[ effect of general versus spinal anesthesia on blood sugar changes during surgery]

Stress of surgery transfers some neurological and hormonal signals which triggers some physiological responses like adrenergic stimulation, increase in noradrenalin, cortisol, growth factor, decrease in insulin and increase in insulin resistance resulting in hyperglycemia during surgery. In this study a comparison is done between general anesthesia which by blocking brain's signals decreases reactions to the stress of surgery and hyperglycemia, and spinal analgesia which blocks hormonal and adrenergic reactions by peripheral effect. This randomized control clinical trial study was performed on 60 ASA I, II patients candidate of inguinal hernioraphy. The patients were randomly allocated to general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia with T12 level. Blood sugar of the patients was measured by glucometer 1 hour before the surgery and 1 hour and 6 hours postoperatively. There was no significant difference in blood sugar levels before the surgery between two groups but it was lower 1and 6 hours postoperatively in spinal anesthesia group. Spinal analgesia more effectively controls rises in blood sugar during the surgery and may be a suitable alternative for general anesthesia in patients with metabolic disorders

[Comparative study of measuring body temperature by mercury and digital thermometer]

Mercury is a dangerous substance for human health and mercury thermometers are major pollutant for environment. Using less dangerous and less expensive devices like digital thermometer can be an alternative for mercury thermometers. The aim of this study was to compare the body temperature measurement by mercury and digital thermometer. In this descriptive- analytical study, 542 patients [331 Female and 211 Males] were selected through convenience sampling. Data was gathered by demographic information form. Body temperature was measured simultaneously by digital and mercury thermometer while each thermometer was placed axillary, and after 5 minutes they were read by a nurse. The mean temperature measured by mercury and digital thermometer was 36.48 +/- 0.84 and 36.51 +/- 0.87, respectively. There was no statistical significant difference between measurements by mercury and digital thermometer. For detecting fever, digital thermometer had 85.4% and 95.7% sensitivity and specificity respectively. Positive and negative predictive value for digital thermometer were 81.1% and 96.8% respectively. Regarding low sensitivity of digital thermometer, it can be concluded that mercury thermometer is still suitable device to detect fever