BackgroundShivering during regional anesthesia is a common complication and is related to a decrease in the patient’s core body temperature. Previous studies have shown that acupuncture on specific acupoints can preserve core body temperature. The present study evaluated the effect of electroacupuncture in preventing the shivering caused by regional anesthesia.MethodsThis prospective and randomized controlled study analyzed the data from 80 patients undergoing urological surgery, who were classified as ASA I or II. Spinal anesthesia was performed in all patients using 15 mg of bupivacaine. The patients were randomly allocated to receive either placebo acupuncture (Group P, n = 40) or electroacupuncture (Group A, n = 40) for 30 min before administration of spinal anesthesia. Shivering score was recorded at 5 min intervals, with 0 representing no shivering and 4 representing the most severe shivering possible. Heart rate, blood pressure, and tympanic temperature were recorded before the intrathecal injection, and again every 5 min thereafter until 30 min.ResultsAfter spinal anesthesia, the decrease in tympanic temperature was less for Group A patients than Group P, with the difference being statistically significant. After 15 min, 13 patients in Group P attained a shivering score of 3 or more, compared with 3 patients in Group A. Significantly more patients in Group P attained a shivering score of at least 1.ConclusionsThe prophylactic use of electroacupuncture might maintain core body temperature, and may effectively prevent the shivering that commonly develops during regional anesthesia.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12612000096853.
Polycrystalline tellurium films have been vacuum deposited on (111) n-type Si substrates. The surface morphology of the deposited films was found to be strongly dependent on the substrate temperature. When the substrate temperature was increased from room value to 300 °C, the grain size of the Te crystallites increased to about 5×10 μm2 with the long axis lying approximately parallel to the surface of the substrate. Preliminary studies on the electrical properties of the Te–Si heterostructure show rectifying characteristics. When cooled to liquid nitrogen temperature, the structure shows a photovoltaic effect under illumination in the wavelength range between 1 and 4 μm.
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