Ultrasound Image-Guided Nerve Block Combined with General Anesthesia under an Artificial Intelligence Algorithm on Patients Undergoing Radical Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer during and after Operation

Influences of dexmedetomidine on stress responses and postoperative cognitive and coagulation functions in patients undergoing radical gastrectomy under general anesthesia

BACKGROUND

Radical gastrectomy (RG) is commonly used in the treatment of patients with gastric cancer (GC), but this procedure may lead to stress responses, postoperative cognitive dysfunction, and blood coagulation abnormalities in patients.

AIM

To investigate the influences of dexmedetomidine (DEX) on stress responses and postoperative cognitive and coagulation functions in patients undergoing RG under general anesthesia (GA).

METHODS

One hundred and two patients undergoing RG for GC under GA from February 2020 to February 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. Of these, 50 patients had received conventional anesthesia intervention [control group (CG)] and 52 patients had received DEX in addition to routine anesthesia intervention [observation group (OG)]. Inflammatory factor (IFs; tumor necrosis factor-α, TNF-α; interleukin-6, IL-6), stress responses (cortisol, Cor; adrenocorticotropic hormone, ACTH), cognitive function (CF; Mini-Mental State Examination, MMSE), neurological function (neuron-specific enolase, NSE; S100 calcium-binding protein B, S100B), and coagulation function (prothrombin time, PT; thromboxane B2, TXB2; fibrinogen, FIB) were compared between the two groups before surgery (T0), as well as at 6 h (T1) and 24 h (T2) after surgery.

RESULTS

Compared with T0, TNF-α, IL-6, Cor, ACTH, NSE, S100B, PT, TXB2, and FIB showed a significant increase in both groups at T1 and T2, but with even lower levels in OG vs CG. Both groups showed a significant reduction in the MMSE score at T1 and T2 compared with T0, but the MMSE score was notably higher in OG compared with CG.

CONCLUSION

In addition to a potent inhibitory effect on postoperative IFs and stress responses in GC patients undergoing RG under GA, DEX may also alleviate the coagulation dysfunction and improve the postoperative CF of these patients.

Opioid-Sparing Effect of Multi-Point Incision-Based Rectus Sheath Block in Laparoscopic-Assisted Radical Gastrectomy: A Randomized Clinical Trial

BACKGROUND

Profound trauma from laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy (LAG) requires medication with a large number of opioids. The purpose of our study was to observe whether an incision-based rectus sheath block (IBRSB) based on the locations of the surgical incision could significantly reduce the consumption of remifentanil during LAG.

METHODS

A total of 76 patients were included. The patients were prospectively randomized into two groups. Patients in group IBRSB (n = 38) received ultrasound-guided IBRSB, and the patients received 0.4% ropivacaine 40-50 mL. Patients in group C (n = 38) received the same IBRSB with 40-50 mL normal saline. The following were recorded: the consumption of remifentanil and sufentanil during surgery, pain scores at rest and during conscious activity in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and at 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after surgery, and use of the patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) at 24 and 48 h after surgery.

RESULTS

A total of 60 participants completed the trial. The consumption of remifentanil and sufentanil in group IBRSB were significantly lower than that in group C (p < 0.001). Pain scores at rest and during conscious activity in the PACU and at 6, 12, 24, and 48 h after surgery and patients' PCA consumption within 48 h of surgery were significantly lower in group IBRSB than in group C (all p < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

IBRSB based on incision multimodal anesthesia can effectively reduce the consumption of opioids during LAG, improving the postoperative analgesic effect and increasing patients' satisfaction.

Effect of Ultrasound Image-Guided Nerve Block on the Postoperative Recovery Quality of Patients with Tibial Fractures Using the Concept of Enhanced Recovery after Surgery

This study was aimed at investigating the clinical effect of ultrasound-guided nerve block based on the concept of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) for postoperative anesthesia in patients with tibial fractures. The noise-reduction processing was introduced in ultrasound images to adjust the ultrasound clarity of the patient. A total of 177 patients with tibial fractures in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed and divided into OG group (general anesthesia combined with nerve block, 78 cases), C1 group (simple general anesthesia, 27 cases), C2 group (ultrasound-guided nerve block combined with general anesthesia, 10 cases), and C3 group (62 cases of spinal-epidural anesthesia). The effect of anesthesia and postoperative recovery time of patients in each group were analyzed. The wake-up time of the OG group was significantly shorter than that of the other three groups (P < 0.05). The doses of propofol and remifentanil in the OG group were much lower than those in the other groups (P < 0.05). After the ultrasound image was processed with noise reduction, the image showed the lesion more clearly. The excellent and good rates of OG group, C1 group, C2 group, and C3 group were 89.86%, 62.73%, 75.37%, and 61.07%, respectively. The Ramsay sedation score and anesthesia satisfaction in the OG group were obviously higher than those in the other groups, but there was no significant difference (P > 0.05). The visual analogue scale (VAS) scores of the OG group at 12 h, 24 h, and 36 h after the surgery were 4.52 ± 0.41, 4.72 ± 0.24, and 4.81 ± 0.74, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of the other three groups (P < 0.05). On the basis of ERAS, ultrasound-guided nerve block combined with general anesthesia can improve the perioperative pain in patients with tibial fractures and significantly shorten the time for the wake-up time. In addition, it was safe and reliable, so it was worthy of clinical promotion.