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Biomedical subjects

J M Conroy

Publications and source records attributed to J M Conroy.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1994

Postoperative analgesia after major shoulder surgery with interscalene brachial plexus blockade: etidocaine versus bupivacaine.

Postoperative pain is commonly treated with significant doses of narcotics, occasionally resulting in side effects including nausea, pruritus, and respiratory depression. One potential advantage of regional anesthesia is profound postoperative analgesia that reduces exposure to potent narcotics. To evaluate the efficacy of two long-acting local anesthetics, bupivacaine and etidocaine, in providing pain relief after major shoulder surgery, we randomized 20 patients to receive either bupivacaine or etidocaine for brachial plexus block as the primary anesthetic for shoulder surgery. Surgeons, patients, and the acute pain service were blinded as to drug selection. After the patient was sedated, an interscalene block was placed with the use of a nerve stimulator to facilitate proper needle placement. Forty milliliters of either 0.5% bupivacaine or 0.75% etidocaine containing 5 micrograms/mL epinephrine was injected into the brachial plexus sheath. An additional 8 mL of local anesthetic was administered for superficial cervical plexus blockade. Intraoperative sedation was accomplished with an intravenous infusion of methohexital as needed. After surgery, patients received a standard patient-controlled analgesia protocol providing incremental doses of morphine. The degree of postoperative analgesia resulting from residual local anesthetic effect was expressed as the time until first morphine requirement and the total dose of morphine required during the first 24 hours postoperatively. We found no statistically significant intergroup differences either in time of initial use of morphine or in the total dose of morphine required in the first 24 hours. Both etidocaine and bupivacaine provide prolonged analgesia after major shoulder surgery when injected into the brachial plexus. Bupivacaine, however, possesses significant cardiotoxicity and has a relatively delayed onset in peripheral neural blockade. Etidocaine is less cardiotoxic and also has a more rapid onset of effect. Thus etidocaine may be a preferable agent for interscalene block for major shoulder surgery.

Aged↗
PubMed1993

A comparison of wound instillation and caudal block for analgesia following pediatric inguinal herniorrhaphy.

Regional analgesia, in a variety of forms, has been shown to afford effective postoperative pain relief after pediatric inguinal hernia repair. This study compares the efficacy of wound instillation with 0.25% bupivacaine (n = 20), caudal block with 0.25% bupivacaine (n = 35), and a control group (n = 15). Outcome parameters examined include total operating room time, time to extubation, postoperative objective pain scales, and requirement for supplemental analgesics. Patients who received caudal blocks had significantly decreased emergence times (P < .002), exhibited fewer pain-related behaviors postoperatively (P < .0025), and required less narcotic to maintain normal hemodynamics (P < .05). Operating room time was not statistically different between the three groups. The use of perioperative analgesic blocks resulted in quicker awakening, a more comfortable postoperative course, and potentially earlier discharge from same-day surgery.

Anesthesia, Local↗
PubMed1993

Selection of anesthesiology residents.

BACKGROUND: CARCS (computer-assisted resident candidate selection) is a database application developed in 1983 at the Department of Anesthesiology of the Medical University of South Carolina to deal with the greatly increased quantity of applicant information. This article relates a representative sample of CARCS data to the process of selecting residents in general. METHOD AND RESULTS: CARCS files were analyzed for 1985-86, 1986-87, 1990-91, and 1991-92, and data for each year were derived as simple averages and percentages for two groups: (1) the entire pool of residency applicants (approximately 200 per year) and (2) the eight residency candidates per year who actually matched with the program through the National Resident Matching Program, Analyses showed that the standardized test scores, grades, and class ranks of the matched candidates were not significantly higher than those of the applicants; however, the matched candidates' scores for letters of reference and for interviews were consistently higher than those for the applicant pool. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the view of medical educators that the traditional academic criteria are not sufficiently predictive of clinical performance or interpersonal skills. Research relating residents' performances to personality, learning style, and other neuropsychological factors may provide needed alternatives to knowledge testing by developing combined cognitive-noncognitive profiles. The anesthesiology clerkship experience is now almost universal among applicants and could be structured to provide pertinent information about potential residents through direct observation as well as behavioral testing.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed1993

Cerebral monitoring during implantation of automatic internal cardiac defibrillators.

Implantation of automatic internal cardiac defibrillators (AICD) for management of arrhythmias necessitates the induction of ventricular fibrillation (VF) to test the device adequately. The profound hypotension associated with induced arrhythmia and subsequent circulatory arrest may result in cerebral ischemia. To characterize cerebral ischemia, we used a five-lead Lifescan brain activity monitor to examine changes in cerebral activity in 10 patients having AICD placement. The duration of hypotension, as defined by a mean arterial pressure (MAP) < 50 mm Hg, was recorded, and the corresponding changes in brain activity were evaluated during 51 episodes of circulatory arrest. The number of episodes for each patient ranged from 2 to 14. The average duration of hypotension per episode was 26.2 seconds, with a range of 8 to 67 seconds. Brain activity changes characteristic of cerebral ischemia occurred in 46 of the 51 events (90%). Cerebral ischemia did not occur when the duration of hypotension was less than 16 seconds (5 episodes). The duration of cerebral ischemia ranged from 50 to 279 seconds (average 84.9 seconds) and did not correlate with the duration of hypotension or the order of the episodes in the testing sequence. These findings suggest that reevaluation of standard monitoring practice for AICD implantation may be warranted.

Brain Ischemia↗
PubMed1993

Acquired methemoglobinemia from multiple oxidants.

Phenazopyridine has been associated with methemoglobinemia in patients who have received an overdose, have decreased renal function, or are discovered to be unusually susceptible to the drug (ie, they may have an undetected NADH methemoglobin reductase deficiency). The case we have presented is unusual in that normal doses of phenazopyridine were given, no renal dysfunction was evident, and our patient had previously been given this drug without complication. Methemoglobinemia appeared to be the result of metabolic overload by multiple oxidants (phenazopyridine and lidocaine) of the normal reductase pathways in the erythrocytes. We saw no evidence to indicate that bupivacaine contributed to its development. Enzyme pathway changes induced by chemotherapy should be considered, though few studies have linked alterations of enzyme levels and pathways with chemotherapy and malignancy.

Administration, Topical↗
PubMed1992

Immunoquantitation of carnitine palmitoyl transferase in skeletal muscle of 31 patients.

We studied 31 patients suspected of having muscle carnitine palmitoyl transferase 2 (CPT2) deficiency. The catalytic activity of CPT2 was measured in muscle biopsies by the isotope exchange method and CPT2 immunoreactivity was quantitated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Nine patients had normal enzyme activity and immunoreactivity. Eight patients had significant deficiencies in catalytic activity (> 3 S.D. below reference mean) of which six were also deficient in immunoreactivity. An additional nine patients were significantly deficient in immunoreactivity with normal catalytic activity and five patients had partial deficiencies in both. At least two categories of alterations in CPT may exist which lead to a deficiency based on the data presented: (1) a regulatory defect in CPT which only alters the enzyme active site; and (2) a structural defect due to altered synthesis, increased degradation, or changes in the immunoreactive site. It may prove to be of diagnostic importance to combine the analysis of enzyme activity and immunoreactivity in patients suspected of having a CPT deficiency and to further investigate the condition of partial CPT deficiency.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Postoperative pulmonary toxicity associated with mitomycin-C therapy.

As more patients survive cancer, and as more sophisticated multidrug antineoplastic protocols are developed, the chances of an anesthesiologist's coming into contact with patients who have been treated with such protocols are increasing. The anesthesiologist who must administer anesthesia to a patient who has had chemotherapy must be cognizant of the particular antineoplastic agents that have the potential for producing occult pulmonary dysfunction. Anesthetic management of these cases must be carefully planned and titrated to prevent further lung injury.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

A modification of the supraclavicular approach to the central circulation.

Traditional anterior or posterior triangle approaches to the central circulation may be at times unsuccessful in the patient whose anatomy makes cannulation difficult. We used a supraclavicular approach to cannulation of the central circulation in 100 patients for intraoperative monitoring or insertion of renal dialysis catheters. We have had only two failures, both in patients for dialysis catheter placement, and no complications. Review of the literature reveals a similar history of success with variations of this approach. The supraclavicular approach is an easy cannulation technique for the inexperienced physician and a useful alternative to traditional approaches for the experienced physician.

Catheterization, Central Venous↗
PubMed1989

Colloid oncotic pressure as a guide for the anesthesiologist in directing fluid therapy.

One useful but underused parameter of fluid replacement is colloid oncotic pressure. Colloid oncotic pressure (COP) is one of the Starling forces that maintain a balance between intravascular and extravascular fluid. Systemic and pulmonary circulations exhibit differences that limit the usefulness of COP manipulation in the treatment of pulmonary edema, especially that associated with hypoxic damage or pulmonary contusion. Systemic transcapillary fluid transport, however, is governed significantly by COP, and serial measurements of COP can serve as useful guides for colloid replacement. In this paper we present instances in which COP determinations were found to be clinically helpful, and discuss colloid replacement during surgery.

Anesthesia↗
PubMed1989

Marfan syndrome in the parturient.

Early recognition of the Marfan Syndrome and knowledge of its potentially lethal complications facilitates successful treatment of these individuals. It is through a joint effort by many specialist physicians such as the obstetrician, cardiologist, and anesthesiologist that these patients can be managed safely through pregnancy, labor, and delivery.

Adult↗
PubMed1988

Headache after lumbar puncture: review of the epidural blood patch.

The incidence of accidental dural puncture during epidural block is 2.9%; headache follows in as many as 76.5% of these patients. Treatment by injection of autologous blood into the epidural space has gained wide acceptance since its introduction in 1960, though it is contraindicated by blood dyscrasias, anticoagulant therapy, bleeding, and localized infection. The procedure is done by slowly injecting 15 to 20 ml of blood into the same interspace, no sooner than 24 hours after the original puncture. Serious complications are rare.

Blood Transfusion↗
PubMed1988

Beyond career choice: the role of learning style analysis in residency training.

A recent article in this journal took an important step toward rethinking the utility of behavioural instruments designated as learning style tests (Jewett et al. 1987). The authors of that paper made much of a distinction between the terms 'learning style' and 'learning preference'. However, the results of their study do not seem to substantiate a marked difference between the function of the Rezler Learning Preference Inventory (LPI) and Kolb's Learning Style Inventory (LSI) with which it was contrasted. The most important aspect of their paper was that it rescued the concept of learning style analysis from the arena of career choice prediction at the undergraduate level and applied these ideas to doctors who had already made their specialty selections and were actively engaged in residency training. Clinical instructors in teaching institutions have, for the most part, little or no formal background in educational principles. For these individuals, an easily comprehensible model of resident-instructor psychology can be very useful on a daily basis. This article reviews the authors' experience with the LSI and describes their utilization of Kolb's Experimental Learning Model in the areas of resident counselling and residency curriculum design. The results of two recent studies are also presented in which learning style was examined as a predictor of success in residency, and teacher-resident learning style distributions were shown to exhibit parallel relationships at four different anaesthesiology residency training programmes.

Anesthesiology↗