BACKGROUND: Several studies have shown in animal models that remote ischemic preconditioning (rIPC) has a neuroprotective effect. However, a randomized controlled trial in human subjects to investigate the neuroprotective effect of rIPC after cardiac surgery has not yet been reported. Therefore, we performed this pilot study to determine whether rIPC reduced the occurrence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in patients who underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (OPCAB) surgery. METHODS: Seventy patients who underwent OPCAB surgery were assigned to either the control or the rIPC group using a computer-generated randomization table. The application of rIPC consisted of four cycles of 5 min ischemia and 5 min reperfusion on an upper limb using a blood pressure cuff inflating 200 mmHg before coronary artery anastomosis. The cognitive function tests were performed one day before surgery and again on postoperative day 7. We defined postoperative cognitive dysfunction as decreased postoperative test values more than 20% of the baseline values in more than two of the six cognitive function tests that were performed. RESULTS: In the cognitive function tests, there were no significant differences in the results obtained during the preoperative and postoperative periods for all tests and there were no mean differences observed in the preoperative and postoperative scores. The incidences of postoperative cognitive dysfunction in the control and rIPC groups were 28.6% (10 patients) and 31.4% (11 patients), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: rIPC did not reduce the incidence of postoperative cognitive dysfunction after OPCAB surgery during the immediate postoperative period.
Blood Pressure ; Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump* ; Coronary Vessels ; Humans ; Incidence ; Ischemia ; Ischemic Preconditioning* ; Models, Animal ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Pilot Projects* ; Postoperative Period ; Random Allocation ; Reperfusion ; Thoracic Surgery ; Transplants* ; Upper Extremity

No abstract available.
Circulatory Arrest, Deep Hypothermia Induced ; Thoracic Surgery

No abstract available.
Heart-Lung Transplantation ; Humans ; Pulmonary Artery ; Sarcoma

No abstract available.
Anesthesia, General ; Oxygen

OBJECTIVE: Excitatory amino acids play important roles in the development of secondary pathology following spinal cord injury (SCI). This study was designed to evaluate morphological changes in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord and assess profiles of pain behaviors following intraspinal injection of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) or quisqualate (QUIS) in rats. METHODS: Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized into three groups : a sham, and two experimental groups receiving injections of 125 mM NMDA or QUIS into their spinal dorsal horn. Following injection, hypersensitivity to cold and mechanical stimuli, and excessive grooming behaviors were assessed serially for four weeks. At the end of survival periods, morphological changes in the spinal cord were evaluated. RESULTS: Cold allodynia was developed in both the NMDA and QUIS groups, which was significantly higher in the QUIS group than in the NMDA group. The mechanical threshold for the ipsilateral hind paw in both QUIS and NMDA groups was significantly lower than that in the control group. The number of groomers was significantly higher in the NMDA group than in the QUIS group. The size of the neck region of the spinal dorsal horn, but not the superficial layer, was significantly smaller in the NMDA and QUIS groups than in the control group. CONCLUSION: Intraspinal injection of NMDA or QUIS can be used as an excitotoxic model of SCI for further research on spinal neuropathic pain.
Animals ; Cold Temperature ; Excitatory Amino Acids ; Grooming ; Horns ; Humans ; Hyperalgesia ; Hypersensitivity ; Injections, Spinal ; Male ; N-Methylaspartate ; Neck ; Neuralgia ; Quisqualic Acid ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Salicylamides ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Injuries

Indigo carmine has been used for eight decades with few adverse effects. Several of our patients, however, experienced severe hypotensive episodes after indigo carmine administration within a period of one month. Analysis of the raw materials used to formulate the preparation of indigo carmine we used showed that they contained impurities. Following recall of these impure materials, none of our patients experienced further hypotensive episodes.
Humans ; Hypotension ; Indigo Carmine ; Indoles

Spinal cord stimulation has been applied for some patients with failed back surgery syndrome or neuropathic pain. Tests for the spinal cord stimulation can be performed under local or general anesthesia. However, if this is done during an operation with the patient under general anesthesia, it would be impossible to recognize whether an electrode induces paresthesia in the concordant painful area by the patient's self report. A 79-year-old female patient with failed back surgery syndrome had a spinal cord stimulator implanted under spinal anesthesia and the stimulation led to paresthesia on the most painful area of the patient. We report here on a case that surgical implantation of a spinal cord stimulator was successfully performed under spinal anesthesia.
Aged ; Anesthesia, General ; Anesthesia, Spinal ; Electrodes ; Failed Back Surgery Syndrome ; Female ; Humans ; Laminectomy ; Neuralgia ; Paresthesia ; Self Report ; Spinal Cord ; Spinal Cord Stimulation

BACKGROUND: Neuropathic pain resulting from diverse causes is a chronic condition for which effective treatment is lacking. The goal of this study was to test whether dexamethasone exerts a preemptive analgesic effect with bupivacaine when injected perineurally in the spared nerve injury model. METHODS: Fifty rats were randomly divided into five groups. Group 1 (control) was ligated but received no drugs. Group 2 was perineurally infiltrated (tibial and common peroneal nerves) with 0.4% bupivacaine (0.2 ml) and dexamethasone (0.8 mg) 10 minutes before surgery. Group 3 was infiltrated with 0.4% bupivacaine (0.2 ml) and dexamethasone (0.8 mg) after surgery. Group 4 was infiltrated with normal saline (0.2 ml) and dexamethasone (0.8 mg) 10 minutes before surgery. Group 5 was infiltrated with only 0.4% bupivacaine (0.2 ml) before surgery. Rat paw withdrawal thresholds were measured using the von Frey hair test before surgery as a baseline measurement and on postoperative days 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18 and 21. RESULTS: In the group injected preoperatively with dexamethasone and bupivacaine, mechanical allodynia did not develop and mechanical threshold forces were significantly different compared with other groups, especially between postoperative days 3 and 9 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, preoperative infiltration of both dexamethasone and bupivacaine showed a significantly better analgesic effect than did infiltration of bupivacaine or dexamethasone alone in the spared nerve injury model, especially early on after surgery.
Animals ; Bupivacaine ; Dexamethasone ; Hair ; Hyperalgesia ; Neuralgia ; Rats

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) rarely extends to the cardiac chambers, and the presence of an extension of tumor thrombus to the inferior vena cava or the right atrium has not been shown to determine the survival of patients with RCC.Although an aggressive surgical approach remains the primary treatment for RCC, the anesthetic management remains a difficult intraoperative challenge.We report here on a case of performing cavoatrial tumor thrombectomy and radical nephrectomy in a patient with RCC with an intracardiac extension, and we used cardiopulmonary bypass and intraoperative trans-esophageal echocardiography to assess and treat this tumor.
Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Cardiopulmonary Bypass ; Echocardiography ; Heart Atria ; Humans ; Nephrectomy ; Thrombectomy ; Thrombosis ; Vena Cava, Inferior

BACKGROUND: We examined the effects of varying inspiratory to expiratory (I : E) ratio on gas exchange and hemodynamics during high frequency partial liquid ventilation (HFPLV), a combination of high frequency ventilation (HFV) and partial liquid ventilation (PLV), in a rabbit model of acute lung injury. METHODS: Twelve rabbits treated with repeated saline lavage were divided into two groups. In the HFPL group (n = 6), 6 ml/kg of perfluorodecaline was administered through the endotracheal tube. Rabbits in this group and in the HFJ group (n = 6) were treated with high frequency jet ventilation (HFJV) at I : E ratios of 1 : 1, 1 : 2, and 1 : 3 for 15 minutes, and arterial blood gas, mixed venous blood gas and hemodynamic parameters were measured. RESULTS: We observed no significant respiratory and hemodynamic differences between the two groups. At an I : E ratio of 1 : 1, the PaO2 was significantly higher, and the shunt rate and PaCO2 were significantly lower in both groups, compared with I : E ratios of 1 : 2 and 1 : 3. Cardiac output at the 1 : 3 I : E ratio was significantly higher than at 1 : 1. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that, in this model, a 1 : 1 I : E ratio was superior for oxygenation and ventilation than I : E ratios of 1 : 2 or 1 : 3, while having no detrimental effects on hemodynamics.
Acute Lung Injury ; Cardiac Output ; Hemodynamics ; High-Frequency Jet Ventilation ; High-Frequency Ventilation ; Liquid Ventilation ; Oxygen ; Rabbits ; Therapeutic Irrigation ; Ventilation