Peripheral intravenous catheter infiltration: anesthesia providers do not adhere to their own ideas of best practice

Study ObjectiveTo survey anesthesia providers for their opinion on “best practice” in perioperative peripheral intravenous catheter (PIV) management, and to determine if they follow those opinions.DesignSurvey instrument.SettingAcademic medical center.Subjects266 United States (U.S.) anesthesia provider respondents (attending anesthesiologists, anesthesiology residents, anesthesia assistants, certified registered nurse-anesthetists and student registered nurse-anesthetists).MeasurementsBetween May 2009 and October 2010 a national survey was distributed to individuals who provide intraoperative anesthesia care to patients. Results were gathered via the SurveyMonkey database.Main Results266 anesthesia providers from across the U.S. took part in the survey. The majority (70%) had less than 5 years’ experience. Nearly 90% of respondents cared for a patient with an intravenous catheter infiltration at some point during their training; 7% of these patients required medical intervention. Intravenous assessment and documentation practices showed great variability. Management and documentation of PIVs was more aggressive and vigilant when respondents were asked about “best practice" than about actual management.ConclusionThere is no commonly accepted standard for management and documentation of PIVs in the operating room. From our survey, what providers think is “best practice" in the management and documentation of PIVs is not what is being done.     

Intradermal anesthesia and comparison of intravenous catheter gauge.

A double-blinded randomized prospective study was performed to determine whether alkalinization of lidocaine decreases the pain of intradermal injection and if a larger intravenous catheter (16 gauge) causes more discomfort on insertion than a smaller (20 gauge) catheter when intradermal anesthesia has been used. In a random manner, 100 patients received skin wheals with commercially prepared lidocaine or lidocaine with the addition of sodium bicarbonate before the insertion of a 16- or 20-gauge intravenous catheter. Visual analogue pain scores were obtained after the skin wheal was placed and after the intravenous catheter was inserted. There was no statistically significant difference in pain scores between the two local anesthetic solutions. However, the catheter insertions pain scores were slightly, but statistically significantly larger in the 16-gauge group regardless of local anesthetic solution used. The addition of sodium bicarbonate to commercially prepared lidocaine does not decrease the pain associated with an intradermal skin wheal. There is a slight increase in patient discomfort upon insertion of a large-bore intravenous catheter, even with the prior use of local anesthetic.     

Continuous total intravenous anesthesia is useful for postoperative pain management

We compared postoperative pain in two groups. All anesthetic agents were continuously administered intravenously in a continuous PKF (propofol 2-10 mg.kg-1.h-1, ketamine 240 micrograms.kg-1.h-1 and fentanyl 0.4 microgram.kg-1.h-1) group. In a control group, anesthesia was maintained by GOI (N2O-oxygen-isoflurane). Twenty-two patients scheduled for gynecological lower abdominal surgeries were divided into the continuous PKF group (n = 11) and the GOI group (n = 11). Epidural anesthesia was employed in both groups, using local anesthetic agents and fentanyl during surgeries and for 24 hrs postoperatively. To evaluate pain, VAS and Prince Henry Score on rest, cough and movement were taken 2 hrs and 5 hrs postoperatively, and in the morning and afternoon of the 1st as well as 2nd postoperative days. The continuous PKF group showed lower scores than the GOI group. It is a great advantage to use continuous PKF for postoperative pain management, and our data indicate that low dose ketamine may induce pre-emptive analgesia.     

Lost but not forgotten: patients lost to follow-up in a trauma database.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the characteristics of patients lost to follow-up and to identify if they are significantly different from those who are followed up in the context of a prospective randomized controlled trial. DESIGN: A retrospective review of a prospectively acquired trauma database. SETTING: A level 1 university-affiliated trauma hospital. PATIENTS: Two hundred and thirty-six patients treated for displaced intra-articular calcaneal fractures between April 1991 and December 1996. Of these, 198 were catcgorized as "attenders" and the remaining 38 were deemed "nonattenders." Demographics, severity of injury, intervention and post-treatment status of the 2 groups were compared. Demographic information, including age, gender, occupation workload, Workers' Compensation Board involvement and other standard trauma information were compared and the differences analyzed. RESULTS: The nonattenders were younger than the attenders, and there was a significantly increased proportion of Aboriginal Canadians in the nonattenders group. Attenders were more likely to be "skilled or semi-skilled clerical, sales, service or trades crafts" workers, and nonattenders were more likely to be "unskilled clerical, sales, service or labour" workers. Attenders were more likely to have a preoperative Bohler's angle of < 0 degrees, compared with a preoperative Bohler's angle of 0 degrees to 15 degrees for nonattenders. CONCLUSIONS: This trauma population is at higher risk of being marginalized by society and may not have the same accessibility to a study nurse or a hospital contact person. Patients lost to follow-up are a demographically and clinically different patient population from those who remain involved in a long-term prospective trauma study.     

Ketamine for intravenous regional anesthesia

We studied ketamine intravenous regional anesthesia of the upper extremity in volunteers using concentrations of 0.5%, 0.3%, and 0.2%. Ketamine 0.5 and 0.3% produced adequate intravenous regional anesthesia. Anesthesia was inadequate when a 0.2% concentration was used. However, although the 0.3% concentration provides complete sympathetic, sensory, and motor blockade when injected into the isolated extremity, unpleasant psychotomimetic effects after the release of the tourniquet limit the usefulness of this use of ketamine. Ketamine cannot be recommended for intravenous regional anesthesia unless these unpleasant side effects are abolished or controlled by means of pharmacologic adjuvants.     

Narcotic requirements for intravenous anesthesia

MAC BAR, the minimum end-tidal alveolar anesthetic concentration that inhibits adrenergic response to a noxious stimulus in 50% of subjects, is a quantifiable physiological parameter that can be used to determine potency and therapeutic indices of volatile anesthetics. We wished to determine whether there is a minimal intraarterial plasma concentration (MIC BAR) of an opiate such as fentanyl that will prevent a hypertensive response to noxious stimuli in 50% of patients undergoing aortocoronary bypass surgery (ACBP). Forty-three patients with good left ventricular function were studied. All patients were premedicated with diazepam, morphine, and scopolamine. Five groups of patients were anesthetized with different fentanyl anesthesia protocols, each designed to produce different plasma fentanyl concentrations (PFC). A 20% increase in systolic blood pressure compared to control was considered an adrenergic response that related to the plasma fentanyl concentration inferred from each patient's PFC time-concentration curve. Only four patients became hypertensive with a PFC greater than 20 ng/ml. One patient became hypertensive at intubation with a PFC of 12.3 ng/ml. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean PFC in patients who became hypertensive at each event. During aortic dissection, when significantly more patients became hypertensive, there was no difference in the incidence of hypertension in patients with a PFC above or below 20 ng/ml. Two patients became hypertensive at skin incision with a PFC over 30 ng/ml. A MIC BAR could not be identified because of the great variability in the PFC of patients who became hypertensive.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Multidrug intravenous anesthesia for children undergoing MRI: a comparison with general anesthesia

BACKGROUND: We used a multidrug intravenous anesthesia regimen with midazolam, ketamine, and propofol to provide anesthesia for children during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This regimen was compared with general anesthesia in a randomized comparative study. Outcome measures were safety, side effects and recovery variables in addition to adverse events in relation to age strata. METHODS: The children received either general anesthesia with propofol, vecuronium and isoflurane [general endotracheal anesthesia (GET) group; n=313] or intravenous anesthesia with midazolam, ketamine, and propofol [intravenous anesthesia (MKP) group; n=342]. Treatment assignment was randomized based on the date of the MRI. Physiological parameters were monitored during anesthesia and recovery. Desaturation (SpO2<93%), airway problems, and the need to repeat the scan were recorded. The discharge criteria were stable vital signs, return to baseline consciousness, absence of any side effects, and ability to ambulate. RESULTS: With the exception of two children (0.6%) in the MKP group, all enrolled children completed the scan. A significantly greater number (2.3%) required a repeat scan in the MKP group (P<0.05) and were sedated with a bolus dose of propofol. The total incidence of side effects was comparable between the MKP (7.7%) and GET groups (7.0%). Infants below the age of 1 year showed a significantly higher incidence of adverse events compared with the other age strata within each group. Within the MKP group, risk ratio was 0.40 and 0.26 when comparing infants aged below 1 year with the two older age strata, respectively. Recovery characteristics were comparable between both groups. CONCLUSIONS: Intravenous midazolam, ketamine and propofol provides safe and adequate anesthesia, comparable with that obtained from general endotracheal anesthesia, for most children during MRI.     

Liposomal encapsulation improves the duration of soft tissue anesthesia but does not induce pulpal anesthesia

Study ObjectiveTo compare the topical and the pulpal anesthesia efficacy of liposomal and plain benzocaine formulations.DesignDouble-blinded, randomized crossover study.SettingUniversity ambulatory dental center.Patients30 ASA physical status I volunteers.InterventionsVolunteers received, in three different sessions, topical application of liposome-encapsulated 10% benzocaine (LB10), 10% benzocaine gel (B10), and 20% benzocaine gel (B20) in the right maxillary canine mucobuccal fold.MeasurementsPain associated with the needle insertion was rated by visual analog scale (VAS) and the duration of topical anesthesia was recorded. Pulpal anesthesia was evaluated using an electric pulp tester.Main ResultsVAS values (median, 1st - 3rd quartiles) were 17 cm (11 - 25), 14 cm (3 - 22), and 21 cm (9 – 21) for B10, LB10, and B20, respectively. No differences were noted among the groups (Friedman test; P = 0.58). Soft tissue anesthesia was also not different. The LB10 [10 (8 - 12) min] showed longer soft tissue anesthesia (Friedman test; P < 0.01) than the other agents [B10 = 8 (5 - 10) min, and B20 = 7 (6 - 9) min]. None of the topical benzocaine formulations tested induced pulpal anesthesia.ConclusionsThe encapsulation of benzocaine into liposome increased the duration of soft tissue anesthesia. However, it did not induce pulpal anesthesia.