Background: Successful endotracheal intubation requires mental activity and no less important physical activity from the anesthesiologist, so ergonomics of used devices is important. The aim of our study has been to compare 4 laryngoscopes regarding an operator's activity of selected muscles of the upper limb, an operator's satisfaction with used devices and an operator's fatigue during intubation attempts. Material and Methods: The study included 13 anesthesiologists of similar seniority. To measure muscle activity MyoPlus 2 with 2-channel surface ElectroMyoGraphy (sEMG) test device was used. Participant's satisfaction with studied devices was evaluated using Visual Analog Scale. An operator's fatigue during intubation efforts was evaluated by means of the modified Borg's scale. Results: The highest activity of all the studied muscles was observed for the Intubrite laryngoscope, followed by the Mackintosh, TruView Evo2 and the lowest one -for the King Vision video laryngoscope. A significant statistical difference was observed for the King Vision and the rest of laryngoscopes (p < 0.05). No significant statistical differences were observed between the Macintosh, TruView Evo2 and Intubrite laryngoscopes (p > 0.05). The shortest time of intubation was achieved using the standard Macintosh blade laryngoscope. The highest satisfaction was noted for the King Vision video laryngoscope, and the lowest for -the TruView Evo2. The Intubrite was the most demanding in terms of workload, in the opinion of the participants', and the least demanding was the King Vision video laryngoscope. Conclusions: Muscle activity, namely the force used for intubation, is the smallest when the King Vision video laryngoscope is used with the highest satisfaction and lowest workload, and the highest muscle activity was proven for the Intubrite laryngoscope with the highest workload. Med Pr 2016;67(2):155-162

The stress of surgery is characterized by an inflammatory response with immune suppression resulting from many factors, including the type of surgery and the kind of anesthesia, linked with the drugs that are used and the underlying disease of the patient. The trauma of surgery triggers a cascade of reactions involving the immune response and nociception. As strong analgesics, opioids provide the analgesic component of general anesthesia with bi-directional effect on the immune system. Opioids influence almost all aspects of the immune response in regards to leukocytes, macrophages, mast cells, lymphocytes, and NK cells. The suppressive effect of opioids on the immune system is limiting their use, especially in patients with impaired immune response, so the possibility of using multimodal anesthesia without opioids, known as opioid-free anesthesia (OFA), is gaining more and more sympathizers. The idea of OFA is to eliminate opioid analgesia in the treatment of acute pain and to replace it with drugs from other groups that are assumed to have a comparable analgesic effect without affecting the immune system. Here, we present a review on the impact of anesthesia, with and without the use of opioids, on the immune response to surgical stress.

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