A Review of Dental Anatomy and Dental Injury Associated With Anesthesia.

Dental injury during airway management is a common complication encountered during the administration of general anesthesia. This article gives an overview of the frequency of dental injuries, dental anatomy, conditions that increase the risk of dental injury, and mechanism of injury, as well as discusses injury management and avoidance of dental trauma. Although this article does not encompass all situations and variables, it covers these topics in a useful and easily remembered manner that the anesthetist can easily incorporate into practice.

Anesthesia and the developing brain.

Despite the profound evolution in the safety and efficacy of neonatal and pediatric anesthesia, questions remain concerning the long-term neurotoxic and neurocognitive effects of the drugs used in anesthetic care. A variety of prospective animal models and retrospective human studies exist that inconsistently demonstrate a detrimental effect of early life exposure to anesthetic drugs and subsequent learning performance. Limitations associated with both non-human and human observational studies are critiqued. Research currently underway is briefly described. A framework for discussing the relevant issues with concerned parents is presented.

Numbers of simultaneous turnovers calculated from anesthesia or operating room information management system data.

BACKGROUND: More personnel are needed to turn over operating rooms (ORs) promptly when there are more simultaneous turnovers. Anesthesia and/or OR information management system data can be analyzed statistically to quantify simultaneous turnovers to evaluate whether to add an additional turnover team. METHODS: Data collected for each case at a six OR facility were room, date of surgery, time of patient entry into the OR, and time of patient exit from the OR. The number of simultaneous turnovers was calculated for each 1 min of 122 4-wk periods. Our end point was the reduction in the daily minutes of simultaneous turnovers exceeding the number of teams caused by the addition of a team. RESULTS: Increasing from two turnover teams to three teams reduced the mean daily minutes of simultaneous turnovers exceeding the numbers of teams by 19 min. The ratio of 19 min to 8 h valued the time of extra personnel as 4.0% of the time of OR staff, surgeons, and anesthesia providers. Validity was suggested by other methods of analyses also suggesting staffing for three simultaneous turnovers. Discrete-event simulation showed that the reduction in daily minutes of turnover times from the addition of a team would likely match or exceed the reduction in the daily minutes of simultaneous turnovers exceeding the numbers of teams. Confidence intervals for daily minutes of turnover times achieved by increasing from two to three teams were calculated using successive 4-wk periods. The distribution was sufficiently close to normal that accurate confidence intervals could be calculated using Student's t distribution (Lilliefors' test P = 0.58). Analysis generally should use 13 4-wk periods as increasing the number of periods from 6 to 13 significantly reduced the coefficient of variation of the averages but not increasing the number of periods from 6 to 9 or from 9 to 13. CONCLUSION: The number of simultaneous turnovers can be calculated for each 1 min over 1 yr. The reduction in the daily minutes of simultaneous turnovers exceeding the number of teams achieved by the addition of a turnover team can be averaged over the year's 13 4-wk periods to provide insight as to the value (or not) of adding an additional team.

An emerging clinical paradigm: the cuffed pediatric endotracheal tube.

The use of a cuffed endotracheal tube (ET) has been discouraged in children up to 8 years of age. Recent literature suggests that this age-old argument is empirical rather than scientifically based. This AANA Journal course will examine the history of pediatric endotracheal intubation, suggested methods for choosing the appropriately sized ET emerging literature describing the advantages and disadvantages of the use of the cuffed ET in young children, and potential clinical problems that develop with the use of the currently available, manufactured, cuffed pediatric ETs.

AANA journal course. Update for nurse anesthetists--part 4--life in the balance: the role of serpins in disease genesis and prevention.

Complex biological systems are often shaped and maintained by opposing forces. A relevant biological example is the delicate balance between proteases and their inhibitors. Serine proteases contain a serine residue in the active site of the molecule that is essential to the activity of the enzyme. Protease inhibitors limit the activity of proteases in the body. As examples, aprotinin (Trasylol), a serine protease inhibitor, and aminocaproic acid (Amicar), a lysine protease inhibitor, are used to decrease the rate of fibrinolysis and have recently been the subject of considerable controversy in the literature regarding safety and efficacy. This AANA journal course reviews 2 common examples of protease inhibitor disorders, angioedema and a form of emphysema, that are of particular anesthetic relevance.

Update for nurse anesthetists--part 6--Perioperative care of patients with cerebral palsy.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of nonprogressive, motor impairment patterns due to an insult to the developing encephalon. Clinical manifestations vary by the specific motor deformity, anatomically affected region, and location of the brain injury. Spasticity is common, resulting in skeletal muscle weakness and loss of fine motor control. Spasticity in a child undergoing skeletal maturation may precipitate joint contractures and dislocation. Long-term medical care is interventional. The therapeutic goals are to increase the person's independence and improve the caretaker's ability to provide daily care. Early medical intervention to control spasticity and prevent contractures may reduce the need for future orthopedic surgical intervention. Centrally acting, tone-reducing medications may decrease spasticity but cause central nervous system side effects. Orthopedic surgical procedures may be necessary to remedy the chronic effects of increased tone on the muscles and bones of the extremities and spine. Anesthetic care of children and adolescents with CP is increasing. Thorough preoperative assessment facilitates preparation of an intraoperative care plan. Intellectual disability may attend CP and limit the person's ability to participate in preoperative preparation. Perioperative complications include hypothermia, intravascular depletion, muscle spasm, limb contracture, and seizure control. Gastroesophageal reflux and poor respiratory function might complicate anesthetic management.

Predictive performance of three multivariate difficult tracheal intubation models: a double-blind, case-controlled study.

We performed a case-controlled, double-blind study to examine the performance of three multivariate clinical models (Wilson, Arné, and Naguib models) in the prediction of unanticipated difficult intubation. The study group consisted of 97 patients in whom an unanticipated difficult intubation had occurred. For each difficult intubation patient, a matched control patient was selected in whom tracheal intubation had been easily accomplished. Postoperatively, a blinded investigator evaluated both patients. The clinical assessment included the patient's weight, height, age, Mallampati score, interincisor gap, thyromental distance, thyrosternal distance, neck circumference, Wilson risk sum score, history of previous difficult intubation, and diseases associated with difficult laryngoscopy or intubation. The Naguib model was significantly more sensitive (81.4%; P < 0.0001) than the Arné (54.6%) or Wilson (40.2%) models. Both the Naguib (76.8%) and Arné (74.7%) model classified more intubations correctly (P = 0.01) than the Wilson model (66.5%). The specificity of Arné, Wilson, and Naguib model was 94.9%, 92.8%, and 72.2%, respectively (P < 0.0001). The corresponding area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.87, 0.79, and 0.82, respectively. Our new model for prediction of difficult intubation was developed using logistic regression and includes thyromental distance, Mallampati score, interincisor gap, and height. This model is 82.5% sensitive and 85.6% specific with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.90.

Posttetanic potentiation and fade in the response to tetanic and train-of-four stimulation during succinylcholine-induced block.

UNLABELLED: We designed this study to confirm anecdotal observations that neuromuscular block after a single administration of succinylcholine is characterized by fade to train-of-four (TOF) or tetanic stimulation, as well as posttetanic potentiation. This prospective, randomized, 2-center observational study involved 100 patients. Patients were allocated to 1 of 5 groups and received 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.75, or 1.0 mg/kg succinylcholine during propofol/fentanyl/nitrous oxide anesthesia. Neuromuscular function was monitored by TOF using mechanomyography. At 10%-20% spontaneous recovery of the first twitch of TOF, the mode of stimulation was changed from TOF to 1-Hz single-twitch stimulation followed by a tetanic stimulus (50 Hz) for 5 s. Three seconds later, the single twitch (1 Hz) was applied again for approximately 30 s followed by TOF stimulation until full recovery of the TOF response. Succinylcholine-induced neuromuscular block had the following characteristics: 1) twitch augmentation before twitch depression, which was seen more frequently in patients given smaller doses (0.1 and 0.3 mg/kg) than in those given larger doses (0.5-1.0 mg/kg); 2) TOF fade during onset and recovery of the block; 3) tetanic fade; and 4) and posttetanic potentiation. Posttetanic potentiation was related to the pretetanic twitch height but was not related to the dose of succinylcholine administered. Some characteristics of Phase II block were detectable during onset and recovery from doses of succinylcholine as small as 0.30 mg/kg. Posttetanic potentiation and fade in response to train-of-four and tetanic stimuli are characteristics of neuromuscular block after bolus administration of different doses of succinylcholine. IMPLICATIONS: Posttetanic potentiation and fade in response to train-of-four and tetanic stimuli are characteristics of neuromuscular block after bolus administration of different doses of succinylcholine. We also conclude that some characteristics of a Phase II block are evident from an initial dose (i.e., as small as 0.3 mg/kg) of succinylcholine.

Can medical hypnosis accelerate post-surgical wound healing? Results of a clinical trial.

Although medical hypnosis has a long history of myriad functional applications (pain reduction, procedural preparation etc.), it has been little tested for site-specific effects on physical healing per se. In this randomized controlled trial, we compared the relative efficacy of an adjunctive hypnotic intervention, supportive attention, and usual care only on early post-surgical wound healing. Eighteen healthy women presenting consecutively for medically recommended reduction mammaplasty at an ambulatory surgery practice underwent the same surgical protocol and postoperative care following preoperative randomization (n = 6 each) to one of the three treatment conditions: usual care, 8 adjunctive supportive attention sessions, or 8 adjunctive hypnosis sessions targeting accelerated wound healing. The primary outcome data of interest were objective, observational measures of incision healing made at 1,7 weeks postoperatively by medical staff blind to the participants' group assignments. Data included clinical exams and digitized photographs that were scored using a wound assessment inventory (WAI). Secondary outcome measures included the participants' subjectively rated pain, perceived incision healing (VAS Scales), and baseline and post-surgical functional health status (SF-36). Analysis of variance showed the hypnosis group's objectively observed wound healing to be significantly greater than the other two groups', p < .001, through 7 postoperative weeks; standard care controls showed the smallest degree of healing. In addition, at both the 1 and 7 week post-surgical observation intervals, one-way analyses showed the hypnosis group to be significantly more healed than the usual care controls, p < 0.02. The mean scores of the subjective assessments of postoperative pain, incision healing and functional recovery trended similarly. Results of this preliminary trial indicate that use of a targeted hypnotic intervention can accelerate postoperative wound healing and suggest that further tests of using hypnosis to augment physical healing are warranted.