ABSTRACT
Post-dural puncture headache [PDPH] is one of the complications frequently observed after spinal or epidural anesthesia with dural penetration. For PDPH patients who do not respond to conservative medical treatment, alternative treatments such as bilateral occipital nerve block should be considered.In this study the efficacy of bilateral occipital nerve block was retrospectively evaluated in patients with post-dural puncture headache. Ultrasound-guided bilateral occipital nerve block was administrated in 21 patients who developed PDPH after spinal anesthesia, but did not respond to conservative medical treatment within 48 hours between January 2012 and February 2014. The study was conducted at Erzincan University Faculty of Medicine Gazi Mengucek Education and Research Hospital. Mean Visual Analog Scale [VAS] pain scores at 10 minutes and 6, 10, 15 and 24 hours after the block were significantly improved compared to the patients with a pre-block VAS score between 4 and 6 as well as patients with a pre-block VAS score between 7 and 9 [p<0.01]. After 24 hours of the block applied, VAS pain score dropped to 1 for all 12 patients who had a pre-block VAS score between 4 and 6. Whereas, VAS score decreased to 2 at 24 hours after the block in only one of the patients with a pre-block VAS between 7 and 9. For the patients with a pre-block VAS score between 7 and 9, there was no significant improvement in the mean VAS score 24 hours after the block. For patients with PDPH and a pre-block VAS score between 4 and 6 who do not respond to conservative medical treatment, an ultrasound-guided bilateral occipital nerve block may be effective
ABSTRACT
Objectives: In the current study, we compared the effects of low- and high-flow anesthesia techniques on hemorheology and coagulation parameters in patients who received sevofluran. Methods: Forty patients classified as Risk Group III according to American Society of Anesthesiologists' [ASA] guidelines who were scheduled to undergo general anesthesia were randomly assigned to one of two groups. Low-flow anesthesia was administered to the first group, and high-flow anesthesia was used in the second group. Blood samples were obtained in the preoperative and peroperative periods [at 60 and 120 min] for determination of blood and plasma viscosity, plasma oncotic pressure, international normalized ratio [INR], phorotrombin time [PT], activated partial phorotrombin time [aPTT] and fibrinogen. Blood was also drawn for analysis of factor VIII [FVIII] activity, which was measured in the preoperative period and at postoperative six hour. Results: The peroperative plasma viscosity was significantly low in Group 1 relative to Group 2. aPTT was significantly elevated at 60 minutes in Group 1 relative to Group 2, but the increase at 120 minutes was not significant. Conclusion: The effects of low-flow anesthesia on hemorheology were greater than those of high-flow anesthesia