Pre-anaesthetic sonographic assessment of gastric antrum in parturient scheduled for elective caesarean section - A prospective cross-sectional study.

Background and Aims: Point-of-care ultrasonography (USG) of the gastric antrum can help to evaluate the aspiration risk and improve the safety of anaesthesia. The aim was to assess the gastric antrum in term parturients scheduled for elective caesarean section using bedside USG. Methods: After obtaining institutional ethics committee approval and written informed consent, 250 term parturients (≥36 weeks gestational age) with body mass index 18.5-30 kg/m2, and scheduled for elective caesarean delivery were included in this study. The parturients were instructed to follow standard fasting guidelines. In the preoperative area, ultrasonographic examinations were performed 15 min before the scheduled time of the caesarean section. The primary outcome was the qualitative assessment (grade 0-2) of the gastric antrum, and the secondary outcome was the quantitative assessment (antral cross-sectional area [CSA]) of gastric antrum in supine and right lateral decubitus (RLD) position. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Software (version 19). Results: Among the 234 parturients who completed the study, 191 exhibited grade 0 antrum, 42 had grade 1 antrum, and one parturient had grade 2 antrum. Overall, 83% of participants had an antral CSA ≤4.25 cm2 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.52-5.67 cm2] in the RLD position, equivalent to an estimated gastric volume of ≤43 ml (95% CI, 32-68 mL) or ≤1.5 ml/kg (95% CI, 0.49-1.23 ml/kg). Conclusion: Majority of fasted term parturients scheduled for elective caesarean section had a grade 1 gastric antrum on bedside USG. This study also establishes cutoff values of antral CSA and gastric volume in both supine and RLD position for fasted term parturients.

Recurrent asystole during laryngoscopy - A nightmare for the anesthesiologists.

Hemodynamic response to laryngoscopy and intubation is usually transient, but it may be more pronounced and unpredictable in certain group of patients. Bradycardia and asystole during laryngoscopy is usually a rare manifestation compared to hypertension and tachycardia. Anesthesiologists should be more vigilant and take special precautions to avoid such life-threatening complications during laryngoscopy. Here, we report recurrent asystole on multiple occasions during laryngoscopy in a patient with obstructive jaundice.

Comparison of landmark versus pre-procedural ultrasonography-assisted midline approach for identification of subarachnoid space in elective caesarean section: A randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Identification of subarachnoid space in pregnant patients can pose a great challenge to anaesthesiologists. This study was designed to compare conventional landmark technique with pre-procedural ultrasonography-assisted midline approach for identification of the subarachnoid space in elective caesarean section. METHODS: After institute ethics committee approval and written informed consent, 100 parturients scheduled for elective caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia were included in this prospective randomised control trial and divided into Group L (n = 50) (landmark technique) and Group U (n = 50) (ultrasound-guided technique). Parameters such as time taken for the identification of the interspace, distance between skin and dura mater, number of insertion attempts (the primary outcome), number of passes and time taken were recorded in both the groups. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS software 16. RESULTS: Demographic profiles of both groups were comparable. The number of attempts for needle insertion (1.04 ± 0.19 vs. 1.97 ± 0.77), number of passes in the same interspinous space (1.26 ± 0.44 vs. 1.90 ± 0.51) and the total time for successful lumbar puncture (31.90 ± 6.30 vs. 51.80 ± 12.28 s) were significantly less in Group U as compared to Group L, but the time of identification of interspinous space was significantly more in Group U (56.70 ± 13.08 s) as compared to Group L (47.10 ± 10.45 s). CONCLUSION: Pre-procedural ultrasound is a useful tool for successful lumbar puncture in parturients as it reduces the number of attempts with fewer side effects as compared to conventional landmark technique.

Diagnostic accuracy of bedside tests for predicting difficult intubation in Indian population: An observational study.

BACKGROUND: Unanticipated difficult intubation can be challenging to anesthesiologists, and various bedside tests have been tried to predict difficult intubation. AIMS: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of difficult intubation in the Indian population and also to determine the diagnostic accuracy of bedside tests in predicting difficult intubation. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: In this study, 200 patients belonging to age group 18-60 years of American Society of Anesthesiologists I and II, scheduled for surgery under general anesthesia requiring endotracheal intubation were enrolled. Patients with upper airway pathology, neck mass, and cervical spine injury were excluded from the study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An attending anesthesiologist conducted preoperative assessment and recorded parameters such as body mass index, modified Mallampati grading, inter-incisor distance, neck circumference, and thyromental distance (NC/TMD). After standard anesthetic induction, laryngoscopy was performed, and intubation difficulty assessed using intubation difficulty scale on the basis of seven variables. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The Chi-square test or student t-test was performed when appropriate. The binary multivariate logistic regression (forward-Wald) model was used to determine the independent risk factors. RESULTS: Among the 200 patients, 26 patients had difficult intubation with an incidence of 13%. Among different variables, the Mallampati score and NC/TMD were independently associated with difficult intubation. Receiver operating characteristic curve showed a cut-off point of 3 or 4 for Mallampati score and 5.62 for NC/TMD to predict difficult intubation. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic accuracy of NC/TM ratio and Mallampatti score were better compared to other bedside tests to predict difficult intubation in Indian population.

I-gel assisted fiberoptic intubation in a child with Morquio's syndrome.

Morquio's syndrome, also known as mucopolysaccharidosis type IV is an autosomal recessive disorder, caused by deficiency of n-acetylgalactosamine-6-sulphate. Anesthetic management of this syndrome is a great challenge, especially in pediatric age group as "cannot ventilate, cannot intubate" scenario can be encountered by anesthesiologist due to the possibility of total airway collapse. Herewith, we are reporting a case of child with Morquio's syndrome where I-gel assisted fiber-optic intubation was used for safe endotracheal intubation.