immunotoxicity.

The effects of processed Aloe vera gel (PAG) on cyclophosphamide (CP)-induced immunotoxicity were examined in mice. Intraperitoneal injection of CP significantly reduced the total number of lymphocytes and erythrocytes in the blood. Oral administration of PAG quickly restored CP-induced lymphopenia and erythropenia in a dose-dependent manner. The reversal of CP-induced hematotoxicity by PAG was mediated by the functional preservation of Peyer's patch cells. Peyer's patch cells isolated from CP-treated mice, which were administered PAG, produced higher levels of T helper 1 cytokines and colony-stimulating factors (CSF) in response to concanavalin A stimulation as compared with those isolated from CP-treated control mice. PAG-derived polysaccharides directly activated Peyer's patch cells isolated from normal mice to produce cytokines including interleukin (IL)-6, IL-12, interferon-γ, granulocyte-CSF, and granulocyte-macrophage-CSF. The cytokines produced by polysaccharide-stimulated Peyer's patch cells had potent proliferation-inducing activity on mouse bone marrow cells. In addition, oral administration of PAG restored IgA secretion in the intestine after CP treatment. These results indicated that PAG could be an effective immunomodulator and that it could prevent CP-induced immunotoxic side effects.

Integration of microfluidic chip with biomimetic hydrogel for 3D controlling and monitoring of cell alignment and migration.

A biomimetic hydrogel was integrated into microfluidic chips to monitor glioma cell alignment and migration. The extracellular matrix-based biomimetic hydrogel was remodeled by matrix metalloprotease (MMP) secreted by glioma cells and the hydrogel could thus be used to assess cellular behavior. Both static and dynamic cell growth conditions (flow rate of 0.1 mL/h) were used. Cell culture medium with and without vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), insensitive VEGF and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP) were employed to monitor cell behavior. A concentration gradient formed in the hydrogel resulted in differences in cell behavior. Glioma cell viability in the microchannel was 75-85%. Cells in the VEGF-loaded microchannels spread extensively, degrading the MMP-sensitive hydrogel, and achieved cell sizes almost fivefold larger than seen in the control medium. Our integrated system can be used as a model for the study of cellular behavior in a controlled microenvironment generated by fluidic conditions in a biomimetic matrix.

Lumbar plexopathy caused by metastatic tumor, which was mistaken for postoperative femoral neuropathy.

Surgical excision was performed on a 30-years old woman with a painful mass on her left thigh. The pathologic findings on the mass indicated fibromatosis. After the operation, she complained of allodynia and spontaneous pain at the operation site and ipsilateral lower leg. We treated her based on postoperative femoral neuropathy, but symptom was aggravated. We found a large liposarcoma in her left iliopsoas muscle which compressed the lumbar plexus. In conclusion, the cause of pain was lumbar plexopathy related to a mass in the left iliopsoas muscle. Prompt diagnosis of acute neuropathic pain after an operation is important and management must be based on exact causes.

Distal oesophageal stricture after transoesophageal echocardiography in a cardiac surgical patient.

Transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is an important tool for diagnosis and monitoring during anaesthesia in cardiac operation. TEE is generally considered a safe and minimally invasive technique. However, adverse events may occur during probe insertion or manipulation. We report a case of delayed distal oesophageal stricture with an associated scarring probably due to TEE during a cardiac operation. The patient, a 75-year-old female, underwent coronary artery bypass graft, mitral valve replacement, and tricuspid valve annuloplasty. Seven days after surgery, the patient complained of dysphagia without haemoptysis and drop of haematocrit. At 24 days after surgery, severe stricture of distal oesophagus with scarring was observed by oesophagography and stent insertion was done.