Intrathecal catheter for severe low back pain during deep brain stimulation placement: illustrative case.

BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved therapy for medically refractory Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, and other neurological conditions. The procedure requires prolonged immobility and can result in significant patient discomfort, potentially limiting patient selection. In addition, surgical requirements necessitate avoidance of medications that may alter or suppress the patient's arousal or baseline tremor during macrostimulation testing. OBSERVATIONS: In this study, the authors describe the use of continuous spinal anesthesia with local anesthetic to manage a patient with severe back pain who was intolerant of semisupine position during stereotactic computed tomography and stage 1 of DBS placement. LESSONS: Continuous spinal anesthesia is an effective strategy to manage patients with severe back pain undergoing DBS surgery for upper extremity motor symptoms.

Medications to reduce emergence coughing after general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Emergence coughing can harm the patient following completion of surgery, but it is unclear which medication is most effective at reducing this event. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of RCTs to determine the medications' relative efficacies on decreasing moderate to severe emergence coughing after general anaesthesia. Medications studied were lidocaine (i.v., intracuff, topical, or tracheal application), dexmedetomidine, remifentanil, and fentanyl. METHODS: We searched eight different medical literature databases, conference abstracts, and article references. After screening, included citations were evaluated for bias and had their data extracted. Pooled odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for each treatment comparison were calculated. A surface under the cumulative ranking curve analysis (SUCRA) determined the relative rank of each intervention to decrease moderate to severe emergence coughing. Subgroup analyses included severe coughing only, extubation times, type of maintenance anaesthetic, and dosages. RESULTS: The network meta-analysis included 70 studies and 5286 patients. All study medications had favourable odds in reducing moderate and severe peri-extubation coughing compared with either no medication or placebo. No single medication was favoured over another. Dexmedetomidine had the highest SUCRA rank, followed in order by remifentanil, fentanyl, and lidocaine via intracuff, tracheal/topical, and i.v. routes. Remifentanil was ranked highest for decreasing severe coughing only. Intracuff lidocaine had higher odds of prolonging extubation times compared with placebo, dexmedetomidine, fentanyl, and remifentanil. CONCLUSION: All study medications were better than placebo or no medication in reducing moderate to severe emergence cough, with dexmedetomidine ranked the most effective. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO registration number: CRD42018102870.

Pharmacological methods for reducing coughing on emergence from elective surgery after general anesthesia with endotracheal intubation: protocol for a systematic review of common medications and network meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Emergence coughing and bucking, secondary to endotracheal tube stimulation of the tracheal mucosa, frequently occurs after the general anesthetic recedes. Besides general unpleasantness, coughing has important physiological sequelae that may be detrimental to the postoperative patient. Multiple pharmacological strategies have been published, but prior systematic reviews on this topic have neither been comprehensive enough in their literature or medication search, nor provided us the answer regarding what the best pharmacological method is to prevent or minimize peri-extubation coughing. Our systematic review and network meta-analysis' primary objective is to determine the relative efficacies of different pharmacological methods on decreasing coughing (none to mild compared to moderate to severe, as defined by the modified Minogue scale) during emergence after a general anesthetic with endotracheal intubation in adult elective surgeries. Medications of interest are lidocaine or lignocaine (intravenous (IV), intracuff alkalinized, intracuff non-alkalinized, topical, endotracheal application), dexmedetomidine IV, remifentanil IV, and fentanyl IV. These medications were selected based on a preliminary review of the literature. METHODS: Using a predefined search strategy, we will search MEDLINE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, ACP Journal Club, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, and the Cochrane Methodology Register, with no date or language restrictions. Gray literature search will encompass conference abstracts, Web of Science, and references from publications selected for full-text review. Two reviewers will independently screen the retrieved literature using predetermined inclusion criteria, process publications selected for full-text review, extract data from publications chosen for study inclusion, and evaluate for bias using the Cochrane risk of bias assessment. Risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals will be calculated for each study, and a surface under the cumulative ranking curve will determine the relative rank of each intervention in its ability to prevent coughing on emergence. DISCUSSION: The proposed systematic review and network meta-analysis will not only provide a more thorough review of common medications used to decrease emergence coughing, but also inform clinicians which of these pharmacological strategies is the best approach. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42018102870.

Comparing the novel GlideScope Groove videolaryngoscope with conventional videolaryngoscopy: a randomized mannequin study of novice providers.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To compare the GlideScope Groove (GG) with conventional GlideScope videolaryngoscopy (GVL) and direct laryngoscopy (DL) on intubation times, intubation attempts, and glottic visualization of an airway mannequin by medical students. DESIGN: Randomized crossover trial. SETTING: Intensive care unit of an academic tertiary-care hospital. PARTICIPANTS: 34 medical students with no airway management experience. MEASUREMENTS: Each participant received standardized video instruction on all three laryngoscopes and was given 10 minutes to practice with each device. The participants had two attempts using DL, and then had two attempts each with either the GG or GVL in random order. MEASUREMENTS: Time-to-intubate the mannequin in seconds was recorded. Secondary outcomes were Cormack-Lehane grade and number of intubation attempts, also recorded. MAIN RESULTS: The median number of seconds required to successfully intubate the mannequin with DL, GVL, and GG were 17.4 seconds [interquartile range (IQR) 13.2 - 22.1)], 17.7 seconds (IQR 14.9 - 21.0), and 21.7 seconds (IQR 15.4 - 37.0), respectively. No differences in time-to-intubate was noted among the three devices (P = 0.45). A Cormack-Lehane grade 1 view was obtained for 25 of 34 participants (74%) with DL, 32 of 34 participants (94%) with GVL, and 34 of 34 participants (100%) with GG. First-attempt intubation success was 30 of 34 participants (88%) with DL, 34 of 34 participants (100%) with GVL, and 11 of 34 participants (32%) with GG. Using the GG, 6 of 24 participants (18%) required three attempts. More attempts were required for the GG than for DL (P < 0.001) or GVL (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: GG was not superior to DL or GVL in time-to-intubate an airway mannequin.