ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The beach chair position (BCP) can cause significant hypotension. Epinephrine is used to prolong the duration of local anesthetics; it is also absorbed into blood and can exert systemic effects. This study determined the effects of epinephrine mixed with ropivacaine for an interscalene block (ISB) on hemodynamic changes related to BCP. METHODS: Patient data collected from March 2013 to August 2014 were used retrospectively. We divided the patients into three groups: 1) ISB only, 2) I+G (general anesthesia after ISB without epinephrine), and 3) I+E+G (general anesthesia after ISB with epinephrine). Mean blood pressure (MBP) and heart rate (HR) were measured for 30 minutes at 5-minute intervals. RESULTS: The study analyzed data from 431 patients. MBP tended to decrease gradually in the groups I+G and I+E+G. There were significant differences in MBP between the groups I+G and I, and between the groups I+G and I+E+G. Group I+E+G showed a significant increase in HR compared with the other two groups. CONCLUSIONS: ISB with an epinephrine mixture did not prevent hypotension caused by the BCP after general anesthesia. HR increased only in response to the epinephrine mixture. A well-planned prospective study is required to compare hemodynamic changes in that context.
ABSTRACT
Regional anesthesia for non-obstetric surgery in parturients is a method to decrease patient and fetal risk during general anesthesia. Thoracic interfascial nerve block can be used as an analgesic technique for surgical procedures of the thorax. The Pecs II block is an interfascial block that targets not only the medial and lateral pectoral nerves, but also the lateral cutaneous branch of the intercostal nerve. Pecto-intercostal fascial block (PIFB) targets the anterior cutaneous branch of the intercostal nerve. The authors successfully performed a modified Pecs II block and PIFB without complications in a parturient who refused general anesthesia for breast surgery.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Recent studies have reported that cancer surgeries involving regional anesthesia have better outcomes than those under general anesthesia. However, the effects of anesthetic technique have not been investigated in patients with bladder cancer. Therefore, this retrospective study was conducted to investigate which anesthetic technique results in a better bladder cancer prognosis. METHODS: Sixty-one of 531 patients underwent transurethral resection of a bladder tumor under general anesthesia from 2001 to 2008 in our hospital. Patients who attended five years of follow-up and who had pathological findings of urothelial carcinoma grades I-II were enrolled. Finally, 24 patients (G group) who underwent general anesthesia and 137 (R group) who underwent regional (spinal or epidural) anesthesia were compared. Five-year survival and recurrence-free time were compared using the chi-square and t-tests, respectively. A logistic regression and partial correlation analysis were performed to evaluate other factors affecting survival. RESULTS: Five-year survival was 87.5% for general anesthesia and 96.3% for regional (P = 0.099). The regression analysis showed that older age contributed to reduced survival (odds ratio = 0.85, P = 0.001). Regional anesthesia showed higher 5-year survival (coefficient = -0.167, P = 0.044) more than general anesthesia through the partial correlation analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Though partial correlation analysis show that five-year survival is higher in patients whose surgery is under regional than general anesthesia, the association was not significant in the chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Large prospective studies are needed to determine whether the association between regional anesthesia and survival is causative.