Pneumomediastinum after functional endoscopic sinus surgery under general anesthesia: A case report / 대한마취과학회지

The occurrences of pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum are rare, but considered to be potentially life-threatening conditions in patients undergoing functional endoscopic sinus surgery under general anesthesia. Tracheobronchial rupture may results in serious complications, such as pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum. It may occur accidentally by endotracheal tube when the patient's neck is flexed or extended. We report the case of a 48-year-old female patient who developed massive subcutaneous emphysema, pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum and pneumoperitoneum seven hours after functional endoscopic sinus surgery under general anesthesia.

Hemodynamic effects of continuous intravenous injection and bolus plus continuous intravenous injection of oxytocin in cesarean section / 대한마취과학회지

BACKGROUND: Oxytocin may cause adverse cardiovascular effects, including tachycardia and hypotension, whereas the optimal dose of oxytocin at elective cesarean section is unclear. To determine the lowest effective dose of oxytocin, we studied the hemodynamic effects of three doses during spinal anesthesia for elective single cesarean delivery. METHODS: Sixty women received oxytocin by continuous (0.5 IU/min) or bolus-continuous (2 or 5 IU prior to 0.25 IU/min continuous intravenous injection) intravenous injection after clamping of the umbilical cord. We compared changes in heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP) and estimated blood loss (EBL). Uterine tone (UT) was assessed by palpation on a linear analog scale (LAS) at 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 minutes after the oxytocin injection. In addition, oxytocin-related side-effects such as nausea and vomiting were recorded. RESULTS: Marked hemodynamic changes such as HR and MAP occurred in the bolus-continuous groups but not in the continuous groups. Although we were not able to observe a variation of EBL in each group, the UT significantly increased in the bolus-continuous groups when compared with that the continuous groups. In addition, the hemodynamic changes such as HR and MAP were lower in the two IU bolus-continuous group than those in the five IU group. CONCLUSIONS: Although bolus-continuous injection of oxytocin resulted in more hemodynamic changes than continuous injection, bolus-continuous injection had a greater effect on uterine contraction. Furthermore, two IU bolus-continuous injection showed lower hemodynamic changes than in the five IU bolus-continuous injection.

Comparison of time to awareness between obese patients and non-obese patients after total intravenous anesthesia with propofol and remifentanil

BACKGROUND: The rate of obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is on the rise.There have not been adequate studies on the differences in anesthesiology in obese patient. For this reason, we designed this study to determine the effect of obesity on time to awareness, comparing the use of propofol and remifentanil in general anesthesia. METHODS: We enrolled 55 patients into the study, between ages 16 and 45 years, who had an ASA physical status 1, 2 and who were undergoing general anesthesia for an elective obstetric operation. According to the Asia-Pacific obesity criteria, we divided the patients into 2 groups, the obesity group (BMI > or = 25), and the non-obesity group (BMI < 25). Propofol and remifentanil were infused using TCI for general anesthesia. The bispectral index score (BIS) was used for monitoring depth of anesthesia.During each operation, we tried to keep the BIS between 40 and 55 by controling the target concentration of TCI.We compared the time-to- awareness between the obese patient group and the non-obese patient group. RESULTS: The obesity and the non-obesity group did not show significant difference in awareness times between the obesity group, 412.4 +/- 102.5 s and the non-obesity group, 434.1 +/- 49.1 s. CONCLUSIONS: There was no evidence of a significant difference in time-to-awareness between the obese patient group and the non-obese patient group.The use of remifentanil and propofol work equally well in obese and in non-obese patients anesthesized for elective surgery.