Another six animals were used. Under general anesthesia and image guidance, a flexible pressure transducer was inserted into the epidural space and epidural pressure was measured in neutral and at maximum extension with and without spacer insertion.

Percutaneous insertion and removal of the spacer was successful for all animals through small skin incisions. MR images showed minimal damage to the muscle. FG 4592 No significant up-regulation of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and CRP was detected. Macroscopic observation of the lumbar spine 3 months after the operation revealed that the area of the interspinous process contacting with the inserted spacer showed some

bone erosion/remodeling. Insertion of the spacer did not affect the epidural pressure in neutral but significantly prevented an increase of epidural pressure in lumber extension.

This study demonstrated that the percutaneous insertion and removal of a novel IPS was feasible and safe using a simple technique. Furthermore, this procedure can be recognized as minimally invasive surgery from

the viewpoint of skin incision, short insertion track, inflammatory mediators, and muscle damage. Improvements should be attempted in future studies using softer or more elastic materials for the spacer to lessen bone erosion/remodeling at contacting area of the inserted spacer.”
“Magnesium is a plentiful intracellular cation that has been reported to possess analgesic effect. click here The present study was aimed to see whether addition of magnesium to bupivacaine in thoracic paravertebral block (TPVB) improved the analgesic effect after thoracic surgery.

Fifty adult patients undergoing elective open thoracic surgery were divided ABT-263 molecular weight into two equal groups. Group I received 12 ml of 0.5 % bupivacaine plus 0.9 % saline (3 ml) whereas Group II received 12 ml of 0.5 % bupivacaine plus 150 mg magnesium sulphate (in 3 ml 0.9 % saline) for TPVB. The following parameters were assessed: onset, dermatomal levels and duration of sensory block, duration of analgesia, visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain, postoperative

intravenous morphine consumption, pulmonary function tests (peak expiratory flow rate [PEFR], forced expiratory volume in 1 s [FEV1] and forced vital capacity [FVC]) before and 24 h after surgery, and complications from the drugs and technique.

Group II patients showed a significantly longer sensory block duration (224.6 +/- A 59.3 vs 160.1 +/- A 55.2 min, P < 0.05), longer duration of analgesia (388.8 +/- A 70.6 vs 222.2 +/- A 61.6 min, P < 0.05), less VAS during the postoperative 48 h, less need for postoperative morphine (16.2 +/- A 7.4 vs 29.5 +/- A 11.1 mg, P < 0.05) and lower incidence of somnolence (0 [0 %] vs 5 [20 %], P < 0.05). Furthermore, postoperative pulmonary function tests (PEFR, FEV1 and FVC) were significantly better in Group II whereas there was no significant difference between both groups regarding the sensory block dermatomal level or hemodynamic data.