The efficacy of an integrated autotransfusion regimen, including pre-donation and perioperative salvage of autologous blood, was prospectively evaluated in 2884 patients undergoing total hip (n=2016) or knee arthroplasty (n = 480), and hip revision (n = 388) with either balanced general, regional, or integrated epidural/general anaesthesia. Allogenic concentrated red blood cells were transfused in the presence of symptomatic anaemia or when haemoglobin concentration was < 6gdL−1 (10gdL−1 in patients affected by cerebrovascular or coronary artery disease) after all salvaged and pre-donated autologous blood had been transfused. A total of 278 patients (9.6%) received allogenic blood. Risk factors for allogenic blood transfusion were: preoperative haemoglobin concentration < 10gdL−1 (after autologous blood pre-donations) (Odds ratio: 8.7; 95% CI: 6.5–16.8; P=0.004), hip revision versus hip or knee arthroplasty (Odds ratio: 5.8; 95% CI: 3.9–8.5; P=0.0001) and inability in obtaining the number of predonations required by the Maximum Surgery Blood Order on Schedule (Odds ratio: 3.4; 95% CI: 2.7–4.1; P=0.0001). The incidence of perioperative complications, including wound infection and haematoma, as well as myocardial ischaemia, respiratory failure and thromboembolic complications, was higher in those patients requiring allogenic blood transfusion (29.8%) than that observed in patients receiving only autologous blood (6.6%) (P=0.0005); while the mean time duration from surgical procedure to patient discharge from the orthopaedic ward was shorter in those patients not receiving allogenic blood transfusion (12 days; 25–75th percentiles: 8–14 days) than in those patients who required perioperative transfusion with allogenic blood (15 days; 25–75th percentiles: 10–17 days) (P=0.0005). In conclusion, this prospective study highlighted the clinical relevance of applying an extensive and integrated autotransfusion regimen in order to reduce allogenic blood transfusion and associated complications in patients undergoing major joint replacement.

Respiratory support with high-frequency jet ventilation has been advocated during airway surgery or to improve pulmonary mechanics and gas exchange in patients with bronchopleural fistulae or pulmonary insufficiency. Despite a large body of published evidence describing its benefits as an alternative ventilatory approach in anaesthesia and intensive care medicine, its application has not gained widespread acceptance and is restricted to specialized centres. To review the literature on high-frequency jet ventilation in European and North American institutions, we performed a search in a computerized database (MEDLINE) covering the period from 1990 until the present time, describing the use of high-frequency jet ventilation in over 7000 patients. Various modes to apply high-frequency jet ventilation during airway surgery have been established, but its value in intensive care is controversial. We report our experience with combined high-frequency jet ventilation and provide guidelines for its safe application.

We studied a number of factors that may be associated with urinary retention, in particular the method of postoperative analgesia delivery, in 47 men and 69 women undergoing lower limb joint replacements. The following factors were studied: age, gender, height, weight, previous history of urinary retention, presence of symptoms suggestive of urinary tract obstruction, type of anaesthetic (general anaesthetic or spinal anaesthetic), type of postoperative analgesia (intramuscular or patient-controlled analgesia with morphine) and the total dose of morphine given. Urinary retention developed in 18.1% of patients. Stepwise logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent explanators of an increased probability of developing urinary retention. Three factors emerged – male gender, increasing age and the use of patient-controlled analgesia.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects (common haemodynamic variables, peak cuff pressures, the incidence of reaction (‘bucking’) during extubation and the incidence of sore throat after operation) of lidocaine 10% instilled into the endotracheal tube cuff in intubated patients. Plasma concentrations of lidocaine were assayed. Seventy ASA class I–II patients scheduled for plastic surgery were studied. Patients were randomly divided in two groups: the cuff of the endotracheal tube was inflated with either lidocaine 10% (group L) or with saline (group S) immediately after endotracheal intubation. In group L patients, the haemodynamic changes were less (P < 0.05), and the peak cuff pressure was lower (P < 0.01) than for group S. At extubation, more patients reacted (‘bucked’) in group S (70.5% vs. 19.4%, P < 0.01). The incidence and severity of sore throat were significantly lower in group L 1 and 24-h after extubation. Plasma lidocaine concentrations did not reach toxic values. Lidocaine 10%, compared with saline, in the endotracheal tube cuff was associated with less disturbance of haemodynamic responses and less incidence of bucking during tracheal extubation. Lidocaine was also effective in reducing of incidence and severity of sore throat after operation.

A recent study in our department demonstrated that depressing the plunger of a 50-mL syringe was reliably and linearly related to the force applied between 20N and 50N. Using a 50-mL syringe we constructed a simple device to help train anaesthetic assistants to apply cricoid pressure correctly. We then tested anaesthetists, operating department practitioners (non-physicians) and nurses in our hospital to see if they could correctly apply forces of 20 and 40 N. All subjects were then trained using this apparatus and once confident were retested immediately afterwards, and again 1 week and 1 month later. The results show a wide variation in the force applied with only 30% of subjects applying appropriate force at 20N, and 40% at 40N. Training leads to a significant improvement in performance (P < 0.005 at 20N and P < 0.001 at 40N) which is maintained for 1 week for both 20N (P < 0.05) and 40N (P < 0.05) but not for 1 month. Therefore training should be practised on a weekly basis. This is an inexpensive and simple device that we believe to be useful in helping anaesthetic assistants to apply effective cricoid pressure.

Tramadol is a weak centrally acting analgesic and it might provide efficacious postoperative pain relief with minimal sedative effects in the use of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (PCA). Sixty women scheduled to undergo microvascular breast reconstruction under standard general anaesthesia were enrolled in a study on the performance of patient-controlled analgesia with tramadol or morphine with special emphasis on drug- and technique-related side-effects. Seven patients were re-operated within the same day, leaving 25 patients in the tramadol group and 28 in the morphine group for comparison. When postoperative pain occurred, loading doses of either 10mg tramadol or 1mg morphine intravenous increments were administered in a double-blind fashion until the pain control was judged to be satisfactory by the patient. After that the patients received tramadol or morphine by a PCA apparatus (lockout 5 min, tramadol 450 μg kg−1, morphine 45 μg kg−1 bolus). In addition, all patients received 500mg paracetamol rectally, three times a day. The potency ratio of tramadol to morphine was found to be between 8.5 : 1 (loading) and 11 : 1 (PCA). There was neither a significant difference between the groups in the overall satisfaction of the analgesic medication nor in the visual analogue and verbal rate scales for pain. Women in the tramadol group had more nausea and vomiting during the administration of loading doses (P < 0.05) and more patients in the tramadol group (7) than in the morphine group (3)(NS) wanted to discontinue the PCA therapy before the end of the study due to nausea. Sedation or blurred vision prevented the performance of the psychomotor tests in 22 and 32% of the tramadol and morphine patients, respectively. The remaining patients performed similarly in the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. In women receiving intravenous PCA for analgesia after microvascular breast reconstruction tramadol and morphine provided comparable postoperative analgesia with similar sedative effects. However, tramadol was associated with a disturbingly high incidence of nausea and vomiting.

The delivery of an hypoxic gas mixture to a patient during general anaesthesia is a rare event due to contemporary standards of monitoring, equipment design and alarm features. An incident is described where a split occurred in a rubber seal round the top of a flowmeter control tube. This resulted in a downstream oxygen leak and the delivery of an hypoxic gas mixture to the patient. The bobbin on the oxygen flowmeter did not accurately reflect the amount of oxygen being delivered. A paramagnetic oxygen analyser and a fuel cell oxygen electrode indicated that the inspired oxygen concentration was lower than intended. The anaesthetic machine was exchanged, and the operation continued uneventfully. The faulty anaesthetic machine subsequently passed a formal pressure test by the hospital engineers and also close examination of the flowmeter control valves. The importance of monitoring equipment and the interpretation of the information that they provide is emphasized.