PubMed Health⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

M Scrutton

Publications and source records attributed to M Scrutton.

3 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Spinal anaesthesia in a patient with hereditary spastic paraplegia: case report and literature review.

We report the use of spinal anaesthesia in a patient with hereditary spastic paraplegia who presented for manual removal of placenta following a normal vaginal delivery. This 18-year-old primigravida had been diagnosed with hereditary spastic paraplegia at 8 years of age when neurological examination revealed mild bilateral lower limb spasticity. A 25-gauge Whitacre spinal anaesthetic needle was inserted at the L3-4 intervertebral space and 0.5% plain bupivacaine 2 mL plus fentanyl 25 microg administered. The procedure was uneventful. At 24 hours postoperatively, there was full neurological recovery to pre-anaesthetic levels. The hereditary spastic paraplegias are a group of neurological disorders characterised by a slowly progressing spastic paraparesis. The neurological disorder and its anaesthetic implications are reviewed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Where is T5? A survey of anaesthetists.

The extent of a regional block for Caesarean section must be tested and documented before surgery commences. In recent years a block to 'touch' that includes T5 has increasingly been considered the best predictive test for a pain-free Caesarean section. Our survey examines the consistency with which different anaesthetists identified the location of the T5 dermatome. Seventy-three anaesthetists were asked to mark a point on an anatomical picture to indicate where they would test for T5. Overall there was good agreement on the location of the T5 dermatome, but one in seven anaesthetists were inaccurate by two or more dermatomes. There were no statistically significant differences between the subgroups of senior house officer, specialist registrar and consultant anaesthetists. The knowledge of relevant dermatome levels should be an integral part of obstetric anaesthetic training.

Anesthesia, Conduction↗