Background and Aims:Both inhalational and intravenous anaesthetic agents are being used for neuroanaesthesia. Clinical trials comparing “propofol and sevoflurane” and “desflurane and sevoflurane” have been published. However, the comparison of all the three anaesthetics in neurosurgical patients has not been done. A randomised clinical study was carried out comparing propofol, sevoflurane and desflurane to find the ideal neuroanaesthetic agent.Methods:A total of 75 adult patients undergoing elective craniotomy for supratentorial tumours were included in the study. The patients were induced with morphine 0.1 mg/kg and thiopentone 4-6 mg/kg. Neuromuscular blockade was facilitated with vecuronium. The patients were randomised to receive propofol, sevoflurane or desflurane along with nitrous oxide in oxygen for maintenance of anaesthesia. The neuromuscular blockade was reversed following the surgery once the patients opened eyes or responded to verbal commands. The three anaesthetics were compared for their effects on haemodynamics, brain relaxation and emergence characteristics.Results:The mean arterial blood pressure during anaesthesia was comparable among the groups. The patients receiving sevoflurane had faster heart rates intraoperatively when compared to desflurane (P < 0.05). The brain relaxation scores at various intraoperative time frames were comparable among the three groups (P > 0.05). The time to response to verbal commands were significantly prolonged with use of sevoflurane (8.0 ± 2.9 min) when compared to propofol (5.3 ± 2.9 min) and desflurane (5.2 ± 2.6 min) (P = 0.003). However, the time to emergence and the number of patients who had early emergence (<15 min) were comparable among the groups (P > 0.05). The quality of emergence (coughing and emergence agitation), as well as postoperative complications, were also comparable among the three groups.Conclusions:All the three anaesthetic agents-propofol, sevoflurane and desflurane appear comparable and acceptable with regard to their clinical profile during anaesthesia in patients undergoing elective supratentorial surgeries.

Background: Sepsis has been one of the most important conditions for morbidity and mortality of Intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Antibiotics remain one of the major combating factors for it. Indiscriminate antimicrobial usage and poor prescription practices have contributed to the development of multidrug resistant (MDR) organisms. Therefore, the current study was designed to evaluate the spectrum, and susceptibility patterns of pathogens isolated from patients admitted to our Cardiothoracic and Vascular Intensive care unit. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in Cardiothoracic and Vascular ICU of a tertiary care teaching hospital from February 2019 to March 2021. Samples (blood, urine, wound swab, tracheal aspirate, and central venous catheter tip) for culture were taken from all the patients in Sepsis admitted in Cardiothoracic and Vascular ICU above 18 years of age during the study period. The culture reports (microbiological profile and their susceptibility pattern) were collected and data collection of all enrolled patients was done. Results: Out of the total 128 samples studied 75 (58.5%) were culture positive. The predominant organisms isolated were Gram negative organisms (Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, followed by E. coli). The highest prevalence of microbial growth was found in tracheal aspirate (46.8%), followed by blood (21.8%). Antibiotic susceptibility results showed the highest sensitivity of those common pathogens towards higher antibiotics only (especially Polymyxin B and Colistin). Conclusion: The emergence of

Pseudoaneurysm (PA) of the brachial artery in pediatric supracondylar humerus fracture who have undergone closed reduction and percutaneous pinning is a rare complication. A few cases have been reported in medical literature. This case report sheds some insight into early identification and management outcome of such complication. Rapidly progressive swelling in antecubital fossa in cases of supracondylar fracture who have undergone pinning should arouse suspicion of vascular lesion. It should be timely intervened. Surgical intervention of pseudoaneurysm with reversed saphenous venous graft has shown to have no early vascular complication.

Introduction European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation (EuroSCORE) is the standard tool for risk stratification of patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Its relevance has been validated in European, Asian countries and also in Nepal. Its limitations led to development of EuroSCORE II. This study was carried out to compare EuroSCORE II with EuroSCORE in Nepalese cardiac surgical patients. MethodsA retrospective analytical cohort study of 3 years duration in 972 adult cardiac surgeries was conducted. Scores obtained from EuroSCORE (Logistic and Additive) and EuroSCORE II was compared with the observed mortality. Calibration was calculated by Hosmer- Lemeshow (H-L) test (Chi Square test) and discrimination by calculating the area under the curve (AUC) of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve. ResultsObserved mortality was 4.11%. EuroSCORE additive, logistic and EuroSCORE II predicted mortality were 4.32%, 4.55% and 2.13% respectively. H-L chi square calculation for EuroSCORE additive model could not hold as all observed and expected frequencies match exactly. Hence it can be considered as a good fit. EuroSCORE logistic model (H-L, Chi-square 7.743, p<0.001) and EuroSCORE II (H-L, Chi-square 11.631, p = 0.168) also showed good fit i.e. both can predict mortality satisfactorily. AUC of ROC curve of EuroSCORE additive, logistic and EuroSCORE II were 0.632, 0.636 and 0.616 respectively, which showed fair discrimination power. ConclusionMortality prediction of adult cardiac surgical patients by EuroSCORE (additive and logistic) and EuroSCORE II was satisfactory.

Background: Rheumatic Valvular Heart disease (RVHD) is common in developing countries often associated with anemia; however its burden is often overlooked. Anemic patients undergoing surgery are likely to receive blood transfusion, increasing morbidity and mortality. Prevalence of anemia in cardiac surgical patients are studied extensively, however its burden in RVHD is lacking. This study attempted to investigate the prevalence of preoperative anemia in RVHD and its effect on blood transfusion, morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing valve surgery. Methods: This is a retrospective observational study conducted at a tertiary care hospital in Nepal. We considered 340 patients who underwent Rheumatic valve replacement surgery from 2014 January to December 2016 and data on their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were extracted from the patient's records. The analyses meeting the study objectives were conducted using IBM SPSS v25 for Windows (IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences, 2015IBM Corporation, New York, United States). Results: The prevalence of no anemia, mild, moderate, and severe anemia was 34.1%, 57.7%, 39.6%, 2.5%, respectively. The units of Red Blood Cell used for transfusion were 1.2 units, 2.0 units, 2.3 units, and 1.6 units in patients without anemia, and those with mild, moderate and severe anemia respectively. The incidence of reexploration was higher in patients with severe anemia as compared to the non anemic with an incidence of 66.6%. A proportion of the patients with no anemia, mild, moderate and severe anemia with less than 7 days stay in the intensive care unit were 89%, 82%, 84.7% and 100% respectively. The length of hospital stay more than 10 days was seen in 58.9%, 71.6%, 63% and 100% in patients with no anemia,

Airway foreign bodies are common in children, and usually present as emergencies. However, they may sometimes present late, due to a number of reasons. Chronic lodgement of foreign bodies in trachea is rarer than that in bronchial tree. Flexible and rigid bronchoscopies have revolutionized the management of foreign bodies at large. Here, we report a successful bronchoscopic management of an unusual foreign body residing in the trachea of a patient for 15 years.

Introduction: Myocardial protection during Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) has always been an area of concern so we aimed to evaluate the level of release of Creatine Phosphokinase (CPK-MB) and Troponin I (cTnI) at various time intervals in the first 24 hours after on pump CABG in patients receiving either Sevoflurane or Isoflurane. Furthermore clinically relevant patient outcomes were also evaluated in patients undergoing on pump coronaryartery bypass grafting. Methods: This was a prospective randomized trial in patients undergoing on pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery, which was conducted from January 2016 till June 2017. A total of 105 patients were enrolled out of which there were 53 in Isoflurane and 52 in Sevoflurane group who received the respective volatile anesthetic agents throughout the surgery except during bypass at 1-1.5 MAC. The primary outcome was comparison of the CPK MB and cTnI levels at 0 hr, 6 hr, 12 hr and 24 hr after surgery from baseline, whereas the secondary outcomes were duration of intensive care unit stay, usage of vasopressors and inotropes, renal dysfunction, stroke. Results: No significant difference in CPK MB and cTnI levels at all time intervals in both the groups, the other secondary outcome parameters were comparable. Conclusion: The study found no difference in the cardiac markers between the two anesthetics. Based on the data, Sevofluraneand Isoflurane might be used equivalently in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery with extracorporeal circulation without any difference in their myocardial protection function.

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