Dexmedetomidine is an elective alpha-2 adrenergic agonist, being used in anesthesia practice. It offers sedative, anxiolytic, analgesic, muscle relaxant, and sympathetic lytic properties. While respiratory effects are considered minor, there are important cardiovascular side effects with bradycardia and hypotension being the most common. This article presents a case of a patient, with significant comorbidities and polypharmacy, who was scheduled for cataract surgery under dexmedetomidine sedation. During the administration, severe hemodynamic deterioration was observed with bradycardia and hypotension leading to asystole. Cardiac arrest was successfully managed in accordance with the guidelines of the European Resuscitation Council. Despite the promising role of dexmedetomidine in anesthesia practice, the associated adverse effects cannot be ignored. For this reason it is obligatory to have the minimum mandatory monitoring in accordance with the safety and quality guidelines.

Background and Objectives: Among HIV infection symptoms, sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN) remains a main cause of suffering, with incidence varying from 13–50%. So far, numerous pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments have been tested, although few evidence-based analgesic options are available. We conducted an up-to-date systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature in order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments for pain control, in patients with HIV neuropathy. Materials and Methods: We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus/Elsevier, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), USA Clinical Trials registry, and The International Web of Science up to April 2019. All randomized controlled trials evaluating efficacy and safety of non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic therapies were included. Efficacy was defined as pain reduction during the study period. Safety was estimated from adverse events. A meta-analysis was performed whenever possible. Results: 27 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included for analysis (7 evaluating non pharmacologic interventions, 20 pharmacologic therapies). Non-pharmacologic studies (n = 742) involved seven different therapeutic modalities. Only Acupuncture/Moxibustion showed pain reduction over placebo, Gracely Pain Scale Mean (SD): Acu/Moxa 0.85 (0.12), placebo 1.10 (0.09), p = 0.05. Pharmacologic studies, involving 2516 patients revealed efficacy for capsaicin 8% over placebo (mean difference −8.04 [95% CI: −14.92 −1.15], smoked cannabis (where pooling data for meta-analysis was not possible) and recombinant Nerve Growth Factor. Conclusion: Despite various modalities for pain control in HIV-SN, strongest evidence exists for capsaicin 8% and smoked cannabis, although of low methodological quality. Among non-pharmacologic modalities, only Acu/Moxa gave a marginal beneficial effect in one study, possibly limited by inherent methodological flaws.

Background and Objectives: Video laryngoscopy has been proven useful under difficult airway scenarios, but it is unclear whether anticipated improvement of visualization is related to specific difficult intubation prognostic factors. The present study evaluated the change in laryngoscopic view between conventional and C-MAC® laryngoscopy and the presence of multiple difficult intubation risk factors. Materials and Methods: Patients scheduled for elective surgery with >2 difficult intubation factors, (Mallampati, thyromental distance (TMD), interinscisor gap, buck teeth, upper lip bite test, cervical motility, body mass index (BMI)) were eligible. Patients underwent direct laryngoscopy (DL) followed by C-MAC™ laryngoscopy (VL) and intubation. Change of view between DL and VL, time for best view, intubation difficulty scale (IDS) and correlation between prognostic factors, laryngoscopic view improvement, and IDS were measured. Results: One-hundred and seventy-six patients completed the study. VL lead to fewer Cormarck–Lehane (C/L) III-IV, compared to DL (13.6% versus 54.6%, p < 0.001). The time to best view was also shorter (VL: 10.82 s, DL: 12.08 s, p = 0.19). Mallampati III-IV and TMD ≤ 6 cm were related to improvement of C/L between DL and VL. Logistic regression showed these two factors to be a significant risk factor of the glottis view change (p = 0.006, AUC-ROC = 0.57, 95% CI: 0.47–0.66). 175/176 patients were intubated with VL. 108/176 were graded as 0 < IDS ≤ 5 and 12/176 as IDS > 5. IDS was only correlated to the VL view (p < 0.0001). Conclusion: VL improved laryngoscopic view in patients with multiple factors of difficult intubation. Mallampati and TMD were related to the improved view. However, intubation difficulty was only related to the VL view and not to prognostic factors.

Tension pneumothorax during general anaesthesia is a rare but possibly deleterious event, especially where predisposing factors are absent or unknown, making diagnosis even challenging. We describe a case of a healthy middle-aged woman, who was planned to receive general anaesthesia for total thyroidectomy. After intubation, the patient experienced marked hypoxemia (SpO2=75%), hypotension, and tachycardia. Manual positive pressure ventilation seemed to worsen hypoxemia and tachycardia, while apnoeic oxygenation through circle system with valve open slightly improved cardiorespiratory collapse. The effect of positive ventilation, along with the absence of breath sounds in the right hemithorax and cardiorespiratory collapse, established the diagnosis of tension pneumothorax, managed immediately with emergency thoracentesis and placement of a thoracostomy tube. The patient was improved and pneumothorax was confirmed with chest X-ray and CT. The latter also confirmed the presence of bilateral multiple bullae. The operation was postponed and the patient was extubated a few hours later, in good condition. After thorough evaluation for any systemic disease, which was negative, the patient underwent two-stage thoracotomy for bullectomy.

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