Steady shear flow properties of Acacia tortuosa gum aqueous dispersions at different concentrations (15–40% w/v) were studied at 20 C using a controlled shear rate Couette rheometer and Mooney–Ewart sensor systems. Flow curves showed shear thinning non-Newtonian behaviour with a tendency to a Newtonian plateau at high-shear rate. The results obtained fitted the Sisko model very well. The influe...

OBJECTIVES To determine if there were differences in practice or intubation mishap rate between anaesthetists and accident and emergency physicians performing rapid sequence induction of anaesthesia (RSI) in the prehospital setting. METHODS All patients who underwent RSI by a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) doctor from 1 May 1997 to 30 April 1999 were studied by retrospective anal...

BACKGROUND Difficult intubation management algorithms have proven efficacy in operating rooms but have rarely been assessed in a prehospital emergency setting. We undertook a prospective evaluation of a simple prehospital difficult intubation algorithm. METHODS All of our prehospital emergency physicians and nurse anesthetists were asked to adhere to a simple algorithm in all cases of impossi...

BACKGROUND We report the management of two patents from the Indian subcontinent with extrahepatic portal vein obstruction presenting with anticipated difficult airway. A Macintosh blade was used to secure the airway after using various instruments designed for difficult airway. To the best of our knowledge, no case has previously been reported in which a Macintosh blade was used successfully in...

BACKGROUND Video laryngoscopy may be useful in the setting of the difficult airway, but it remains unclear if intubation success is improved in routine difficult airway management. This study compared success rates for tracheal intubation with the C-MAC® video laryngoscope (Karl Storz, Tuttlingen, Germany) with conventional direct laryngoscopy in patients with predicted difficult airway. METH...

BACKGROUND The ProSeal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) is a unique laryngeal mask with a modified cuff to improve seal and a channel to facilitate gastric tube placement. This is a better device in difficult airway situations compared to classic laryngeal mask airway. This prompted us to study the ease of insertion and positioning of PLMA in patients with simulated restricted neck mobility while u...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES The laryngeal mask airway (LMA) ProSeal is most commonly used supraglottic airway device; it is routinely inserted by blind technique. Although blind insertion technique is most widely used, there are many techniques which are available such as priming the drain tube with a guiding instrument such as a suction catheter, a gum elastic bougie, a Flexi-Slip Stylet, direct...

Results of initial investigation of thermomechanical couplings in innovative β-Ti alloy called Gum Metal subjected to tension are presented. The experimental set-up, consisting of testing machine and infrared camera, enabled to obtain stress-strain curves with high accuracy and correlate them to estimated temperature changes of the specimen during the deformation process. Both ultra-low elastic...

A best-evidence topic was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was whether the use of an intra-oesophageal bougie during Nissen fundoplication reduces post-operative dysphagia. A total of 34 papers were found using the reported searches of which eight represented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The authors, date, journal, study type, population, ...