Comparison of Preoperative Infusion of Magnesium Sulfate and Mannitol on Intraocular Pressure Changes in Patients Undergoing Phacoemulsification Surgery.

BACKGROUND: The present study has been designed to compare the effect of magnesium sulfate with mannitol on reducing intraocular pressure (IOP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: During the phacoemulsification surgery, 105 patients randomly divided into three groups receiving 20% mannitol at a dose of 0.3 g/kg, 50% magnesium sulfate at a dose of 20 mg/kg, and placebo (normal saline), with the same volume (100 ml) and infusion time (10 min), were used for the first, second, and third groups, respectively. The IOP was measured before and immediately after the injection and 5 min after the end of the surgery and compared between the groups. RESULTS: The mean IOP immediately after the injection had a significant difference in three groups (mannitol: 15.2 ± 2.5, magnesium sulfate: 14.7 ± 1.9, and normal saline: 13.8 ± 2.8; P = 0.044), and the IOP had a significant difference between normal saline and mannitol groups (0.027) while there was no significant difference between mannitol and magnesium sulfate groups (P = 0.34) and also between magnesium sulfate and normal saline groups (P = 0.2). CONCLUSION: Using magnesium sulfate had no effect on changes in the IOP and hemodynamic of patients during the surgery. Using mannitol may be effective in reducing IOP while no effect of magnesium sulfate on IOP was found.

Premedication with oral tramadol reduces severity of postoperative shivering after general anesthesia.

BACKGROUND: Postanesthetic shivering (PAS) is an accompanying part of general anesthesia with different unpleasant and stressful complications. Considering the importance of proper prevention of PAS in order to reduce its related adverse complications in patients undergoing surgery, in this study, we investigated the effect of orally administrated tramadol in the prevention of this common complication of general anesthesia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this prospective randomized double-blind clinical trial, 80 ASA I and II patients aged 15-70 years, scheduled for elective surgery under general anesthesia, were randomized to intervention (oral tramadol 50 mg) and placebo groups. PAS was evaluated during surgery and in the recovery room, and compared in the two study groups. RESULTS: PAS was seen in 5 patients (12.5%) in the intervention group and 10 patients (25%) in the placebo group (P = 0.12). The prevalence of grade III and IV shivering was 7.5% (3/40) and 25% (10/40) in tramadol and placebo groups, respectively (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The overall prevalence of PAS was not significantly different in the two study groups, but the higher grades of shivering which needed treatment were significantly lower in the tramadol group than in the placebo, and those patients who received tramadol experienced milder form of shivering. It is suggested that higher doses of tramadol would have better anti-shivering as well as analgesic effects. Studying different doses of tramadol would be helpful in this regard.

Preemptive analgesia with intra-articular pethidine reduces pain after arthroscopic knee surgery.

BACKGROUND: Postoperative pain relief is important in procedures of the lower extremity. Several previous studies have evaluated the efficacy of intra-articular (IA) pethidine as a compound, which has local anesthetic and opioid agonist properties, on postoperative pain relief in arthroscopic knee surgery (AKS). This study compared the postoperative analgesic effect of pre- and post-surgical IA pethidine administration in AKS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-five patients of American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) I and II undergoing AKS with general anesthesia were enrolled in this double-blind study. Patients were randomized in three equal groups to receive either 50 mg IA pethidine before surgical incision incision and saline after skin closure (PS), saline before surgical incision and pethedine after skin closure (SP), and only saline at two different times (SS). In each patient with operated knee joint, pain at rest and joint movement was evaluated at 1, 2, 6, 12, and 24 h after surgery completion using Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Data were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA)-repeated measure, t-paired, and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: Postoperative pain score at rest and joint movement in PS group was significantly lower than those in other groups. The time (Mean ± SD) between completion of operation and patient's request for morphine, total morphine consumption (Mean ± SD) in postoperative 24 h, and the numbers of patients requesting analgesic in PS, SP, SS, groups were: 5.2 ± 1.3, 3.3 ± 1.5, and 2 ± 1.3 h (P < 0.05); 4.4 ± 2.4, 8.7 ± 2, and 11.6 ± 4.4 mg (P < 0.05); 11, 18, and 21 persons (P < 0.05), respectively. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that preemptive intra-articular pethidine 50 mg injection is more effective than preventive injection for postoperative pain relief at rest and joint movement in arthroscopic knee surgery.

Comparative study of two anesthesia methods according to postoperative complications and one month mortality rate in the candidates of hip surgery.

BACKGROUND: Surgery for hip fractures can be done under general or neuraxial anesthesia. This study aimed to compare these two methods concerning their postoperative complications, duration of operation, hospitalization and the mortality rate within a period of one month after surgery. METHODS: 400 patients aged more than 30 years old and scheduled for elective operative fixation of fractured hip, randomly enrolled in two equal groups of general (GA) and neuraxial (NA) anesthesia. Hemoglobin level was measured before and 6 hours, 2, 3 and 5 days after the surgery. The intra and postoperative blood loss, duration of surgery, the severity of pain at the time of discharge from recovery and at the 2(nd), 3(rd) and 5(th) postoperative days were recorded. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 12.0 by Mann-Whitney, chi-square, and t tests. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Both groups were similar regarding age, weight, and gender ratio. There was no significant difference in baseline hemoglobin, duration of surgery, length of hospitalization before surgery and the type of surgery. The mean of intraoperative blood loss and visual analogue score (VAS) in recovery and at the 3(rd) postoperative day, and also the length of hospitalization after surgery were significantly less in neuraxial anesthesia group. Both groups showed a significant decrease in hemoglobin values on the 2(nd) and 3(rd) postoperative days comparing to the baseline (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The morbidity and mortality rates of patients undergoing hip surgery were similar in both methods of anesthesia, but postoperative pain, blood loss, and duration of hospitalization were more in patients undergoing general anesthesia.