Risk of continuing planned surgery after endovascular repair of subclavian artery injury: a case report.

Endovascular repair with covered stents has been widely used to treat subclavian and axillary artery injuries and has produced promising early results. The possibility of a thromboembolism occurring in cerebral arteries during an endovascular procedure should be a cause for concern. In the case of endovascular management of arterial traumas, a prompt and sufficient period for check-up of the patient's neurological signs is needed, even if it requires postponing elective intervention for the patient's safety. We report a rare case of liver transplantation immediately after endovascular repair of an iatrogenic subclavian arterial injury to describe the risk of continuing planned surgery without neurologic assessment.

Intraoperative low dose ketamine reduce postoperative pain after combined anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil in mastectomy patients.

BACKGROUND: Remifentanil is a useful opioid, but it induces postoperative hyperalgesia and acute tolerance associated N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. This study was aimed to investigate whether small dose ketamine, NMDA receptor antagonist, prevent remifentanil induced postoperative hyperalgesia or acute tolerance after combined anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil using target controlled infusion (TCI) in patients undergoing mastectomy. METHODS: Fourty ASA physical status 1 or 2 women, undergoing mastectomy were randomly assigned to two groups to receive intraoperative infusion of ketamine at 3microgram/kg/min rate after injection of ketamine 0.3 mg/kg as a loading dose (Group K) or saline infusion after saline loading at the same rate and dose (Group C). All the patients were anesthetized with propofol and remifentanil to maintain bispectral index (BIS) 40-60, mean arterial pressure within 20% of basal values. Remifentanil was infused with target controlled infusion (TCI) to the effect site (concentration: 2.0 ng/ml). Postoperative paine scores (visual analog scale: VAS), morphine requirements, and sedation scores were recorded for 48 hours postoperatively. RESULTS: The VAS scores and morphine requirements of the Group K were significantly lower than those of the Group C at the postanesthetic care unit and at the ward for 24 hours postoperatively. The extubation time was delayed in Group K compared with Group C. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative infusion of small dose ketamine reduced postoperative pain and morphine requirements after combined anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil in patients undergoing mastectomy.