The TOF-GUARD™ is a new device for monitoring the neuromuscular function using acceleration measurement. It is quick and easy to apply and does not require a rigid support for the arm. Forty-one patients were studied to assess the monitoring of vecuronium neuromuscular block (NMB) using accelerography by the TOF-GUARD™ compared with electromyography by the Relaxograph®. Although the mean first twitch (T1%) and mean train-of-four (TOF) ratios measured by the TOF-GUARD™ corresponded to a certain extent with the Relaxograph®, the wide variations of the values for individual patients measured by the TOF-GUARD™ compared with the Relaxograph® and the differences in clinical duration and recovery index between the two monitors do not allow the values of the two monitors to be used interchangeably. The levels at intubation as well as at full recovery of the patients can be assessed equally by the two monitors. Thus, the TOF-GUARD™ is a reliable clinical monitor in daily anaesthesia practice.

A randomized double-blind study was carried out on 20 patients after coronary artery bypass surgery to investigate the effects of graded doses of dopexamine hydrochloride or placebo on systemic haemodynamic responses and renal vascular resistance index (RVRI) measured using Doppler ultrasound. Pre-operatively, all patients had good left ventricular function and normal renal function. Eleven were allocated randomly to receive incremental infusions of dopexamine 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 μg kg−1 for 40 min each, and nine received corresponding infusions of placebo. One patient was withdrawn from the dopexamine group because of tachycardia. In the remaining 19, heart rate (HR) and cardiac index (CI) were significantly (P < 0.05) increased from base-line with dopexamine: the HR values with dopexamine differed significantly from those with placebo at the 2 and 4 μg kg−1 min−1 dose, and at 4 μg kg−1 min−1 for CI. Systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) fell significantly in both groups: the reduction was significantly greater with dopexamine 4 μg kg−1 min−1 than with the corresponding infusion of placebo. RVRI increased and urine output decreased significantly during the infusions in both groups, but with no significant difference between groups. There were no changes in systemic arterial pressures, pulmonary artery occlusion pressures, stroke volume index or left ventricular stroke work index. Where changes from base-line occurred in either group, they had not returned to base-line within 40 min of stopping the infusions (except perhaps for CI in the dopexamine group). Dopexamine appears to offer no particular protection to the renal vascular bed.

The purpose of this experimental study was to find out whether central haemodynamic activity influences the precision of the ethanol method used to monitor fluid absorption during endoscopic surgery. Today, the nomograms used together with this monitoring method indicate that increasing breath ethanol values reflect progressively larger absorption volumes regardless of the haemodynamic situation. Cardiac output was measured by ultrasound-Doppler and compared with the concentrations and pharmacokinetics of ethanol in the breath during and after 13 intravenous (i.v.) infusions of 15 mL kg−1 of irrigating fluid containing 1% of ethanol in nine healthy male volunteers. The results show that the peak ethanol concentration increases with cardiac output. This can probably be explained by the shorter time needed for the blood to reach and to return from well perfused tissues, thereby prolonging the apparent rate of distribution to poorly perfused tissues. It is concluded that a hyperkinetic circulation causes the ethanol monitoring method to indicate larger absorption volumes.

To compare the efficacy in the treatment of post-operative nausea and/or vomiting (PONV), 75 patients undergoing gynaecological procedures under general anaesthesia using N2O/enflurane who suffered from PONV in the first hour after surgery were randomly allocated to three groups containing 25 patients each to receive either alizapride 100 mg, droperidol 1mg or ondansetron 8mg (i.v.). Patients expressed the severity of their nausea on a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) ranging from 0 (none) to 10 (as bad as possible). Vomiting was recorded as present or absent, and the number of emetic events was noted. Data were recorded until rescue medication was given or until 4 h after the administration of the study drug. There were no significant differences between the three groups in the average VAS scores and the presence of vomiting at the time of entry into the study. Fifteen and 30 min after the administration of the study drug, VAS decreased notably in all groups. This decrease was similar and statistically significant within each group. However, comparison between the three groups showed no statistically significant differences. There was no statistically significant difference between the three groups in the number of patients receiving rescue medication, the number of emetic events and the time from administration of the study drug until rescue medication was given. It is concluded that alizapride 100 mg, droperidol 1mg and ondansetron 8mg intravenously are equally effective in the treatment of PONV after gynaecological procedures and that the newer drugs alizapride and ondansetron offer no advantage over droperidol.

Intra-operative segmental wall motion abnormalities (SWMA) detected by transoesophageal echocardio- graphy (TOE) have been shown to be a sensitive indicator of myocardial ischaemia. To determine the incidence and characteristics of segmental wall motion abnormalities and to relate these changes to peri-operative myocardial ischaemia, biplane TEE, electrocardiogram (ECG) (II + V5) and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) were continuously monitored in 62 consecutive patients with ischaemic heart disease undergoing non-cardiac surgery. Short-axis view at mid-papillary level in transverse scan (T-scan) and long-axis in longitudinal (L-scan) two-chamber view were used for wall motion analysis. New segmental wall motion abnormalities were detected in 16 of 64 patients (25%) using biplane transoesophageal echocardiography. Monoplane transoesophageal echocardiography showed a sensitivity of 75% and a specificity of 100%, electrocardiogram two lead showed a sensitivity of 56% and a specificity of 98%, whereas pulmonary capillary wedge pressure had a sensitivity of 25%, and a specificity of 93% and pressure rate quotient (PRQ) < 1 demonstrated sensitivity of 19% and a specificity of 92% in the detection of myocardial ischaemia. It is concluded that the long-axis view of the left ventricle provides additional information for the detection of segmental wall motion abnormalities. Neither changes in haemodynamic performance nor in electrocardiography leads II and V5 match those of transoesophageal echocardiography for the identification of myocardial ischaemia.

In this double-blind placebo controlled study the preoperative cardiovascular and metabolic effects of intramuscular (i.m.) clonidine and midazolam are assessed. Forty-five ASA Grade I patients (n = 15 per group) undergoing plastic surgical procedures were randomly allocated to receive either placebo, clonidine 4 μg kg−1 or midazolam 70 μg kg−1. Drugs were administered into the deltoid muscle [thkap ]90 min prior to the scheduled induction of anaesthesia. The metabolic measurements were performed using an indirect calorimetry device. Heart rate and blood pressure were measured noninvasively. Pre-operative subjective anxiety, dryness of mouth and tiredness were assessed using visual analogue scales (VAS). Clonidine increased subjective tiredness significantly more than placebo. Clonidine also induced moderate decreases in blood pressure and heart rate. Oxygen consumption (̇VO2), CO2) production and energy expenditure (EE) decreased significantly after clonidine and midazolam. The decrease in ̇VO2) and EE was maximally 11–14% on average from the base-lines after clonidine and midazolam. These effects were of longer duration after clonidine and lasted until the end of the 90 min study period. In conclusion, both clonidine and midazolam are effective as a means of decreasing pre-operative ̇VO2) and EE.

Fifty patients were randomly allocated to receive either a preinduction inhalation with nitrous oxide (50%) in oxygen or fentanyl with preoxygenation, before induction of anaesthesia with propofol. Both groups of patients showed a significant rise in arterial oxygen saturation prior to propofol induction which established similar depths of anaesthesia, determined by the acceptability of the laryngeal mask placement. In the fentanyl group there was a significant period of apnoea after induction, with 40% of the patients being apnoeic for 120s or more and requiring assisted ventilation. Reduction in arterial blood pressure was also more rapid in the fentanyl group compared with the nitrous oxide group. Preinduction inhalation of nitrous oxide (50%) in oxygen appears to be an effective and acceptable method of preoxygenating the patient and augmenting the propofol induction of anaesthesia.

Anaesthetic agents for day-case surgery ideally should have a short duration of action. This study was designed to compare the efficacy and safety of mivacurium and vecuronium for healthy adults undergoing dental day-case surgery. Thirty fit healthy adult patients (ASA I or II) randomly received either mivacurium 0.15 mg kg−1 (n = 15) or vecuronium 0.1 mg kg−1 (n = 15). Anaesthesia included propofol, fentanyl, nitrous oxide and isoflurane. Maximum depression of T1 was greater in the vecuronium group (99.8%) than in the mivacurium group (98.3%). There was no difference between grade of intubation at 2 min between the two groups, although patients receiving vecuronium had a more profound block at the time of intubation than those who received mivacurium (89.2% vs. 78.9%). Recovery to 10% T1 was faster in the mivacurium group (11.2 min vs. 33.1 min). All patients in the vecuronium group received neostigmine at the termination of surgery. The neostigmine evoked recovery index in the vecuronium group (4.39 min) was less than the spontaneous recovery index in the mivacurium group (6.78 min). One patient in the mivacurium group had a low plasma cholinesterase concentration (0.43 ku L−1); recovery times however, fell within the 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the group. There was no correlation between cholinesterase levels and recovery time. Mivacurium may be the more appropriate agent for dental day-case surgery because it has a shorter duration of action and does not generally require antagonism with an anticholinesterase.

Cardiovascular responses after epidural alkalinized lignocaine and subarachnoid hyperbaric bupivacaine administration were studied using a non-invasive cardiac output measurement in 32 ASA Grade I–II patients undergoing orthopaedic leg surgery (hip hemi-arthroplasty or Ender nailing). All patients achieved adequate surgical anaesthesia. The block onset time was faster (P = 0.003), and the range of final sensory level wider (P = 0.006) in patients receiving spinal anaesthesia compared with the epidural group. Diastolic arterial pressure was significantly reduced when compared with base-line (P = 0.002) only in the spinal group. No significant changes in stroke volume, systemic vascular resistance or left ventricular stroke work were observed in either group. Heart rate and cardiac index were significantly reduced in the spinal group when compared both with base-line (P = 0.002; P = 0.04) and the epidural group (P = 0.001; P = 0.006). The results demonstrated that the block onset time and the cardiovascular effects produced by lumbar epidural anaesthesia, with alkalinized solutions, remain less than after spinal anaesthesia involving the same segments.

A prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study was conducted to assess the efficacy of intra-articular bupivacaine and diamorphine. Ninety-six day-case patients were allocated randomly to receive intra-articular injections of either 20 mL 0.9% saline (control, n = 35), 20 mL 0.5% plain bupivacaine (n = 31), or 20 mL 0.9% saline with 5 mg diamorphine (n = 30) prior to tourniquet release. Visual analogue scales (VAS) were completed at 1 h, 3 h (discharge) and 24 h, and supplementary analgesia noted. Intra-articular analgesics conferred a noticeable improvement in patient comfort. First, the quantity of supplementary analgesia required prior to discharge was significantly reduced (P = 0.016); second, patients reported a less disturbed night's sleep (P = 0.034).

Irrigation of the bladder after transurethral resection of the prostate is often distressing because of pain arising from detrusor muscle spasm. The effect of post-operative oral diazepam was compared with sacral epidural (caudal) block at the time of surgery, both treatments together and a control group, assessed by three-point rank scoring. Either treatment significantly reduced the incidence of pain reported by patients, P < 0.001. No patient experienced pain after both treatments.

The effect of a single pre-operative oral dose of controlled release diclofenac sodium on post-operative pain after minor gynaecological surgery was investigated. Fifty-two women took part in a double-blind controlled study. Pain was assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS), a four-point verbal rating score, and the requirement for post-operative analgesia. Those patients who received diclofenac had significantly less post-operative pain than the placebo group up to 2 h after surgery.

Two cases of bradycardia following the intra-operative use of ketorolac given intravenously (i.v.) to children are reported. We examine why this may not have been previously reported and make recommendations regarding its use.