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Biomedical subjects

H Bouaziz

Publications and source records attributed to H Bouaziz.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

[Evaluation of the off-site preanaesthetic consult in Lorraine].

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the results of Off Site preanaesthetic consult in Lorraine and to draw up a method for these pre-operative visits. STUDY DESIGN: Two surveys of the Lorraine-regional practice (from both the anaesthetists and surgeons from Lorraine) and one survey of patient satisfaction. PATIENTS AND METHOD: Questionnaires were sent by mail to all anaesthetists (n=270) and surgeons (n=339) in the Lorraine region. In the immediate postoperative period, specific questionnaires were sent by mail to selected patient groups (n=73 in each group), one group having and the other (control) not having Off Site preanaesthetic consult. RESULTS: Anaesthetists' survey: 48.4% of interviewed anaesthetists belonged to the pre-anaesthetic consult network. 81.2% of these anaesthetists performed Off Site pre-anaesthetic consult. The main recognized advantages were patient comfort (89.6%) and cost effectiveness (57.3%). 26.1% of anaesthetists who did not participate to the network were strongly opposed to this practice, while 60.9% were prepared to enter the network. Surgeons' survey: 15.6% of surgeons were not satisfied that anaesthetists in their institutions practiced the Off Site pre-anaesthetic consult. Patients' survey: no difference in satisfaction towards the quality of information delivered during the consultation (anaesthetic technique, analgesia and evaluation of the perioperative risk) nor in terms of perioperative anxiety. The average transportation distance spared by Off Site preanaesthetic Consult was 98 miles. CONCLUSION: Off Site preanaesthetic consult may have real benefits in terms of, patient satisfaction, comfort and cost-effectiveness. In the Lorraine region, a majority of anaesthetists has experience with this practice.

Anesthesiology↗

[Panhypopituitarism revealing metastasis of small-cell lung carcinoma associated with sarcoidosis].

Pituitary metastasis and sarcoidosis are two causes of pituitary stalk thickening. Their association has been described ago three decades. In this setting, we report a case of panhypopituitarism revealing pituitary metastasis from a small-cell lung carcinoma associated with sarcoidosis. A 49 year-old smoking patient with type 2 diabetes was admitted for acute adrenal failure with polyuria polydipsia syndrome and a pituitary tumor syndrome. Hormone explorations confirmed anterior pituitary insufficiency. Water restriction revealed central diabetes insipidus. The hypothalamic-pituitary MRI revealed a 1-cm sellar mass with nodular thickening of the stalk. The chest radiograph showed a heterogeneous opacity in the left lung. The thoraco-abdominal scan demonstrated a mass in the left lung highly suggestive of malignancy and many enlarged mediastinal nodes, hepatic nodules, and hypertrophy of the left adrenal. Bronchoscopy was performed three times and showed infiltration of the left bronchial tree but histological examination of the bronchial biopsies was negative for all samples. Ultrasound-guided biopsy of the liver was achieved and histology demonstrated sarcoidosis. The diagnosis of sarcoidosis was incompatible with the deterioration of the patient's general status. Subsequent radiographic explorations showed an increase in the size of the tumor mass and histological evaluation of a scan-guided trans-thoracic biopsy demonstrated small-cell carcinoma. Small-cell lung carcinoma is the most common cancer with pituitary metastasis. The proposed link between sarcoidosis and malignancy has remained controversial but has not been proven false.

Adrenal Gland Diseases↗

An objective assessment of nerve stimulators used for peripheral nerve blockade*.

Nerve stimulation is considered by many to be the current 'gold standard' for locating peripheral nerves. Thirteen nerve stimulators were subjected to a battery of tests performed by two independent observers under standardised conditions using a digital oscilloscope, a calibrated resistance and a novel scoring system. Individual scores were assigned for the signal waveform, current intensity, impulse duration, maximum load output and functionality of each nerve stimulator; the maximum score achievable was 20. A score of > or = 15/20 was achieved by six nerve stimulators: Stimuplex HNS 12 (B Braun); MultiStim Vario (Pajunk); Plexival (Medival, Vygon); MultiStim Sensor (Pajunk); Plexygon (Aryon, Vygon); Stimuplex HNS 11 (B Braun). Seven nerve stimulators scored < 15/20. Anaesthetists should be aware of the limitations of the nerve stimulator being used. Standardisation of features is desirable when manufacturing nerve stimulators.

Electric Stimulation↗

Effects of levobupivacaine and ropivacaine on rat sciatic nerve blood flow.

BACKGROUND: Ischaemia is one of the causative mechanisms of peripheral nerve injury, a documented complication of regional anaesthesia. Local anaesthetics per se and/or vasopressor adjuvants may account for changes in peripheral nerve blood flow. The aim of this study was to test the effects of levobupivacaine and ropivacaine in a rat sciatic nerve model with respect to local blood flow and histopathological changes. METHODS: Forty-eight female Sprague-Dawley rats were anaesthetized for left sciatic nerve exposure. After baseline nerve blood flow measurement with a laser Doppler flowmeter, 0.2 ml of one of the following solutions was applied topically to the nerve in a random fashion: saline 0.9%; lidocaine 10 mg ml(-1); levobupivacaine 2.5 mg ml(-1); levobupivacaine 5 mg ml(-1); levobupivacaine 7.5 mg ml(-1); ropivacaine 2 mg ml(-1); ropivacaine 7.5 mg ml(-1); and ropivacaine 7.5 mg ml(-1) plus epinephrine 5 microg ml(-1); all in saline 0.9%. Nerve blood flow was evaluated at 5-min intervals up to 30 min after local application of anaesthetic solution. Three animals per group were killed for histological evaluation 48 h later. Multiple one-way analyses of variance followed by Scheffé's post hoc test was used for statistical analysis. P<0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: Local anaesthetics at all concentrations tested caused significant reduction in nerve blood flow. The combination of ropivacaine 7.5 mg ml(-1) plus epinephrine did not reduce nerve blood flow to a greater extent than ropivacaine 7.5 mg ml(-1) alone. Low concentrations of levobupivacaine (2.5 and 5 mg ml(-1)) reduced nerve blood flow to the same extent as lidocaine 10 mg ml(-1). No significant histological changes were observed at 48 h. CONCLUSION: Despite acute reductions in peripheral nerve blood flow, significant histopathological changes were not observed in this rat sciatic nerve model after topical application of levobupivacaine and ropivacaine at concentrations relevant to clinical practice.

Amides↗

Liposuction and extravasation injuries in ICU.

Liposuction is a minimally invasive surgical technique, occasionally used to minimize the risk of devastating soft tissue necrosis following extravasation of noxious substances. Anaesthetists and intensive care physicians frequently use agents that may cause serious tissue injury if extravasated. Therefore, knowledge on how to manage this complication is important. We present two cases of percutaneous extravasation of noxious agents in intensive care patients and discuss their subsequent management.

Adolescent↗

Long-term evaluation of motor function following intraneural injection of ropivacaine using walking track analysis in rats.

BACKGROUND: There is a paucity of data regarding neurologic function following nerve injury. Our objective was the long-term evaluation of motor function following intraneural injection of ropivacaine in rats using the sciatic function index (SFI), derived from walking track analysis. METHODS: Rats were randomly assigned to one of four groups of 13 animals each. A needle was inserted under magnification into the left sciatic nerve and 0.2 ml of normal saline, formalin 15%, ropivacaine 0.2 or 0.75% were injected intraneurally. The right side was sham operated. Walking track analysis was performed the day before and on days 1, 4, 7, 11, 15, 18, 21, and 67 following intraneural injection. At the end of the experiment (day 67) a semi-quantitative evaluation of neuropathologic changes was performed by three independent observers. RESULTS: Animals treated with saline and ropivacaine (0.2 and 0.75%) had no detectable impairment of motor function at any time point. In contrast, rats treated with formalin had a complete loss of motor function immediately after the intraneural injection, which persisted until day 21 and returned to normal by day 67. Important histopathologic changes (score=2) with excellent inter-observer agreement were seen only in the group treated with formalin. This applied to both axonal degeneration and Schwann cell density evaluations. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that intraneural injections of ropivacaine at concentrations routinely used in clinical practice appear to have no deleterious effect on sciatic nerve motor function in this experimental rat model.

Amides↗

[Unilateral spinal anaesthesia in elderly patient for hip trauma: a pilot study].

INTRODUCTION: Fractured neck of femur is encountered more frequently as life expectancy increases. All anaesthetic techniques aim to avoid deleterious fall in arterial blood pressure. The haemodynamic effects of hypobaric unilateral spinal anaesthesia have been rarely assessed in patients over 80 year's old. This study aims to do that in a prospective manner. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Twenty-five patients were enrolled. Following a preload with HES 240/0.576 % (Hesteril) (5 ml/kg) and the administration of an iliofascial block, patients were placed in the lateral decubitus position, operative side uppermost. 3.5 ml of 0.12% hypobaric bupivacaine was administered intrathecally at a rate of 0.25 ml/second. Patients were kept in position for 15 minutes. Systolic, mean and diastolic arterial pressures, heart rate, SaO2 % and ephedrine consumption were recorded at five minutes intervals as was the rate of onset, height and duration of sensory and motor block and extent of bilateralization. Patient and surgeon satisfaction scores were also recorded. RESULTS: No significant changes in systolic, mean and diastolic pressures, or SaO2 % occurred. Median onset times of sensory and motor block were 8+/-5 and 16+/-7 minutes on the operative side and 30+/-15 and 36+/-15 minutes on the contralateral side in those with bilateralization, respectively. The maximum height of sensory block was T6 for sept patients, T8 for huit patients and T8-T10 for the remainder. Mean duration of sensory and motor block was 134+/-26 and 119+/-24 minutes on the operative side and 100+/-26 and 98+/-25 minutes on the contralateral side, respectively. In 12 patients (48%) bilateralization of their block occurred. Patients and surgeons rated the technique highly. CONCLUSION: Hypobaric unilateral spinal anaesthesia is a simple technique, produces satisfactory operative conditions and induces very little haemodynamic change in the elderly population.

Aged↗

[Labour epidural analgesia for a woman with hereditary macrothrombocytopenia].

Epidural analgesia is often considered as risk of epidural haematoma in a patient with thrombocytopenia. In this observation, uncomplicated epidural analgesia was performed in a pregnant woman with hereditary macrothrombocytopenia. She received continuous epidural labour analgesia for a vaginal delivery with a platelet count at 63x10(9)/l but platelets with high mean platelet volume (20fL) and normal function. No neurological sequelae or excessive bleeding occurred.

Adult↗

[Pituitary tuberculosis: a case report].

Through a case of sellar and suprasellar tuberculoma which presented with central diabetes insipidus, the authors report the frequency of pituitary tuberculoma, its physiopathology, clinical presentation hormonal and radiological findings thus management and evolution. A 42 years old woman, with a history of erythema nodosum, presented with polyuria polydipsia (PUPD), amenorrhea and galactorrhea. Endocrine investigations showed central diabetes insipidus, elevated serum prolactin levels and cortisol failure. Magnetic resonance imagining scans (MRI) revealed a nodular thickening of the pituitary enlargement and loss of posterior pituitary hypointensity signal. Etiologic inquiry has removed the diagnosis of sarcoidosis, Langerhan's histosis, autoimmune hypophysitis and sellar metastasis. The history of erythema nodosum, the positivity of tuberculin skin test and the presence of koch bacillus in the bronchial fluid after culture led to a diagnosis of tuberculosis. Treatment was started with four drug antitubercular chemotherapy regimen for 2 months, and tow drug antitubercular chemotherapy regimen for 16 months. This treatment is associated with hydrocortisone, desmopressin nasal spray and bromocriptine. Under treatment, there was an improvement in clinical condition, disapearence of headache, PUPD and galactorrhea thus normalization of prolactin. A follow-up MRI, 8 months later, showed that pituitary lesion has been completely removed, suggesting our clinical and biology presumption. Pituitary tuberculosis is rare, however, when encountered, they may present a diagnostic difficulty. Accurate diagnosis and management is important because pituitary tuberculoma is curable.

Adult↗

Evaluation of femoral nerve blockade following inguinal paravascular block of Winnie: are there still lessons to be learnt?

Lower limb peripheral nerve blocks are used to provide surgical anaesthesia or postoperative analgesia. Anatomical texts imply that femoral and saphenous nerve blocks be evaluated by sensory testing of the skin overlying the anterior aspect of the thigh, and the medial aspect of the foot, respectively. We have mapped the distribution of anaesthesia in 25 adults following femoral nerve blockade, performed using the inguinal paravascular technique of Winnie. There was substantial interindividual variation in the area of anaesthesia. Only the skin overlying the middle third of the medial thigh was consistently blocked in 100% of patients. The distribution of anaesthesia conformed to anatomical text descriptions in 24% of cases. We conclude that demonstration of complete quadriceps paralysis confirms femoral nerve blockade. Failing that, sensory evaluation of a femoral nerve block should involve testing the skin of the middle third of the medial aspect of the thigh. The skin overlying the anteromedial aspect of the middle third of the leg should be evaluated for saphenous nerve block.

Adult↗

[Quality assurance program for pain management after obstetrical perineal injury].

INTRODUCTION: A quality insurance program has been set up in order to improve the relief of pain in patients with perineal injury after childbirth. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The program has been developed according to the French standards of accreditation. After elaboration of a referential, a first study (103 patients) allowed to evaluate the ongoing practices and to appreciate the pain intensities. After analysis of the results, an action strategy has been elaborated, with a brand new therapeutic standard and a pain-monitoring program for nurses. Six months later, a second study (105 patients) measured the efficiency of the accomplished actions. The statistic analysis used chi2 and Kruskal-Wallis tests and a multivariate analyse (p <0.05). RESULTS: Several indicators led to conclude to the success of this program: analgesics prescribed systematically and earlier, best observance, larger utilisation of the NSAI, decrease of the analgesics requests, improvement of the satisfaction referred to the relief of pain. The multivariate analyse showed a risk twice as little as in the second study to have a 36th hour VAS score superior to four (p =0.03). CONCLUSION: The apply of this quality insurance program allowed to improve the analgesia after obstetric perineal injuries. A few adaptations are needed, and also more formations of the medical and paramedical staff. The durability of the accomplished actions shall be evaluated in the future.

Adult↗

Postoperative analgesia after total knee replacement: the effect of an obturator nerve block added to the femoral 3-in-1 nerve block.

Femoral nerve block (FNB) does not consistently produce anesthesia of the obturator nerve. In this single-blind, randomized, controlled study we added a selective obturator nerve block (ONB) to FNB to analyze its influence on postoperative analgesia after total knee replacement (TKR). Before general anesthesia, 90 patients undergoing TKR received FNB (Group 1), FNB and selective ONB (Group 2), or placebo FNB (Group 3). Postoperative analgesia was further provided by morphine IV via patient-controlled analgesia. Analgesic efficacy and side effects were recorded in the first 6 h after surgery. Adductor strength decreased by 18% +/- 9% in Group 1 and by 78% +/- 22% in Group 2 (P < 0.0001). Total morphine consumption was reduced in Group 2 compared with Groups 1 and 3 (P < or = 0.0001). Patients in Group 2 reported lower pain scores than those in Groups 1 and 3 (P = 0.0003). The incidence of nausea was more frequent in Groups 1 and 3 (P = 0.01). We conclude that FNB does not produce complete anesthesia of the obturator nerve. Single-shot FNB does not provide additional benefits on pain at rest over opioids alone in the early postoperative period. The addition of an ONB to FNB improves postoperative analgesia after TKR.

Aged↗

[Impact of 2 strategies of analgesia on postoperative pain after emergency hand surgery performed on an ambulatory basis].

OBJECTIVES: The assessment of the impact of various analgesic regimens on postoperative pain at home, following emergency and ambulatory hand surgery. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective comparative study of "before" and "after" groups by phone questionnaire on the first postoperative day. PATIENTS: All emergency and ambulatory surgery patients undergoing hand surgery in a specialist university hospital unit. METHODS: a) "Before" group (120 patients): analysis of current analgesic practice in the service (prescriptions by surgeon on duty), assessment of the incidence of pain scores with an intensity >/= 4 on a numerical score of 0 to 10, and identification of the most painful surgical interventions; b) formulation for these surgical interventions of multimodal analgesic protocols drown up by the anaesthetists; c) "After" group (51 patients): assessment of the efficacy of these analgesic protocols through comparison with the "before" group. RESULTS: a) "Before" group: the total incidence of pain scores with an intensity >/= 4 was 42% and in the case of conditions involving a joint or sepsis, 88%. Dextropropoxyfen-paracetamol alone was prescribed in 66% of cases and was associated with a 48% analgesic failure rate. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs were prescribed in 14% of cases, tramadol in 7% and a combination of drugs in 15%; b) "After" group: the incidence of pain scores with an intensity >/= 4 decreased to 21% in surgical interventions involving joints or sepsis (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Multimodal analgesic regimens are more effective than free prescriptions. This study underlines the need to further educate surgeons in this area. Despite these written protocols, there remains a 21% incidence of pain at home on day one.

Acetaminophen↗

Improvement of information gained from the pre-anaesthetic visit through a quality-assurance programme.

BACKGROUND: Pre-anaesthetic evaluation is a fundamental component of anaesthetic practice. The aims of the present study were to assess the quality of the preoperative anaesthetic information gathered and to observe the quality profile after the introduction of a standardized form. This occurred through a four-step quality assurance programme over a 4-yr period. METHODS: The proportion of cases in which a complete recording of data was collected at the preoperative assessment was evaluated by searching in each patient's medical record for what was considered to be the minimum information required to provide satisfactory perioperative care. Fifteen criteria were selected. The recovery profile for each indicator and a global quality index (GQI expressed in %) for each patient's record were collected. In phase 1, the existing situation was assessed. Next, a standardized pre-anaesthetic form (PAF 1) was designed and its implementation evaluated (Phase 2). Phase 3 was performed 16 months after implementation of PAF 1 to assess the long-term value. The form was revised (PAF 2) and its use evaluated again 6 months later (Phase 4). For each evaluation, the records of a 1-month period were examined. Overall 1129 medical records were audited. RESULTS: The GQI increased significantly from 62 to 88% with similar changes for both elective and emergency cases. The recovery profile was improved for most indicators. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the quality of information recorded from the pre-anaesthetic visit is improved by using a standardized form. This will hopefully help to improve patient outcome and facilitate computerization of the anaesthetic record.

Anesthesia Department, Hospital↗