The efficiency of different adjunct techniques for regional anesthesia.

In the present prospective, randomized controlled trial, 110 unpremedicated patients undergoing orthopedic surgery under regional anesthesia were randomly divided into 5 groups, with 22 patients in each. During the operation, group 1 listened to a pre-recorded explanation and music, group 2 listened to a subliminal sound, group 3 received propofol by patient-controlled sedation (PCS), group 4 received intravenous midazolam, and group 5 was the control group. Patients in the midazolam group were significantly more sedated than the control group at 1 hr into the operation. The group that listened to an explanation and music were significantly less satisfied than the propofol group at the end of the operation and 30 min. postoperatively. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio showed that if explanation and music are used instead of propofol it would save 299.53 baht per patient, but the patient satisfaction score will be 17.26 points lower than if the more expensive drug is used.

Mental state change after general and regional anesthesia in adults and elderly patients, a randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Mental state changes after anesthesia seemed to be more frequent in older patients, but the results were still unclear. OBJECTIVE: To compare the mental scores between adults and elderly patients after general and regional anesthesia. METHODS: This was a stratified randomized trial with factorial design. Sixty patients > or = 60 years old and sixty patients < 60 years old were randomly assigned to receive general or regional anesthesia. Their mental states were assessed blind by investigators, using the Thai Mental State Examination score. RESULTS: The two anesthetic groups showed no difference in the mental scores, but the two age groups showed significantly different scores. The components of mental states that were significantly different were orientation and recall. There were no significant differences in registration, attention, calculation and language. The model for predicting the score included age, education level and narcotics given within six hours before assessment. Sex, weight, intraoperative hypotension, blood loss and duration of anesthesia could not explain the change in the scores. CONCLUSION: Age, but not anesthetic technique, affected the mental scores after anesthesia.

The risk and effectiveness of transurethral resection of prostate.

BACKGROUND: To advise a patient to have transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) needs information on the benefit and complications of the procedure. Quality assurance also needs present results to be compared with future ones. OBJECTIVES: The authors wanted to know: 1. Whether TURP can decrease theInternational prostate symptom score (IPSS) and improve the Quality of Life (QOL) scores concerning urination at 1.5 months post-operatively for at least 25 per cent of the pre-operative scores?; 2. What are the common medical diseases in this type of patient?; and 3. What are the mortality and immediate complications of TURPF? METHOD: This was a prospective, before-after design trial. All patients who came to have TURP at a tertiary care hospital were studied. IPSS and QOL scores were recorded before surgery and again when the patients came back to follow up at 1.5 months after discharge. Patients were evaluated for cardiopulmonary reserve and congestive heart failure. Anesthetic technique of choice was spinal anesthesia with 0.5 per cent bupivacaine. Anesthetic and surgical complications were recorded if the definitions were met. ANALYSIS: Pre-operative and 1.5 months post-operative scores were compared using paired t-test and 95 per cent confidence interval. RESULTS: During the 13 months there were 269 consecutive males who received TURP. The mean +/- SD age was 70.4 +/- 8.8 years (range 35-97). The mean difference between pre- and post-operative IPSS was 6.7 +/- 9.1 (95% CI 5.2-7.8). Quality of Life also improved, the mean difference between pre- and post-operative QOL was 3.2 +/- 1.6 (95% CI 2.9-3.5). Most patients had ASA class 2. Common pre-operative existing diseases were hypertension (31.6%), ischemic heart disease (18.2%), diabetes (15.6%), and COPD (7.1%). Anesthetic techniques were spinal block (77.3%), epidural block (5.9%), continuous epidural (11.2%), and general anesthesia (5.6%). Intra-operative complications were reported and T URsyndrome occurred in 1 patient (0.37%). There was one surgical death 3 days post-operation, due to septic shock probably from bowel perforation. CONCLUSION: The patients' symptoms and quality of life significantly improved, but there was 1 surgical death and 1 TUR syndrome among 269.