Comparing the effectiveness of airway management devices in pre-hospital emergency care: a randomized clinical trial

To assess the effectiveness of laryngeal mask airway, endotracheal tube and oropharyngeal airway for airway management in prehospital emergency care. The study sample of this randomized clinical trial was 54 patients needing pre-hospital airway management. All cases of intubation [ETI] ; after two failed attempts [37 patients], were randomly assigned to the oropharyngeal airway [OPA], and the laryngeal mask airway [LMA] groups. Patients' hemodynamic, SaO2 and airway management parameters, were compared in three groups. The study data were analyzed by the Chi-square and one-way ANOVA, Bonferroni post-hoc, using SPSS, v. 18.0. The results demonstrated that before and after the study, there was no significant difference among the study groups in terms of hemodynamic variables [P > 0.05] expect SaO2 [P < 0.001]. The results also revealed that in the ETI group [n=17], the number of attempts and the time spent on inserting the airway device was significantly more than other two groups [P < 0.05]. Laryngeal mask airway is as effective as oropharyngial airway for pre-hospital airway management by paramedics

Effect of dexamethasone on incidence of headache after spinal anesthesia in cesarean section A single blind randomized controlled trial

To investigate the effect of dexamethasone in reducing the incidence of headache. This randomized controlled trial was carried out in 160 cesarean patients with physical conditions-1 and emergency-1 at 22-Bahman Hospital, Iran between March 2010 and March 2011. Patients were randomly divided into sample and control groups. The women were studied for incidence of headache in the first 24 hours and the first week after spinal anesthesia. The mean severity of the headache was evaluated on a quantitative scale using the visual analog scale [VAS]. Data were gathered and analyzed using the SPSS software Version 11.5, descriptive statistical test, Chi-square, and Mann-Whitney U test. The incidence of post-dural puncture headache was observed in 2.5% of the sample group and 12.5% of the control group in the first 24 hours after surgery [p=0.016]; and 11.3% in the sample group and 32.5% in the control group in the first week after surgery [p=0.001]. The findings of this research illustrate that intravenous dexamethasone reduces the incidence of post-dural puncture headache in the first 24 hours and the first week after spinal anesthesia in cesarean section patients