Video-assisted versus conventional tracheal intubation in morbidly obese patients.

BACKGROUND: We compared tracheal intubation characteristics and arterial oxygenation quality during airway management of morbidly obese patients whose trachea was intubated under video assistance with the LMA CTrach (SEBAC, Pantin, France) or the Airtraq laryngoscope (VYGON, Ecouen, France) with that of the conventional Macintosh laryngoscope. METHODS: After standardized induction of anesthesia, 318 morbidly obese patients scheduled for elective morbid obesity surgery received tracheal intubation with the LMA CTrach, the Airtraq laryngoscope, or the conventional Macintosh laryngoscope. Duration of apnea, time to tracheal intubation, and oxygenation quality during airway management were compared between the LMA CTrach and the laryngoscope groups. RESULTS: Patients' characteristics were similar in the three groups. The success rate for tracheal intubation was 100% with the LMA CTrach and the Airtraq laryngoscope. One patient of the Macintosh laryngoscope group received LMA CTrach intubation because of early arterial oxygen desaturation associated with unstable facemask ventilation. The duration of apnea was shorter with the LMA CTrach than that of the Airtraq laryngoscope and the Macintosh laryngoscope. The duration tracheal intubation was shorter with the Airtraq laryngoscope than with the Macintosh laryngoscopes and the LMA CTrach. During airway management, arterial oxygenation was of better quality with the LMA CTrach and the Airtraq laryngoscope than that of the Macintosh laryngoscope. CONCLUSION: Because LMA CTrach promoted short apnea time and the Airtraq laryngoscope allowed early definitive airway, both video-assisted tracheal intubation devices prevented most serious arterial oxygenation desaturation evidenced during tracheal intubation of morbidly obese patients with the conventional Macintosh laryngoscope.

Isoflurane, 0.5 minimum alveolar concentration administered through the precardiopulmonary bypass period, reduces postoperative dobutamine requirements of cardiac surgery patients: a randomized study.

OBJECTIVE: Cardioprotective properties have been shown with halogenated volatile agents. It was hypothesized that low-dose isoflurane administered before aortic cross-clamping may reduce the amount of dobutamine required to improve impaired postoperative cardiac function after various types of cardiac surgery. DESIGN: A prospective, randomized trial. SETTING: An anesthesia and intensive care unit, university hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Two hundred eighty cardiac surgery patients. INTERVENTIONS: All patients allocated to either isoflurane treatment (T) or no treatment (control group [C]) received total intravenous anesthesia. In the treatment group, isoflurane was administered at a 0.5 minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) from tracheal intubation to initiation of cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). During weaning from CPB, dobutamine was introduced by using a hemodynamically driven decision tree. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: The number of patients receiving dobutamine was comparable (66 v 78, p = 0.07, in T and C groups, respectively). The total amount of postoperative dobutamine indexed to patient weight, considered as the primary endpoint, was reduced in the isoflurane-treated group (4.2 +/- 8 v 7.2 +/- 15, p < 0.02, in T and C, respectively). Isoflurane was identified as an independent variable significantly (odds ratio [confidence interval]) influencing the total amount of postoperative dobutamine (0.53 [0.31-0.92], p < 0.02). Postoperative troponin I release at 20 hours was not affected by isoflurane treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that exposure to 0.5 MAC isoflurane before CPB reduced the total amount of dobutamine required to normalize postoperative cardiac dysfunction in various types of cardiac surgical patients.

Demonstration of the spread of injectate with deep cervical plexus block: a case series.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The authors conducted a scanographic study in order to characterize the local anesthetic spread of injectate resulting from a single-injection technique of deep cervical plexus block. METHODS: Six consecutive American Society of Anesthesiologists II and III patients scheduled for elective carotid endarterectomy under regional anesthesia were enrolled. Deep cervical plexus block was placed via an anterolateral approach using a nerve stimulator to guide the injection on contact with the levator scapulae nerve. With specific contractions evoked at a stimulating current intensity