Biomedical subjects

L Pecora

Publications and source records attributed to L Pecora.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Levobupivacaine and ropivacaine in the infraclavicular brachial plexus block.

AIM: Infraclavicular brachial plexus block were first described by Raj, yet this block remained underutilized despite theoretical advantages. The aim of this prospective, randomized study was to compare equipotent doses of levobupivacaine and ropivacaine. METHODS: For this prospective, randomized study we have enrolled, after informed consent, 30 patients of both sexes, ASA status I-II, who were going to receive surgery to the forearm or hand with tourniquet position on the arm. The infraclavicular plexus block was performed by using vertical technique. The block was performed with 30 mL of levobupivacaine 0.5% or ropivacaine 0.75%. RESULTS: No differences were reported between 2 groups in terms of demographic data. The onset-time for motor block was greater for ropivacaine group (p<0.05); the sensitive block was longer in levobupivacaine group (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The long duration of sensory block associated with the with good analgesia, less toxicity and the pharmacodynamic properties of levobupivacaine include this new local anaesthetic as a valid choice respect other local anaesthetic for infraclavicular plexus block.

Amides↗

PubMed2004

Levobupivacaine versus ropivacaine in psoas compartment block and sciatic nerve block in orthopedic surgery of the lower extremity.

AIM: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical profiles of psoas block and sciatic nerve block performed with either 0.5% levobupivacaine or 0.75% ropivacaine. METHODS: With ethical committee approval and written informed consent 80 ASA physical status I-II patients, undergoing lower extremity surgery received intravenous premedication with midazolam (0.05 mg/kg) and atropine (0.01 mg/kg). Patients were randomly allocated to receive a lumbar plexus block with: Levobupivacaine Group (L) 30 ml of 0.5% levobupivacaine or Ropivacaine Group (R) 0.75% ropivacaine, and sciatic nerve block with: Group R 10 ml 0.75 ropivacaine or Group L 0.5% levobupivacaine. The onset time and duration of nerve block were evaluated. RESULTS: The motor onset time was shorter in Group L than in Group R. The motor offset time was similar in the 2 groups, the time being slightly greater for Group R. Group L presented a higher difference of resolution to motor-sensitive block compared to Group R. CONCLUSIONS: The differences between Groups L and R were characterised by: a faster motor onset time in Group L with a longer time between motor and sensitive resolution determining a lower demand for analgesic drugs postoperatively and greater support for motor control recovery.

Amides↗

PubMed2001

Early seizure detection.

For patients with medically intractable epilepsy, there have been few effective alternatives to resective surgery, a destructive, irreversible treatment. A strategy receiving increased attention is using interictal spike patterns and continuous EEG measurements from epileptic patients to predict and ultimately control seizure activity via chemical or electrical control systems. This work compares results of seven linear and nonlinear methods (analysis of power spectra, cross-correlation, principal components, phase, wavelets, correlation integral, and mutual prediction) in detecting the earliest dynamical changes preceding 12 intracranially-recorded seizures from 4 patients. A method of counting standard deviations was used to compare across methods, and the earliest departures from thresholds determined from non-seizure EEG were compared to a neurologist's judgement. For these data, the nonlinear methods offered no predictive advantage over the linear methods. All the methods described here were successful in detecting changes leading to a seizure between one and two minutes before the first changes noted by the neurologist, although analysis of phase correlation proved the most robust. The success of phase analysis may be due in part to its complete insensitivity to amplitude, which may provide a significant source of error.

Brain Mapping↗

PubMed2000

Three coupled oscillators as a universal probe of synchronization stability in coupled oscillator arrays

We show that the stability surface that governs the synchronization of a large class of arrays of identical oscillators can be probed with a simple array of just three identical oscillators. Experimentally this implies that it may be possible to probe the synchronization conditions of many arrays all at the same time. In the process of developing a theory of the three-oscillator probe, we also show that several regimes of asymptotic coupling can be derived for the array classes, including the case of large imaginary coupling, which apparently has not been explored.

Journal Article↗

PubMed1992