Sevoflurane in exhaled air of operating room personnel.

UNLABELLED: Evidence on potential health hazards arising from exposure to volatile anesthetics remains controversial. Exposure may, in principle, be supervised by monitoring of ambient air or, alternatively, in vivo. We used the Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry to screen the breath of 40 operating room staff members before operating room duty, 0, 1, 2, and 3 h after duty, and before commencing duty on the consecutive day, and control persons. Staff members exhibited significantly increased sevoflurane levels in exhaled air after duty, with a mean of 0.80 parts per billion as compared with baseline values of 0.26 parts per billion (P < 0.05). Analysis of variance with adjustment for within correlation (repeated measurements) showed a statistically significant time-effect (P < 0.001). We conclude that (a) Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry biomonitoring of exhaled sevoflurane can serve as a simple and rapid method to determine volatile anesthetic excretion after occupational exposure, and (b) significant concentrations of sevoflurane may be continuously present in persons exposed to sevoflurane on a daily basis. IMPLICATIONS: The present study depicts the profile of volatile anesthetics, isoflurane and sevoflurane, in exhaled air of ambulatory patients. Biomonitoring of expired anesthetic concentrations is a noninvasive and rapid method to determine volatile anesthetic excretion.

Isolated longitudinal rupture of the posterior tracheal wall following blunt neck trauma.

The authors report 3 female children (4, 5 and 12 years old) who suffered an isolated rupture of the posterior tracheal wall (membranous part) following a minimal blunt trauma of the neck. Such tracheal ruptures often cause a mediastinal and a cutaneous thoraco-cervical emphysema, and can also be combined with a pneumothorax. The following diagnostic steps are necessary: X-ray and CT of the chest, tracheo-bronchoscopy and esophagoscopy. The most important examination is the tracheo-bronchoscopy to visualize especially the posterior wall of the trachea. Proper treatment of an isolated rupture of the posterior tracheal wall requires knowledge about the injury mechanisms. The decision concerning conservative treatment or a surgical intervention is discussed. In our 3 patients we chose the conservative approach for the following reasons: 1) The lesions of the posterior tracheal wall were relatively small (1 cm, 1.5 cm, 3 cm) and showed a good adaptation of the wound margins. 2) No cases showed an associated injury of the esophageal wall. All of our patients had an uneventful recovery, the lesion healed within 10 to 14 days, and follow-up showed no late complications.