BACKGROUND: For patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) or under monitored anesthetic care (MAC), the precise monitoring of sedation depth facilitates the optimization of dosage and prevents adverse complications from underor over-sedation. For this purpose, conventional subjective sedation scales, such as the Observer's Assessment of Alertness/Sedation (OAA/S) or the Ramsay scale, have been widely utilized. Current procedures frequently disturb the patient's comfort and compromise the already well-established sedation. Therefore, reliable objective sedation scales that do not cause disturbances would be beneficial. We aimed to determine whether spectral entropy can be used as a sedation monitor as well as determine its ability to discriminate all levels of propofol-induced sedation during gradual increments of propofol dosage. METHODS: In 25 healthy volunteers undergoing general anesthesia, the values of response entropy (RE) and state entropy (SE) corresponding to each OAA/S (5 to 1) were determined. The scores were then analyzed during each 0.5 mcg/ml- incremental increase of a propofol dose. RESULTS: We observed a reduction of both RE and SE values that correlated with the OAA/S (correlation coefficient of 0.819 in RE-OAA/S and 0.753 in SE-OAA/S). The RE and SE values corresponding to awake (OAA/S score 5), light sedation (OAA/S 3-4) and deep sedation (OAA/S 1-2) displayed differences (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that spectral entropy can be utilized as a reliable objective monitor to determine the depth of propofol-induced sedation.
Anesthesia, General ; Deep Sedation ; Entropy ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Light ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Propofol ; Weights and Measures

We describe a patient with infective endocarditis (IE) complicated by mycotic cerebral aneurysms (MCAs). Transarterial embolization of a larger MCA was attempted but failed. Aneurysmal clipping through craniotomy was followed by mitral valvuloplasty. During mitral valvuloplasty for IE, the low values of cerebral oxygen saturation after aneurysmal clipping were improved by continuous nimodipine infusion. We also review anesthetic management of patients with IE complicated by MCAs.
Aneurysm ; Craniotomy ; Endocarditis ; Humans ; Intracranial Aneurysm ; Nimodipine ; Oxygen

We experienced an extremely rare complication during performance of laparoscopic totally extraperitoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair for a 57-year-old healthy man. About 50 minutes after CO2 insufflation, the patient developed tachycardia, hypoxemia, hypercapnia and an increased airway pressure. Right pneumothorax with subcutaneous emphysema was recognized on the emergency chest X-ray and this was successfully treated by chest tube insertion. Anesthesiologists should be aware of the possible occurrence of pneumothorax during laparoscopic TEP hernia repair.
Anoxia ; Chest Tubes ; Emergencies ; Hernia, Inguinal ; Herniorrhaphy ; Humans ; Hypercapnia ; Insufflation ; Laparoscopy ; Middle Aged ; Pneumothorax ; Pyrazines ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Tachycardia ; Thorax

Capnography is monitoring of concentration or partial pressure of CO2 in respiratory gases. It provides information about CO2 production, pulmonary perfusion, alveolar ventilation, respiratory patterns and elimination of CO2 from the anesthesia circuit and ventilator. Thus it gives us a rapid and reliable method to detect life threatening conditions such as malposition of tracheal tube, ventilatory failure, circulatory failure and defective breathing circuits. Authors experienced that change of capnogram during off pump coronary artery bypass grafting surgery helped early detecting ruptured bulla and prevented intraopertive or postoperative pneumothorax.
Anesthesia ; Blister ; Capnography ; Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump ; Gases ; Partial Pressure ; Perfusion ; Pneumothorax ; Respiration ; Shock ; Transplants ; Ventilation ; Ventilators, Mechanical

Young-Simpson Syndrome (YSS) is a rare malformation syndrome characterized by facial dysmorphism, congenital heart abnormalities, congenital hypothyroidism and severe growth retardation. A 5-month-old girl was scheduled to undergo patch closure of atrial septal defect. She had been diagnosed with YSS preoperatively. We report out clinical experience of a case of YSS patient with brief review of related literatures and relevant anesthetic problems.
Blepharophimosis ; Congenital Hypothyroidism ; Facies ; Heart Defects, Congenital ; Heart Septal Defects, Atrial ; Humans ; Infant ; Intellectual Disability ; Joint Instability

Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (LDS) is a recently described autosomal dominant aortic aneurysm syndrome with widespread systemic involvement. It is characterized by the triad of 1) arterial tortuosity and aneurysms, 2) hypertelorism, and 3) bifid uvula or cleft palate. A 12-year-old boy with LDS was scheduled to undergo correction of aortic valve regurgitation due to aortic annuloectasia. We report our clinical experiences of a case of LDS patient with brief review of related literatures and relevant anesthetic problems.
Aneurysm ; Aortic Aneurysm ; Aortic Valve ; Arteries ; Child ; Cleft Palate ; Humans ; Hypertelorism ; Joint Instability ; Loeys-Dietz Syndrome ; Skin Diseases, Genetic ; Uvula ; Vascular Malformations

BACKGROUND: Sympathetic nervous hyperactivity presents in response to surgical stress has been implicated as an important component of postoperative ileus. Because desflurane induces sympathetic activation, the effects of desflurane and sevoflurane on the recovery of bowel function were compared. METHODS: Forty patients undergoing a laparoscopic appendectomy were randomly assigned to receive either sevoflurane (Group S, n = 20) or desflurane (Group D, n = 20). The anesthetic, operative, and postoperative pain managements were standardized. The CRP (C-reactive protein), total leukocyte count, and ratio of the neutrophil to leukocyte counts were measured preoperatively and 12 hours postoperatively. The mean arterial blood pressure (MABP), heart rate, and end-tidal anesthetic concentration were measured at 10-min intervals during the surgery. The degree of postoperative pain, 11-graded surgical difficulty score, time to the first passage of flatus and first oral intake of clear fluid, as well as the postoperative hospital stay were also evaluated. RESULTS: Finally, 16 and 17 subjects in Groups S and D were included the analyses. There were no significant differences in the MABP, heart rate, and end-tidal anesthetic concentration between the two groups. The clinical and laboratory parameters related to the severities of inflammation and surgical trauma were similar in both groups. There were no significant differences in the times to the first passage of flatus and first oral intake of clear fluid and the postoperative hospital stay between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Although desflurane induces sympathetic activation, unlike sevoflurane, it does not delay the return of bowel function following a laparoscopic appendectomy.
Anesthesia* ; Appendectomy ; Arterial Pressure ; Flatulence ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Ileus ; Inflammation ; Length of Stay ; Leukocyte Count ; Neutrophils ; Pain, Postoperative ; Sympathetic Nervous System

Renal failure frequently accompanies advanced hepatic failure. Even if adequate renal function is not considered as a prerequisite for transplant candidacy, impaired renal function prior to liver transplantation has been regarded as an independent risk factor of graft dysfunction and mortality. Liver transplantation in such a patient also presents a number of challenges to the anesthesiologists. Optimal fluid therapy, prompt and aggressive correction of electrolytes and metabolic disturbances, careful selection of anesthetic techniques and agents, and close monitoring of cardio-respiratory function help reduce the graft failure and perioperative mortality. In such cases, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) is used with increasing frequency during or after the surgery. So, anesthesiologists need to understand the basic principles, potential applications, and anesthetic implications of several CRRT options. We therefore present the anesthetic experience in a patient with hepatic failure combined with primary renal failure, successfully managed during or after liver transplantation.
Anesthesia* ; Electrolytes ; Fluid Therapy ; Humans ; Liver Failure* ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Mortality ; Renal Insufficiency* ; Renal Replacement Therapy ; Risk Factors ; Transplants

BACKGROUND: We performed this study to determine the changes of hemodynamic parameters following major surgical events such like incision for trochar insertion, institution and deflation of pneumoperitoneum during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS: Ten-female patients ASA physical status 1 during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled into this study. Anesthesia was performed with propofol, alfentanil and vecuronium. Pneumoperitoneum was instituted by CO2 gas with intraperitonial pressure under 12 mmHg. Hemodynamic parameters before skin incision (BI), after skin incision (AI), 2, 5, 10, 15 and 20 min after the institution of pneumoperitoneum (P + 2, P + 5, P + 10, P + 15 and P + 20), 2 and 5 min after deflation (D + 2 and D + 5) were measured by the use of a thoracic electrical bioimpedance technique (TEB). RESULTS: Trochar insertion did not significantly change the hemodynamic parameters. Heart rate, total fluid content and left cardiac work index were not significantly changed through this study. Mean BP (MBP), pre-ejection period (PEP) and systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI) were significantly increased, and acceleration time index (ACI), cardiac index (CI), stroke index (SI) and velocity index (VI) were significantly more decreased after institution of pneumoperitonium than those of BI and AI. However, all parameters in P + 20, D + 2 and D + 5 were not significantly different from those of BI and AI. CONCLUSIONS: MBP, PEP, SVRI, ACI, CI, SI and VI measured by TEB were significantly changed by the institution of pneumoperitonium during a laparscopic cholecystectomy, but they all recovered to the values before the institution of pneumoperitonium within 20 min.
Acceleration ; Alfentanil ; Anesthesia ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic* ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Pneumoperitoneum ; Propofol ; Skin ; Stroke ; Vascular Resistance ; Vecuronium Bromide

Nesidioblatosis is a term that describes small clusters of pancreatic islet cells budding off exocrine ducts, and is commonly reported in infants with intractable idiopathic hypoglucemia. The onset of nesidioblastosis in adults is an extremely rare entity associated with hypersecretion of insulin and the treatment of choice is pancreatic resection. Medical treatment, including somatostatin, propranolol, diazoxide, hydrochlorthiazide and streptozotocin have achieved limited success. We experienced a case of adult nesidioblastosis that underwent reoperation after the failure of medical treatment following an inappropriate first operation. A 54-year old man was admitted due to intermittent hypoglycemic symptoms, which had been relieved by carbohydrate ingestion. Hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemia was documented during a prolonged fast. Image studies found no localized lesion, so a distal pancreatectomy was performed. The pathological examination of the resected pancreas revealed irregularly sized islets and a scattering of small endocrine cell clusters throughout the acinar tissue and ductuloinsular complex. After a partial pancreatectomy the hypoglycemia had not disappeared. The patient did not want to undergo a reoperaton due to the post operative wound infection that occurred after the distal pancreatectomy. Therefore, diazoxide, somatostatin, propranolol, and streptozotocin was used as the alternative to an operation. However, the hypoglycemia persisted during and after the medical treatment. Finally, he underwent a near total pancreatectomy (85%), and the hypoglycemia disappeared. The extent of pancreatectomy is important in clinical outcome of patients with nesidioblastosis
Adult ; Diazoxide ; Eating ; Endocrine Cells ; Humans ; Hypoglycemia ; Infant ; Insulin ; Islets of Langerhans ; Middle Aged ; Nesidioblastosis* ; Pancreas ; Pancreatectomy ; Propranolol ; Reoperation* ; Somatostatin ; Streptozocin* ; Wound Infection