Perianal blockage with 0.5% bupivacaine for postoperative pain relief in hemorrhoidectomy.

Hemorrhoidectomy can be done in many positions under many anesthetic techniques as an ambulatory surgery. Post-procedural pain is frequently severe enough to delay home discharge. A combination between preincisional local anesthetics and general anesthesia looks attractive in terms of preemptive analgesia and starting time of surgery. The study aimed to compare anesthetic time, pain-free period and pain relief in patients with and without 0.5% plain bupivacaine infiltration after mask inhalation, total intravenous anesthesia or endotracheal tube general anesthesia. MATERIAL AND METHOD: 142 patients were randomized into control (C) and study (S) groups with n = 70 and 72 respectively. Patient characteristics in both groups were: age 40.45 +/- 13.03 VS 37.48 +/- 13.63 years old, BW 59.77 +/- 11.19 VS 58.80 +/- 9.76 kg, male:female 31/39 VS 43/29, PS 1/2/3/E = 48/19/1/2 VS 53/15/3/1 for C and S respectively. All underwent surgery in lithotomy under ET/TIVA/mask: 53/13/4 VS 22/27/23 and anesthetic time was 49.02 +/- 18.04 VS 33.33 +/- 10.31 min (p < 0.05). RESULTS: Pain-free periods in C and S were 204.44 +/- 878.07 and 540 +/- 298.03 min with median times of 57.5 (n = 67) VS 560 (n = 58) min. Pain severity in S was mainly none or mild degree while in C it was moderate or severe, apparently when analysed in subgroups of ET and TIVA. Analgesic requirements were statistically more in group C. CONCLUSION: Better postoperative pain relief could be accomplished by preincisional 0.5% plain bupivacaine infiltration after general anesthesia. The technique helped relax anal muscles for surgical ease and avoided patient discomfort in case of a prolonged procedure. Preemptive analgesia and key pain management were discussed.

Propofol-based fast-track for ambulatory surgery.

The purpose of this study was to provide data of propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) for ambulatory surgery in developing a fast-track technique. One hundred and forty-two patients scheduled for elective surgery were studied: mean (SD) age 42.21 (16.23) years, male to female 72:70, mean (SD) body weight 60.75 (11.67) kg and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I/II/III 66/38/38. Mean (SD) thiopental induction 225 (55.69) mg was maintained with mean (SD) propofol 199.64 (86.26) mg for mean (SD) anesthetic time 29.02 (11.21) minutes. Various narcotics were used: fentanyl 73.48 +/- 24.38 microg for 123 cases, morphine 3.27 +/- 1.10 mg for 10 cases, remifentanil 492 +/- 105.26 microg for 7 cases and pethidine 23.33 +/- 2.88 mg for 2 cases. Midazolam was given 2.70 +/- 1.05 mg. Patients were positioned in supine, lithotomy or lateral decubitus. One-fourth were PS III with a diagnosis of chronic renal failure and renal transplants coming for incision and drainage of perianal abscess. The mean (SD) wake-up time was 36.02 (17.69) seconds. Only one case (chronic renal failure) had severe hypotension after induction. Anesthetic agents and ideas of fast-track anesthesia were discussed.

Transplant renal artery stenosis in Thailand.

Transplant renal artery stenosis (TRAS) is one of the common vascular complications post kidney transplantation. A retrospective study of TRAS among transplant recipients at a single transplant center in Thailand was performed from February 1986 to December 2002. Among 750 cases, 16 cases (2.1%) of TRAS were identified. Twelve cases (3.3%) were from cadaveric donors and four cases (1%) were from living-related donors (p-value = 0.034). Most cases presented with progressive deterioration of kidney graft with or without refractory hypertension. Doppler ultrasonography was used for initial screening followed by renal angiography. Fifteen cases were treated by Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) with a 73 per cent success rate. Five cases underwent surgical revascularization with an 80 per cent success rate. Two cases (13%) of successful PTA showed recurrent stenosis with 46 months follow-up which were successfully treated by repeated PTA with stents.

A comparison of the efficacy of cisatracurium and atracurium in kidney transplantation operation.

Cisatracurium is a new intermediate-acting benzylisoquinolinium neuromuscular blocking agent that is one of the ten stereoisomers contained in atracurium besylate. Atracurium is known to be the muscle relaxant of choice in end stage renal disease patients. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of cisatracurium and atracurium in the aspect of intubation and maintenance dosages, hemodynamic response after intubation and cost effectiveness between the two agents in kidney transplant patients. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From August 2001 to July 2002, 46 end stage renal disease patients obtained kidney transplantation operation under general anesthesia with 50:50 N2O:O2, fentanyl, isoflurane anesthesia. Tracheal intubation and maintenance of muscle relaxant with each drug were administered in 23 of each group-atracurium as control (C) while cisatracurium was the study (S) group. RESULTS: There was no difference in the demographic data of the 2 groups--13 males/10 females in the S group and 11 males/12 females in the C group. Eighty-seven per cent in the S group underwent living-related kidney transplantation operation, with 55.56 per cent in the C group. Most of the donors were siblings, i.e. 42.11 per cent in the S group and 46.67 per cent in the C group. The mean dosage for intubation in the S group was 0.17 +/- 0.02 mg/kg and 1.25 +/- 0.49 microg/kg/min for maintenance. The mean dosage for intubation in the C group was 0.64 +/- 0.07 mg/kg and the mean maintenance dose was 5.38 +/- 0.83 microg/kg/min. In both groups there was no statistical difference in hemodynamic changes. One patient in the S group received calcium channel blocker to reduce blood pressure before induction of anesthesia, while 2 patients in the C group were given nifedipine 5 mg before induction. Although the cisatracurium cost was higher than atracurium, from the cost-minimization analysis, it turned out to be lower per case. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated the efficacy of cisatracurium in hemodynamic stability and safety in kidney transplantation operations. In spite of the more costly price, cisatracurium is beneficial in some end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients with coronary artery disease who need very stable hemodynamics.