Background. Local anaesthetics affect blood vessels in various ways, depending upon the site of action and the drug used. There is controversy over the vascular effects of two widely used topical local anaesthetic agents, EMLA and Ametop. We used the transient hyperaemic response (THR) to the brief compression of the brachial artery to assess vascular reactivity of forearm skin after applicatio...

Because there is a paucity of information on the perioperative risk of developing complete heart block among patients with bifascicular block (either right bundle branch block and left anterior hemiblock or left bundle branch block) and a long PR interval on the surface electrocardiogram, we undertook an analysis of 76 such patients. Twenty-three patients had right bundle branch block and left ...

Algorithms for classification and taxonomy based on criteria such as information entropy and its production are proposed. As an example, the feasibility of replacing a given anaesthetic by similar ones in the composition of a complex drug is studied. Some local anaesthetics currently in use are classified using characteristic chemical properties of different portions of their molecules. Many cl...

In this issue of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Abouleish and colleagues 1 report a case in which accidental injection of ropivacaine into an extradural vein resulted in central nervous system toxicity and a seizure. The extradural catheter was inserted while the patient was in labour, but she delivered before it was used. She was then to undergo tubal ligation. In spite of a negative aspi...