Myeong Jong Lee

This systematic review and meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis (TSA) aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of remimazolam compared to other sedatives for procedural sedation in older patients. We registered the protocol of this systematic review and meta-analysis with TSA in the PROSPERO network (CRD42023441209). Two investigators performed a systematic, comprehensive, and independent search of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing remimazolam with other sedatives in older patients undergoing procedural sedation. Conventional meta-analysis and TSA were also performed. Seven RCTs (1502 patients) were included. Pooled results demonstrated that remimazolam was associated with a low incidence of hypoxemia, hypotension, bradycardia, respiratory depression, and injection pain. Remimazolam also required a long time to cause loss of consciousness. There were no differences in rates of sedation success, dizziness/headache, postoperative nausea and vomiting, or recovery time. Older patients receiving procedural sedation with remimazolam had a lower risk of hypoxemia, hypotension, bradycardia, respiratory depression, and injection pain than those receiving other sedatives, suggesting that remimazolam may be more suitable for procedural sedation in older patients.

Background and Objectives: The analgesia/nociception index (ANI) potentially monitors nociceptive status during anesthesia, but its link to preoperative pain sensitivity is unclear. We investigated the relationship between pre-anesthetic ANI scores and propofol injection pain (PIP) in patients receiving remifentanil. Materials and Methods: This study included 124 male patients aged 19–60 undergoing general anesthesia (ASA class I or II). Patients were randomized to group R (n = 62, remifentanil 4 ng/mL) or group C (n = 62, saline). The primary outcome was the association between PIP and ANI. Secondary outcomes included the incidence and severity of PIP or rocuronium-induced withdrawal movement (RIWM) and their association with ANI. Results: PIP and RIWM incidence and severity were lower in group R than in group C. A weak negative correlation between PIP and ANI at pre-induction (r_pb = −0.21, p = 0.02, r_pb = −0.37, p < 0.01) and a moderate negative correlation during propofol injection (r_pb = −0.48, p = 0.02) were observed. A significant negative correlation was found between RIWM and ANI during rocuronium injection (τb = −0.61, p < 0.01). AUC, cut-off value, specificity, and sensitivity in ANI at pre-induction for predicting PIP were 0.67 (p = 0.02), 59, 76%, and 55%, respectively. AUC, cut-off value, specificity, and sensitivity in ANI during propofol injection for PIP were 0.77 (p < 0.01), 65, 81%, and 67%, respectively. Conclusions: ANI scores demonstrated significant differences between groups, suggesting potential predictive value for PIP despite the low pre-induction AUC value. This study highlights the potential of using ANI scores to predict and manage PIP in patients receiving remifentanil.

Background: This systematic review and meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis (TSA) aimed to compare perioperative outcomes of peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) and spinal anesthesia (SA) in elective foot and ankle surgery. Methods: The study protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42021229597). Researchers independently searched PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials for relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Results: Analysis of nine RCTs (n = 802; 399 PNBs, 403 SA) revealed significantly shorter block performance times (WMD: 7.470; 95% CI 6.072 to 8.868), the onset of sensory (WMD: 7.483; 95% CI 2.837 to 12.130) and motor blocks (WMD: 9.071; 95% CI 4.049 to 14.094), durations of sensory (WMD: 458.53; 95% CI 328.296 to 588.765) and motor blocks (WMD: 247.416; 95% CI 95.625 to 399.208), and significantly higher postoperative analgesic requirements (SMD: −1.091; 95% CI −1.634 to −0.549) in the SA group. Additionally, systolic blood pressure (SBP) at 30 min (WMD: 13.950; 95% CI 4.603 to 23.298) was lower in the SA group. Conclusions: The SA demonstrated shorter block performance time, faster onset and shorter duration of sensory and motor blocks, higher postoperative analgesic requirements, and lower SBP at 30 min compared to PNBs in elective foot and ankle surgery.

Previous studies reported the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on intraoperative hypothermia. However, no clinical study to date has considered the effects of both the phase of the menstrual cycle (an intrinsic factor) and the fresh gas flow rate (FGF) during anesthesia (an extrinsic factor) on the core body temperature and intraoperative hypothermia. This study is aimed at investigatig the effect of the menstrual cycle phase on intraoperative hypothermia when considering the FGF in patients who underwent laparoscopic gynecologic surgery. This study included 667 women aged 19‐65 years with menstruation cycles and menopause. The patients were divided into the follicular, luteal, and menopause groups. The primary outcome was the correlations of hormonal status with intraoperative hypothermia. Secondary outcomes included the incidence of intraoperative hypothermia, time to onset of hypothermia, incidence of shivering after anesthesia, and frequency of antishivering drug use in the three groups and risk factors for hypothermia. Overall, the hypothermia incidence was the lowest and the time to onset of hypothermia was the longest in the luteal phase group. At a high FGF, the incidence of hypothermia in the luteal phase group was lower than that in the other two groups (P < 0.05). At a low FGF, the time to onset of hypothermia in the luteal phase group was longer than that in the other two groups (P < 0.05). The female hormonal status had weak positive correlations with hypothermia at low and high FGF rates. A high FGF in univariate and multivariate analyses, follicular phase and menopause in multivariate analysis, and estradiol and progesterone levels in univariate analysis were risk factors for hypothermia. When considering the FGF, the luteal phase is associated with better outcomes concerning intraoperative hypothermia.

Background and Objectives: Female reproductive hormones may affect core body temperature. This study aimed to investigate the effects of female reproductive hormones on inadvertent intraoperative hypothermia in patients who underwent laparoscopic gynecologic surgery under general anesthesia. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 660 menstruating and menopausal female patients aged 19–65 years. The patients were divided into two groups according to the occurrence of inadvertent intraoperative hypothermia: non-hypothermia group (N = 472) and hypothermia group (N = 188). After propensity score matching, 312 patients (N = 156 in each group) were analyzed to investigate the association between intraoperative hypothermia and female reproductive hormones. As potential predictors of inadvertent hypothermia, the levels of female reproductive hormones were analyzed using binary logistic regression. Results: The association of estradiol (r = −0.218, p = 0.000) and progesterone (r = −0.235, p = 0.000) levels with inadvertent intraoperative hypothermia was significant but weakly negative before matching; however, it was significant and moderately negative after matching (r = −0.326, p = 0.000 and r = −0.485, p = 0.000, respectively). In a binary logistic analysis, the odds ratio for estradiol was 0.995 (p = 0.014, 0.993 < 95% confidence interval [CI] < 0.998) before matching and 0.993 (p = 0.000, 0.862 < 95% CI < 0.930) after matching, and that for progesterone was 0.895 (p = 0.000, 0.862 < 95% CI < 0.930) before matching and 0.833 (p = 0.014, 0.990 < 95% CI < 0.996) after matching. Conclusions: Estradiol and progesterone levels were associated with inadvertent intraoperative hypothermia. However, the odds ratio for female reproductive hormone levels was close to 1. Therefore, female reproductive hormones may not be a risk factor for hypothermia during gynecologic surgery under general anesthesia. However, a small sample size in this study limits the generalizability of the results.

BACKGROUND: Various strategies have been used to mitigate haemodynamic instability during general anaesthesia for caesarean section. However, the safety of these strategies for neonates remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of intravenous dexmedetomidine and remifentanil on neonatal outcomes during caesarean section under general anaesthesia. DESIGN: Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. DATA SOURCES: Databases of PubMed, EMBASE and CENTRAL were searched until March 2020 and updated in February 2021. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials were included if they compared dexmedetomidine and remifentanil infusion on neonatal outcomes after elective caesarean section under general anaesthesia. Primary outcomes were 1 and 5 min Apgar scores. Secondary outcomes were the incidence of neonatal mask ventilation or endotracheal intubation, and pH of the umbilical artery and vein. Studies that did not report primary outcomes were excluded. RESULTS: Five studies with 258 patients in total were included. The Apgar score at 1 min in the remifentanil group was lower than that in the dexmedetomidine group for both quantitative [weighted mean difference (WMD): 0.75; 95% CI, 0.44 to 1.07; τ ² = 0.00] and categorical outcomes (≥Apgar 7 vs. τ ² = 0.01). When trial sequential analysis (TSA) for Apgar score at 1 min was performed, the cumulative Z curve crossed both the conventional test boundary and the trial sequential monitoring boundary for the quantitative outcome but did not cross the trial sequential monitoring boundary for the categorical outcome. For both conventional meta-analysis and TSA, there were neither differences in the Apgar score at 5 min for either quantitative or categorical outcomes nor were there differences in the incidence of mask ventilation or intubation, or pH values of the umbilical artery and vein. CONCLUSION: In our study, Apgar score at 1 min reported using both quantitative and categorical variables were lower in the remifentanil group than in the dexmedetomidine group but TSA showed that these differences were inconclusive for categorical variables. Data for other outcomes were scarce and did not allow any conclusions to be drawn. Thus, further studies with larger numbers of parturients and with neonatal outcomes as a primary endpoint are warranted to clarify the effects of intravenous dexmedetomidine and remifentanil. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol of this study has been registered in PROSPERO (CRD42019141102).

Objective: This network meta-analysis (NMA) aimed to determine the relative efficacy and safety of pharmacological strategies used to mitigate haemodynamic instability by intubation for general anaesthesia in hypertensive parturient women undergoing caesarean section.

Purpose. Temporal summation of pain, which is defined as the perception of greater pain evoked by repetitive painful stimuli, varies among individuals. This study aimed at determining the impact of the timing of rocuronium after induction with propofol on the temporal summation of pain. Methods. One hundred patients aged 19-60 years underwent gynecologic laparoscopic surgery. Patients were randomly assigned to one of the two groups: group PRi received immediate injections of rocuronium after propofol administration and group PRd received rocuronium injections when the bispectral index score (BIS) decreased to <60 after propofol administration. The grade of rocuronium-induced withdrawal movement (RIWM) according to the timing of propofol injection, the incidence and severity of propofol injection pain (PIP), rescue analgesics, visual analog scale (VAS) score after surgery for postoperative pain, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) opioid consumption, association between PIP and the grade of RIWM, and associations between PIP, the grade of RIWM, and postoperative pain outcomes were measured. Results. The differences between the incidence and severity of PIP in the two groups were not significant. The grade of the RIWM in the PRd group was significantly reduced compared with the PRi group. Rescue analgesics, severity for postoperative pain, and PCA opioid consumption were not significant. Correlations between the incidence and severity of PIP and the grade of RIWM were weakly negative. Correlations between the grade of RIWM and pain outcomes were moderately positive, but correlations between the severity for PIP and the postoperative pain outcomes were negligible. Conclusion. The timing of rocuronium administration after propofol injection played a role in reducing RIWM. The grade of RIWM was significantly related to pain outcomes compared with the severity of PIP. Therefore, delayed rocuronium injection after induction with propofol reduced temporal summation of pain.