Propofol in a small dose (0.8 mg.kg-1 body weight) was a useful drug to relieve laryngeal spasm in most children (76.9%) following the removal of the LMA. Because it was not found to be effective in all patients, succinylcholine still has a role to play in critical conditions. However, we recommend propofol as a suitable alternative for relieving laryngeal spasm in situations where succinylcholine is contraindicated.

IntroductionFamilies of patients admitted in the intensive care units (ICUs) experience high levels of emotional stress. Access to information about patient's medical conditions and quality relationships with healthcare staff are high priority needs for these families and meeting these needs of the family members is a primary responsibility of ICU physicians and nurses.MethodologyOur objectives were to assess the expectations of ICU patients' families that can be fulfilled by physicians and nurses. The design was a descriptive, exploratory questionnaire based study over 6 months in the multidisciplinary ICU of a tertiary care hospital.ResultsOf 205 interviews, the median age of the patient was 28 years. One hundred and nineteen (58%) were male and Eighty six (42%) patients were female. 163 (79.5%) of the relatives were Next of kin, and 133 (64.9%) were male members. Of the family members, 20 (9.8%) were spouses. One hundred and forty two (69.3%) belonged to Middle income group. Ninety nine (48.3%) were Graduates of high school or above. Relation to patient, sex of relative, DNR status of patient and age of relative were statistically significant to make a difference to the satisfaction score. The majority of the relatives reached a score of 22-25.ConclusionWe conclude that families of critically ill patients were generally satisfied with communication in the ICU; however, our limitations are the cohort in our urban based tertiary care hospital may not adequately represent the majority of our population which is poor and illiterate and many other factors such as misunderstanding of medical knowledge and a more patriarchal attitude of physicians may affect family needs and satisfaction scores.

SummaryWe have performed a retrospective analysis of the peri-operative course of 218 consecutive patients who underwent routine coronary artery bypass graft surgery in this institution. All patients received a standardised general anaesthetic using target-controlled infusions of alfentanil and propofol. One hundred patients also received thoracic epidural anaesthesia with bupivacaine and clonidine, started before surgery and continued for 5 days after surgery. The remaining 118 patients received target-controlled infusion of alfentanil for analgesia for the first 24 h after surgery, followed by intravenous patient-controlled morphine analgesia for a further 48 h. Using computerised patient medical records, we analysed the frequency of respiratory, neurological, renal, gastrointestinal, haematological and cardiovascular complications in these two groups. New arrhythmias requiring treatment occurred in 18% of the thoracic epidural anaesthesia group of patients compared with 32% of the general anaesthesia group (p 0.02). There was also a trend towards a reduced incidence of respiratory complications in the thoracic epidural anaesthesia group. The time to tracheal extubation was decreased in the epidural group, with the tracheas of 21% of the patients being extubated immediately after surgery compared with 2% in the general anaesthesia group (p < 0.001). There were no serious neurological problems resulting from the use of thoracic epidural analgesia.Keywords Anaesthetic techniques, regional; epidural, thoracic. Surgery ; coronary artery bypass grafts. Complications ; postoperative. ...................................................................................... Correspondence to: Dr N. B. Scott Accepted: 2 March 1997 In recent years there has been a growing interest in the use of thoracic epidural anaesthesia for coronary artery bypass surgery. Its potential advantages include excellent analgesia [1], improved pulmonary function [2], early tracheal extubation [2, 3] and cardiac protection as a result of sympathetic blockade [4]. Thoracic epidural anaesthesia decreases the stress response to sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass. Increased sympathetic activity may lead to an increase in arterial pressure, tachycardia and an imbalance between the myocardial oxygen demand and supply, with increased myocardial oxygen extraction and the possibility of ischaemic episodes. Moore et al. showed that plasma concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline did not increase in the first 24 h after cardiac surgery in patients receiving thoracic epidural anaesthesia compared with a conventional anaesthetic technique [5]. Other studies have shown that haemodynamic stability was maintained during and after surgery using thoracic epidural anaesthesia [6][7][8][9].Thoracic epidural anaesthesia has been shown to decrease pain and improve the endocardial to epicardial blood flow ratio, thereby decreasing the number of ischaemic episodes [10][11][12]. Thoracic epidural anaesthesia has also been shown to decrease infarct ...

Postoperative pain relief in 40 children undergoing elective infraumbilical surgery was assessed after caudal epidural adminstration of either lignocaine or bupivacaine in the doses of 0.5 mL/kg body weight of a J per cent solution and 0.5 mLJkg body weight of a 0.25 per cent solution respectively. Pain free period was assessed by subjective pain scales. The pain free period was significantly prolonged in children who were given bupivacaine (J4.75-2.75 hours) as compared to lignocaine (7.25 ± 3.25 hours). MJAFI 1996; 52 : 242-244

SummaryWe present a woman in her first pregnancy, with known aortic stenosis prior to conception, who successfully underwent regional anaesthesia for an elective Caesarean section using a subarachnoid microcatheter. The anaesthetic management of patients with aortic stenosis requiring noncardiac surgery is a complex and contentious matter, particularly when the situation is compounded by the physiological changes accompanying pregnancy and delivery. This is the first reported use of a subarachnoid microcatheter in such a patient. The choice of technique is discussed and compared with other options for providing anaesthesia. Patients with aortic stenosis are at risk of increased morbidity and mortality when undergoing anaesthesia [1]. Their compensatory left ventricular hypertrophy renders them vulnerable to ischaemia and they are difficult to resuscitate [2]. The added stress of the physiological changes of pregnancy and delivery can result in an unstable situation with maternal mortality being quoted as 17% and a perinatal mortality of 32% [3]. The choice of anaesthetic should be appropriate to the well-being of both mother and fetus. There are very few reports in the literature regarding the anaesthetic management of patients with aortic stenosis requiring delivery by Caesarean section [4][5][6][7] and the successful use of a subarachnoid microcatheter for this procedure has not been previously reported. Case historyA 21-year-old Asian primigravida, known to have aortic stenosis, presented for an elective Caesarean section at 36 weeks gestation. Prior to conception she had been under review by a cardiologist and at this time she had no cardiac-related symptoms and was otherwise fit and well. She was noted to have an ejection systolic murmur graded 4/6 and a pressure gradient across the valve, estimated by echocardiography, of 48 mmHg. Her electrocardiograph (ECG) was normal.Her pregnancy had progressed uneventfully and, when reviewed by the cardiologist at 16 weeks gestation, she was normotensive, in sinus rhythm and there had been a slight increase in her pressure gradient to 57 mmHg. The echocardiograph showed good left ventricular function with no significant hypertrophy. The decision was made by her consultant obstetrician to deliver the baby by Caesarean section at 36 weeks gestation and she was referred for an anaesthetic opinion.Twenty-four hours prior to surgery she was found to be fit and well, in sinus rhythm, normotensive and with no signs or symptoms of cardiac failure. After a full discussion with the patient and having explained the advantages and disadvantages of both general and regional anaesthesia it was decided to employ a regional anaesthetic technique. It was felt that the use of a spinal microcatheter would allow precise titration of local anaesthetic to effect and thereby minimise physiological changes.Following an overnight fast and routine gastric acid prophylaxis, the patient was transferred to the delivery suite anaesthetic room. A 14 gauge peripheral cannula was inserted under local...