Nishkarsh Gupta

Anaesthesia in underdeveloped world: Present scenario and future challenges

The overall mortality and morbidity in underdeveloped countries are still unchanged and preventable risks factors constitute the main burden. Among these, anaesthesia-related mortality is largely preventable. Various contributory factors related to human resources, technical resources, education/teaching system and other utilities needs further attention in poor income group countries. Therefore, we have made an attempt to address all these issues in this educational article and have given special reference to those factors that might gain importance in (near) future. Proper understanding of anaesthesia-related resources, their overall impact on health care system and their improvisation methods should be thoroughly evaluated for providing safer anaesthesia care in these countries which would certainly direct better outcome and consequently influence mortality.

Patient's experiences and satisfaction with preanesthesia services: A prospective audit.

Background: Patient satisfaction with the medical services is an important indicator of quality of healthcare but is seldom given importance in our country. It is difficult to measure patient satisfaction, especially in pre- and perioperative period. Materials and Methods: We conducted this audit by means of a questionnaire designed to assess preanesthetic clinic services in a large government hospital. A total of 200 patients were randomly selected to respond to a multiple item questionnaire. Statistical Analysis: A database was created and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Results: 95% patients filled the proforma. Most of the patients (60%) were not aware of the purpose of visit to preanesthetic clinic. Majority of them were attended in time by the doctors but most of them (60%) received fitness after 2 to 3 visits. Majority was not explained about the preanesthesia instructions. Most of them were not satisfied by amenities in hospital. Several studies have shown that a thorough preoperative examination can be as effective as an anxiolytic premedication and can increase quality of care. In our study, location of preanesthetic clinic and unable to get fitness in first visit (because of lack of coordination between doctors of various specialties) were the major hindrances. Conclusion: Measures should be taken to improve the functioning of preanesthesia clinic and patient satisfaction.

Ineffective Ventilation in A Neonate with A Large Pre-Carinal Tracheoesophageal Fistula and Bilateral Pneumonitis-Microcuff Endotracheal Tube to Our Rescue!

Tracheoesophageal fistula (TEF) is one of the most common congenital anomaly requiring surgical correction in neonatal period. The important goal of airway management is to avoid excessive gastric distension and ensure adequate ventilation prior to surgical ligation of the fistula. If a large fistula is present close to carina, excessive loss of delivered tidal volume may lead to ineffective ventilation. In addition, gastric distension elevates diaphragm and diminishes the lung compliance. If lung compliance is already impaired due to pre-existing lung pathology, situation becomes much more demanding. We report the successful airway management of a patient with large precarinal fistula and bilateral pneumonitis using the novel Microcuff tube. The unique design of microcuff makes it suitable to be used for this purpose. To the best of our knowledge, the use of microcuff ETT for perioperative airway management in case of a large precarinal fistula in a neonate with respiratory pathology has not been reported in the past.

Use of fentanyl-dexmedetomidine in conscious sedation for thoracoscopy

Lung India • Volume 35 • Issue 3 • May-June 2018 277 and pulmonologist inserted the thoracoscope through pigtail port after giving local anesthesia. Thoracoscopy and pleural biopsy was done. Patient’s vitals were stable throughout procedure and pulmonologist was well satisfied with patient’s sedation and analgesia and there was no movement of patient during the procedure. The patient was conscious and responding to verbal commands during the procedure. After the procedure, dexmedetomidine infusion was disconnected and patient was shifted to recovery room for observation and monitoring.

Emergency airway management of intratracheal tumor in a patient with respiratory distress

Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology | Volume 33 | Issue 1 | January-March 2017 133 transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block. Anaesth Intensive Care 2007;35:616‐7. 4. Tran TM, Ivanusic JJ, Hebbard P, Barrington MJ. Determination of spread of injectate after ultrasound‐guided transversus abdominis plane block: A cadaveric study. Br J Anaesth 2009;102:123‐7. 5. Rozen WM, Tran TM, Ashton MW, Barrington MJ, Ivanusic JJ, Taylor GI. Refining the course of the thoracolumbar nerves: A new understanding of the innervation of the anterior abdominal wall. Clin Anat 2008;21:325‐33. Access this article online

Palliative care for patients with nonmalignant respiratory disease

Nonmalignant respiratory diseases are chronic and life-limiting conditions that need holistic palliative care. Such patients not only have a variety of physical symptoms such as dyspnea, pain, cough, depression, and anxiety, but also have a number of psychosocial and spiritual issues, which are not addressed to by us. This leads to a poor quality of life. Hence, these patients require supportive palliative care to relieve their sufferings, but unfortunately such care is not available to them in our country. In this article, we have tried to discuss the barriers to the provision of palliative care to such patients and suggested some measures to overcome them.

Cautious use and optimal dose of morphine for relieving malignant pain in a complex patient with multiple comorbidities.

Oral morphine remains the drug of choice for the management of severe pain due to cancer as per WHO ladder of analgesia. Providing adequate pain relief in palliative care settings for pain due to cancer is challenging. Options become limited in cases of associated systemic comorbidities such as renal dysfunction, hypoproteinaemia, anaemia. Patients with renal dysfunction and other comorbidities may develop drug overdose due to abnormal pharmacokinetics. Renal dysfunction affects the pharmacokinetics of morphine by altering its absorption, metabolism and clearance. Plasma albumin also influences drug availability, its plasma distribution and thus available free morphine for its clinical effect. Morphine should be used cautiously for the treatment of pain in patients with renal failure, hypoproteinaemia, hyperbilirubinaemia and anaemia. In such patients, alternate opiates like fentanyl, hydromorphone, or oxycodone may be used as these drugs are not significantly excreted by the kidneys.

Possible role of aprepitant for intractable nausea and vomiting following whole brain radiotherapy—a case report

Radiation-induced nausea and vomiting (RINV) is one of the most distressing symptoms that adversely affects quality of life (QOL) as well as the ongoing management plan of cancer patients. Although there are protocols for management of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) but such guidelines are still lacking for RINV. Various agents like 5-hydroxy tryptophan 3 (5-HT3) antagonist, dexamethasone, metoclopramide and haloperidol are used in clinical practice for RINV but the results are not very encouraging. Because of proposed similarity in the mechanism of nausea and vomiting following chemotherapy and radiotherapy, aprepitant, a substance P neurokinin 1 receptor antagonist can be an optimal agent for RINV on account of its unique pharmacological property. We report a case of metastatic carcinoma breast with bilateral cerebellar metastasis. She presented with complaints of headache and intractable nausea and vomiting. A single fraction whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) was given for bilateral cerebellum metastasis which further precipitated her symptoms. The prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy of antiemetic used for RINV may be enhanced by adding aprepitant before starting radiotherapy in high risk cases as in ours.

One-Lung Ventilation for Lung Lobectomy Using Endobronchial Blocker Through Adjustable Silicon Hyperflex Tracheostomy Tube in Postlaryngectomy Patient.

One-lung ventilation is challenging in patients with difficult airway who require lung surgery. The choice of airway technique remains limited in patients with permanent tracheostomy after total laryngectomy. Conventional airway management techniques and available airway equipment have limited the options for securing airway in such patients, and dedicated airway equipment is not available for the management of such patients. Here, using endobronchial blocker through adult silicon hyperflex tracheostomy tube with an adjustable flange, we report a successful airway management for 1-lung ventilation in a patient with total laryngectomy with permanent tracheostomy.

Long-term high-dose oral morphine in phantom limb pain with no addiction risk

Chronic phantom limb pain (PLP) is a type of neuropathic pain, which is located in the missing/amputated limb. Phantom pain is difficult to treat as the exact basis of pain mechanism is still unknown. Various methods of treatment for PLP have been described, including pharmacological (NSAIDs, opioids, antiepileptic, antidepressants) and non-pharmacological (TENS, sympathectomy, deep brain stimulation and motor cortex stimulation). Opioids are used for the treatment of neuropathic pain and dose of opioid is determined based on its effect and thus there is no defined ceiling dose for opioids. We report a case where a patient receiving high-dose oral morphine for chronic cancer pain did not demonstrate signs of addiction.