The treatment of postcraniotomy pain

Postoperative pain is under-treated, and especially postcraniotomy pain is under-treated due to the fear of missing postoperative neurologic complications, and the fear of increased intracranial pressure secondary to elevated arterial carbon dioxide tension caused by respiratory depression. However, it continues to be commonly observed, is frequently severe, and if unrelieved, it may cause distress for the neurosurgical patients and serious complications in the operated brains. Many contributing factors affect postcraniotomy pain, including anatomical, surgical, anesthetic, and patient related factors. Diverse modalities are used for relieving the pain such as certain surgical techniques, nerve and scalp blocks with local anesthetics, many drugs – nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, gabapentinoids, N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonists, and opioids, but individually none of these modalities have been proved to be the best and universally applicable. For proper treatment and management of postcraniotomy pain, it is necessary to have a patient oriented, evidence-based, well-organized guideline for neuroanesthesiologists, neurosurgeons, and postcraniotomy patients.

Tracheal injury as a perforation of a newly formed tracheal diverticulum after tracheal intubation: A case report

Although tracheal injury after tracheal intubation has been reported often, the formation of acquired tracheal diverticulum as the complications of intubation has not been reported before. In a 57-year-old woman, emergency coil embolization was performed for the treatment of a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. Then, the over-ballooning of an endotracheal tube cuff and deep intubation were observed on a chest X-ray. So, the tube was re-ballooned and re-positioned before surgery. Five hours after extubation in the intensive care unit at postoperative 5 days, a perforation of the tracheal diverticulum wall, leading to subcutaneous emphysema around her neck and pneumomediastinum, was diagnosed using CT and bronchoscopy. The cause of the tracheal diverticulum was suspected over-ballooning of the endotracheal tube cuff because the diverticulum site and size were the same as those of the over-ballooning cuff.

Suspicious psychogenic hiccup after interventional pain procedures: A case report

Several cases of the hiccups that occurred after interventional pain procedures have been previously reported. A 34-year-old man had suffered from persistent hiccups that started after epidural and trigger point injection of steroid. His hiccups were stopped during meals and sleep. Furthermore, hiccups did not occur after intravenous or intramuscular steroid injection due to eczema and bronchitis, and after interventional pain procedure that was performed under sedation with midazolam. Hence, we suspected that his hiccups had resulted from a psychogenic cause.

Intraarterial mechanical thrombectomy for the treatment of postoperative cerebral infarction: a case report / 대한마취과학회지

Perioperative ischemic stroke is an uncommon event associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The complexity of the surgical procedure and surgery induced hypercoagulable status also influence the incidence of stroke. The management of stroke involves a decision regarding the quickest suitable revascularization method. Endovascular mechanical thrombectomy, such as intra-arterial mechanical thrombectomy (IAMT), can restore vascular patency of the vessels, providing an alternative or synergistic method to restore blood flow. Although, there are no recommended treatment guidelines, IAMT is eligible to be a treatment of choice for perioperative ischemic stroke. We experienced a case of a patient who demonstrated hemiplegia and aphasia, the early symptom of acute ischemic stroke, in the post-anesthesia care unit and performed IAMT successfully. Thus we report the case with a review of the relevant literature.

Probable tramadol-induced atypical serotonin syndrome in a patient receiving selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and stopped at 10 days before surgery: A case report

Tramadol can increase the serum level of serotonin, causing serotonin syndrome, which is a potentially life-threatening condition. Serotonin syndrome occurs when tramadol is used in combination with other drugs that affect serotonin. A patient who had been taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor and stopped at 10 days before surgery experienced intermittent heart rate elevation, tremor of the upper extremities and mental change after receiving an infusion of tramadol for postoperative pain control. Although he did not show the typical triad of serotonin syndrome (systemic autonomic dysfunction, neuromuscular impairment and mental status change), the patient was suspected to have serotonin syndrome caused by tramadol.

A Comparison of Remifentanil versus Fentanyl as an Adjuvant to Propofol Anesthesia for Ureteroscopic Lithotripsy / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Remifentanil is a new member of fentanyl family and a short-acting, esterase-metabolized opioid.This study compared the perioperative characteristics of a remifentanil infusion with those of fentanyl bolus administration as an adjuvant to propofol infusion for the anesthetic management of patients undergoing ureteroscopic lithotripsy. METHODS: Eighty patients were randomly assigned to receive either remifentanil target controlled infusion (R group, effect-site concentration of 4.0 ng/ml for induction followed by 2.0 ng/ml) or fentanyl bolus (F group, 2.0microgram/kg before induction).All patients received propofol infusion as the part of the induction and maintenance.We investigated recovery profiles, adverse events and the ease of insertion of laryngeal mask airway (LMA) between the two groups.Heart rate (HR) and mean blood pressure (MBP) were also compared at baseline (T0), loss of consciousness (T1), insertion of LMA (T2), beginning and end of operation (T3, T4) and removal of LMA (T5). RESULTS: The time from the end of anesthesia to spontaneous respiration, eye opening and LMA removal were significantly shorter for patients receiving remifentanil than for those receiving fentanyl.HR at T3 and T4 were lower in the R group than in the F group.Aldrete recovery score, time to discharge from recovery ward, the ease of insertion of the LMA, MAP and adverse events did not differ significantly between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Target controlled infusion of remifentanil combined with propofol can significantly shorten the early recovery time than fentanyl bolus administration without increasing adverse events in patients undergoing ureteroscopic lithotripsy.