Status epilepticus after electroconvulsive therapy in a pregnant patient.

Status epilepticus after electroconvulsive therapy is a rare complication, and its occurrence during pregnancy has not been reported previously. We discuss the case of a 31-year-old primigravida at 22 weeks of gestation, with a history of bipolar disorder, who underwent electroconvulsive therapy under general anesthesia. Following three treatments she developed status epilepticus, requiring large doses of benzodiazepines, thiopental, propofol and diphenylhydantoin to control the seizure activity. She remained intubated and ventilated for several days after treatment with a complicated course. As a consequence, the fetus died. We discuss the possible causes and the management of status epilepticus after electroconvulsive therapy during pregnancy and its implications for maternal and fetal outcome.

Asymptomatic lingual tonsillar hypertrophy and difficult airway management: a report of three cases.

PURPOSE: To report on the airway management of three cases of asymptomatic lingual tonsillar hypertrophy (LTH). MATERIAL: On three separate occasions, patients presenting for elective surgery were subsequently found to have asymptomatic LTH. In all cases preoperative airway examination was essentially unremarkable and no unusual difficulties were anticipated. In the first case, despite an inability to visualize the glottic opening, the patient was intubated successfully on the initial attempt and had no further problems in the perioperative period. In the second case, neither direct laryngoscopy, utilizing the MacIntosh and McCoy blades, nor fibreoptic visualization enabled successful intubation. Ventilation was maintained with a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) until the anesthetic was reversible. Upon awakening and removal of the LMA, the patient totally obstructed and could not be ventilated, necessitating emergency cricothyroidotomy. The third patient was an elderly gentleman in whom successful intubation was eventually achieved, with considerable difficulty, by the otorhinolaryngologist (ENT surgeon) utilizing a straight blade. On a second occasion, he was again intubated by the same ENT surgeon, this time utilizing the anterior commissure blade. All three patients were subsequently discharged without further sequelae. CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic LTH can cause varying degrees of unexpected difficulty in securing the airway and, at present, no single method will necessarily improve the chances of successful intubation. Therefore, strategies to manage unanticipated difficult intubation secondary to supraglottic airway pathology need to be performed and practiced, including the establishment of a transtracheal airway.

Daily general anaesthesia for radiotherapy in unco-operative patients: ingredients for successful management.

An unco-operative patient requiring daily radiation therapy presents a difficult clinical problem. After reviewing the paediatric oncology literature addressing the use of general anaesthesia for short medical procedures, we have developed checklists of procedural guidelines and monitoring equipment for the safe use of daily anaesthesia in adult patients who require a fractionated course of radiation therapy. We illustrate this by describing the successful treatment of a woman with autism and Hodgkin's disease who required daily general anaesthesia for immobilization during a 4-week course of radiation therapy. Propofol was used as the primary drug and was not associated with any adverse side-effects. There was no development of tolerance.

Compartment syndrome following intravenous regional anesthesia.

PURPOSE: To present two cases of upper extremity compartment syndrome following intravenous regional anesthesia. CLINICAL FEATURES: Case 1: A 57-yr-old man presented for surgical release of a left-hand Dupuytren's contracture. The procedure was performed under iv regional anesthesia with 360 mg lidocaine and sedation with 150 microg fentanyl and 1.5 mg midazolam. Tourniquet time was 107 min at a pressure of 260 mmHg using three different tourniquet sites. Within minutes of tourniquet release, increased forearm muscle tension, hand anesthesia, pallor, and limited motor function developed. Serum CK and myoglobin levels rose. Myoglobinuria was present. Several fasciotomies and aggressive fluid therapy were performed. Patient made almost full recovery. Case 2: A 73-yr-old woman with controlled hypertension had Dupuytren fasciotomy of her right hand under iv regional anesthesia with 200 mg lidocaine and sedation using 75 microg fentanyl and 1.5 mg midazolam. Tourniquet time was 64 min at a pressure of 250 mmHg using three different tourniquet sites. The patient complained of pain at the iv site during injection of local anesthetic, third tourniquet inflation and after deflation of tourniquet. Thirty minutes after arrival in PACU, her fingers were bluish. She complained of pain and swelling of the forearm. Under general anesthesia, fasciectomy was performed. Myoglobin and CPK levels rose. CPK MB was high but troponin was negative. Three days later she developed pulmonary embolism. She was heparinized and subsequently discharged home. She recovered completely. CONCLUSION: Compartment syndrome may have a rapid and severe onset. Etiology of our cases is still not established. We postulate that increased tissue pressure may be the cause. The anesthesiologists must be aware of compartment syndrome during regional anesthesia.

Risk factors for pain and nausea following retinal and vitreous surgery under conscious sedation.

BACKGROUND: There have been no studies examining risk factors for pain and nausea during the first day after posterior segment surgery. We performed a study to identify significant risk factors for the development of pain and nausea during the first 24 hours after outpatient vitrectomy or scleral buckle surgery. METHODS: A total of 257 consecutive patients who underwent vitrectomy (192 patients), scleral buckling (57 patients) or combined vitrectomy-scleral buckling (8 patients) between July 1 and Dec. 31, 1995, were enrolled in this prospective study. The patients' age, sex and ethnicity, the duration of the procedure and the intraoperative use of minor tranquillizers, hypnotic agents, narcotic analgesics or major tranquillizers were recorded. Each patient rated his or her postoperative pain and nausea on two separate 100-mm lines. The left end of the line represented no pain (or nausea) whatsoever, and the right end of the line represented severe pain (or nausea). The distance of the recorded point from the origin of the line was used as the outcome measure for pain and nausea. All the data were analysed statistically by means of logistic regression analysis and descriptive statistics. RESULTS: The median pain scores were 1.0 for the patients who underwent vitrectomy, 47.0 for those who underwent scleral buckling and 35.0 for those who underwent combined vitrectomy-scleral buckling. The median nausea scores were 14.5, 45.0 and 55.5 respectively. The only variable that was identified as a predictor of postoperative pain or nausea was the intraoperative use of narcotic analgesics: in the vitrectomy group, postoperative nausea occurred almost three times as often among patients who received these agents as among those who did not (odds ratio 2.6, p = 0.00). INTERPRETATION: The identification of the intraoperative use of narcotic analgesics as a risk factor for nausea in the first 24 hours after outpatient vitrectomy suggests that, when possible, these agents should be avoided during surgery.

General anesthesia for the provision of dental treatment to adults with developmental disability.

The management of the behavior of mentally challenged adults when providing required dental care is often a problem, whether in the dental office or in a hospital setting. Our institution has a designated program to provide required dental care to this group of patients. Because of the high incidence of poor cooperation, which may include aggressive antagonistic behavior, many of these patients are scheduled for dental care under general anesthesia with an incomplete preoperative medical assessment. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact and limitations that an incomplete medical assessment may present in the delivery of dental care under general anesthesia to these adults with developmental disability. After approval from the institutional review board, the medical records of 139 patients treated in this program between 1992 and 1994 were reviewed to determine the patient profiles, anesthesia management, and complications. The charts of these patients, who underwent dental and radiographic examination, scaling and prophylaxis, and restoration and extraction of teeth under general anesthesia, were reviewed. There were 149 procedures performed on these patients, some more than once. The mean age was 29.5 yr. Males predominated females by a ratio of 2:1. All had multiple diagnoses, medical problems, and medications. Twenty-three patients had Down's Syndrome, four had schizophrenia disorders, 42 had seizure disorders, 11 had hypothyroidism, seven had heart disease, and 14 had central nervous system and neuromuscular disorders. The remainder had a variety of diagnoses, including rare syndromes. One hundred had intravenous (i.v.), 25 had mask inhalation, and 24 had intramuscular ketamine (Ketalar) induction. Nasotracheal intubation was uneventful in 139 patients, five had difficult visualization of the larynx and intubation. Ten patients experienced intraoperative complications, including nonfatal ventricular arrhythmia, slight fall in blood pressure and hypertension (greater than 20% of preoperative value), and four individuals developed laryngospasm. In the Post Anesthetic Care Unit, five patients experienced minor airway problems resulting in a desaturation of oxygen to a level below 85%. Adults with developmental disabilities can be safely managed under general anesthesia for dental treatment in a hospital setting with minimal morbidity and without extensive preoperative investigations.

Difficult intubation and brain-stem anaesthesia.

PURPOSE: To present a case of difficult intubation with brainstem anaesthesia after retrobulbar block with bupivacaine and lidocaine and sedation with midazolam and to point out that close monitoring and timely treatment is important in preventing an unfavourable outcome. CLINICAL FEATURES: An 82-yr-old man with treated hypertension and stable angina was scheduled for cataract extraction. Physical examination revealed a class 2 airway. He had a retrobulbar block after topical tetracaine drops, with bupivacaine 0.5% and lidocaine 2% with hyaluronidase under sedation with 1 mg midazolam. Five minutes after the block, respiration slowed, he became unresponsive and oxygen saturation decreased to 80%. Immediate ventilation with mask without additional oxygen improved saturation. Attempted tracheal intubation failed: the epiglottis could not be visualized despite flaccid jaw and extremities. A laryngeal mask airway was placed which was leaking and adequate ventilation could not be achieved but a second laryngeal mask airway was placed successfully. CONCLUSION: This case emphasizes the need for dose monitoring and personnel capable of managing the difficult airway when intra-orbital anaesthesia is used.

Fiberoptic intubation using anesthetized, paralyzed, apneic patients. Results of a resident training program.

BACKGROUND: There is no consensus about the best way to teach fiberoptic intubation. This study assesses the effectiveness of a training program in which novice anesthetic residents routinely were taught fiberoptic tracheal intubation of anesthetized, paralyzed, apneic patients. METHODS: Eight inexperienced anesthetic residents learned fiberoptic and conventional tracheal intubation simultaneously during their first 4 months of training. All intubations were performed using general anesthesia and muscle paralysis. Of these intubations, 223 (23%) were fiberoptic and 743 (77%) were laryngoscopic. Subsequently, their intubation skills with the two techniques were studied in a prospective, single-blind randomized trial involving 131 elective patients. Intubation times, SpO2, ETCO2, hemodynamic changes on intubation, and complications were recorded for 71 fiberoptic and 57 laryngoscopic intubations. RESULTS: There were two failures of the rigid and one failure of the fiberoptic technique due to inability to intubate within 180 s. In cases of failure, the tracheas were intubated successfully after mask ventilation by the alterative technique. No hypoxemia or hypercarbia occurred in any patient. There were no differences in hemodynamic indexes nor incidence of sore throat or hoarseness between the two groups. Mean intubation times were 56 +/- 24 s (mean +/- SD) for fiberoptic and 34 +/- 10 s (mean +/- SD) for laryngoscopic (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Novices taught fiberoptic intubation and rigid laryngoscopic intubation under similar conditions, with similar volumes of experience, learn both techniques well. The safety and effectiveness of this training regimen commend it for inclusion in any residency program.

Hysteroscopy and anaesthesia.

PURPOSE AND SOURCE: Hysteroscopy has become a widely accepted technique in the diagnosis and treatment of various gynaecological conditions. The advent of the fibreoptic endoscope and distending media has largely been responsible for the increasing use of hysteroscopy. It is our aim in this article to review the literature on the frequently used distending media such as carbon dioxide, glycine, dextran, dextrose, sorbitol and mannitol and their anaesthetic implications. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The endoscopist chooses the particular medium. Complications due to the distending media occur in < 4% of cases. Dilutional hyponatraemia and hypothermia are commonly encountered complications and, in addition, hyperglycaemia and volume expansion can occur. Less commonly encountered complications are embolism with carbon dioxide and pulmonary oedema, renal failure and in rare cases anaphylaxis and encephalopathy. Regional anaesthesia may offer an advantage over general anaesthesia in early recognition of fluid accumulation. Apropriate monitoring should include fluid balance, routine monitoring as well as temperature, electrolytes and blood sugar measurements. Precordial Doppler measurement, central venous and/or pulmonary artery pressure measurement may be of help in detecting as well as treating carbon dioxide and/or air embolism and fluid balance in high risk patients. CONCLUSIONS: There is no one commonly used medium and no one medium is devoid of complications. There have been no controlled studies comparing different anaesthetic techniques. Positioning of the patient can give rise to complications such as peripheral neuropathy. Hysteroscopy is a non invasive procedure which entails a short hospital course with minimal postoperative sequelae and may be cost saving.

Alternating nitroglycerin and syntocinon to facilitate uterine exploration and removal of an adherent placenta.

Nitroglycerin (NTG) has been demonstrated to provide uterine relaxation in the management of various obstetric complications. A 32-yr-old woman presented 40 min postpartum for manual removal of a retained placenta. Repeated, alternating doses of NTG 250 micrograms and syntocinon (SYN) 10U iv were used over 15 min to produce periods of uterine relaxation and contraction respectively for uterine exploration. Multiple attempts to extract the placenta failed and a diagnosis of placenta accreta was made. There were no major side effects from this combination of drugs apart from a transient 20% decrease in blood pressure after NTG, which responded to ephedrine 10-15 mg iv. The rapid change in uterine tone was believed to be due not only to the short duration of action of NTG and SYN, but also to the possible physiological antagonism between the two drugs. The mechanism of interaction may involve calcium mobilization and myosin light chain phosphorylation. We conclude that NTG and SYN can be used to produce alternating periods of uterine relaxation and contraction rapidly and consistently with little sustained effects from either agents.

Dacryocystorhinostomy in elderly patients: regional anesthesia without cocaine.

Elderly patients with nasolacrimal obstruction who are in poor health often pose a special anesthetic and surgical risk. General anesthesia and the use of cocaine packs may be contraindicated because of potentially dangerous side effects. Regional block dacryocystorhinostomy has gained popularity in all adult patient groups, but specifically it appears to be the procedure of choice in elderly patients. It is well suited for either hospital-based or ambulatory care. We describe our experience with the procedure in 25 consecutive patients (28 procedures), with emphasis on modification of our standard technique to suit regional blockade. Mechanisms of cocaine toxicity in the surgical setting are reviewed, and a method of local anesthesia without cocaine nasal packing is presented.