Checking anaesthetic machines.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G N Beck.
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We have compared a rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia using propofol 2 mg.kg-1 and alfentanil 50 micrograms.kg-1, with a standard technique using thiopentone 5 mg.kg-1 and suxamethonium 1 mg.kg-1. The incidence of complications, and the quality of conditions for intubation, were similar in both groups. The patients receiving propofol and alfentanil showed a significant decrease in blood pressure and heart rate following induction (p < 0.01), whereas the group receiving thiopentone and suxamethonium showed a significant increase in blood pressure and heart rate following induction (p < 0.01). The use of propofol and alfentanil provided a satisfactory alternative to thiopentone and suxamethonium for a rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia.
Two cases of unexpected high spinal anaesthesia following failed extradural anaesthesia for Caesarean section are described. In both cases rapid and unexpected advance of blockade, after the subarachnoid injection of moderate doses of local anaesthetic, required tracheal intubation. In one of the cases 15 ml of 0.9% saline, but no local anaesthetic, had been injected into the extradural space, suggesting that the mechanism involved is the cephalad displacement of the cerebrospinal fluid by extradural fluid, and not leakage of extradural anaesthetic solution into the subarachnoid space.