RESUMEN
The occurrence of significant pain and paresthesia after robot-assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy has been reported, and some patients experience chronic symptoms even three months after surgery. This study scrutinized the effects of deep neuromuscular block during robot-assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy on postoperative pain and sensory changes. In this single-blinded, prospective, randomized, controlled trial, 88 patients who underwent robot-assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy were enrolled and randomly allocated to either the moderate or deep neuromuscular block groups. Study endpoints included postoperative pain, paresthesia, and sensory change after surgery. The linear mixed models for numeric rating scale pain scores in the chest, neck, and axilla all showed significant intergroup differences over time (p = 0.003 in chest; p = 0.001 in neck; p = 0.002 in axilla). In the post hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction, the pain scores of the chest, neck, and axilla were significantly lower in the deep neuromuscular block group on postoperative day one compared to the moderate neuromuscular block group (adjusted p < 0.001 in chest, neck, and axilla). This study demonstrated that deep neuromuscular block could reduce postoperative pain after robot-assisted transaxillary thyroidectomy. However, it could not demonstrate that deep neuromuscular block reduces paresthesia or hypoesthesia after the surgery.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The endothelial glycocalyx (EG) is an important structure that regulates vascular homeostasis. Deep inferior epigastric perforator (DIEP) flap is expected to cause substantial EG breakdown owing to the long procedural duration and ischemia- reperfusion injury. This prospective, randomized, controlled study aimed to compare syndecan-1 levels during sevoflurane-remifentanil and propofol-remifentanil anesthesia in patients who underwent DIEP flap breast reconstruction. METHODS: Fifty-one patients were randomized to either sevoflurane (n = 26) or propofol (n = 25) groups. Anesthesia was maintained with remifentanil in combination with either sevoflurane or propofol. The primary endpoint was the concentration of serum syndecan-1 measured at 1 h after surgery. RESULTS: Fifty patients (98.0%) completed the study. Patients in the propofol group had significantly lower levels of syndecan-1 than patients in the sevoflurane group at 1 h after operation (23.8 ± 1.6 vs. 30.9 ± 1.7 ng/ml, respectively; Bonferroni corrected P = 0.012). There were no significant differences between groups in postoperative complications. The postoperative hospital stay was 8.4 ± 2.5 days in the sevoflurane group and 7.4 ± 1.0 days in the propofol group (P = 0.077). CONCLUSIONS: Propofol-remifentanil anesthesia resulted in lesser increases in syndecan-1 levels compared to increases with sevoflurane-remifentanil anesthesia in patients who underwent DIEP flap reconstruction. Our results suggest that propofol-remifentanil anesthesia shows protective effects against EG damage during DIEP flap breast reconstruction in contrast to sevoflurane-remifentanil anesthesia.
RESUMEN
Remimazolam has been suggested to improve the maintenance of hemodynamic stability when compared with other agents used for general anesthesia. This study aimed to compare the effects of remimazolam and sevoflurane anesthesia on hemodynamic stability in patients undergoing robotic gastrectomy. We retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of 199 patients who underwent robotic gastrectomy with sevoflurane (n = 135) or remimazolam (n = 64) anesthesia from January to November 2021. Propensity scores were used for 1:1 matching between the groups. The primary outcome was the difference in use of intraoperative vasopressors between groups. Secondary outcomes included differences in incidence and dose of vasopressors, as well as intraoperative hemodynamic variables, between groups. Remimazolam anesthesia was associated with a significantly less frequent use of ephedrine (odds ratio (OR): 0.13; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.05−0.38, p < 0.001), phenylephrine (OR: 0.12; 95% CI: 0.04−0.40, p < 0.001), and any vasopressor (OR: 0.06; 95% CI: 0.02−0.25, p < 0.001) compared with sevoflurane anesthesia. Remimazolam anesthesia enables better maintenance of hemodynamic stability than sevoflurane anesthesia. Thus, remimazolam anesthesia may be beneficial for patients who are expected to experience hypotension due to the combined effects of CO2 pneumoperitoneum and the head-up position utilized during robotic gastrectomy.
RESUMEN
STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the type of anesthetic agent administered affects the antitussive effect of remifentanil. DESIGN: Prospective randomized study. SETTING: Operating room of a university hospital. PATIENTS: 78 ASA physical status 1 and 2 women, aged 20 to 65 years, who were scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomly assigned to three groups to receive anesthesia with propofol (Group P), sevoflurane (Group S), or desflurane (Group D). The main anesthetics were titrated to maintain a target Bispectral Index for hypnosis of 40 to 60. Remifentanil was administered via effect-site target-controlled infusion (TCI). To determine the effective remifentanil effect-site concentration (Ce) to suppress coughing in each group, the up-and-down sequential allocation design was used. MEASUREMENTS: The half maximal effective concentration (EC50) values of remifentanil for preventing coughing in the groups were estimated using isotonic regression and compared among the groups. MAIN RESULTS: The EC50 of remifentanil for cough suppression in Group P [1.60 ng/mL (98.3% CI, 0.92-1.75 ng/mL)] was statistically lower than in Group D [1.96 ng/mL (98.3% CI, 1.81-2.50 ng/mL)]. The EC50 in Group S was 1.75 ng/mL (98.3% CI, 1.39-2.13 ng/mL), which was higher than in Group P and lower than in Group D, but did not differ significantly from either group. CONCLUSIONS: Remifentanil administration for cough suppression during emergence should be customized to the anesthetic agent.