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Biomedical subjects

P E Haavik

Publications and source records attributed to P E Haavik.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Does preoperative anxiety influence gastric fluid volume and acidity?

Preoperative anxiety may increase gastric fluid acidity and volume. To pursue this possibility we evaluated the relationship between peroral premedication, preoperative anxiety, and gastric content in 246 consecutive patients presenting for elective gynecologic surgery. All patients fasted overnight and received either flunitrazepam 1 mg, oxazepam 25 mg, or placebo with 20 mL of water on the morning of surgery in a randomized, double-blind fashion. The patients assessed relief of anxiety using a four-graded scale (excellent, good, fair, poor). Both flunitrazepam and oxazepam decreased anxiety (P less than 0.01) compared with placebo. However, no correlations between type of premedication or level of anxiety and gastric contents were found. The proportion of patients with gastric fluid volume greater than 25 mL and pH less than 2.5 was not significantly different in any of the groups studied. These results suggest that neither peroral benzodiazepine premedication nor preoperative anxiety have a clinically important impact on gastric content in patients presenting for elective gynecologic surgery.

Adult↗

Benzodiazepines as oral premedication. A comparison between oxazepam, flunitrazepam and placebo.

Oxazepam 25 mg, flunitrazepam 1 mg and placebo were compared as oral premedication in 602 gynecological patients in a double-blind randomised parallel study. In 251 patients undergoing major surgery the same drug was also given as a hypnotic the night before the operation. Both active drugs shortened the sleep-onset time, decreased the number of spontaneous awakenings at night and improved the quality of sleep when compared to placebo. The active drugs were significantly better than placebo as premedication when assessed by both the patients and the anesthesiologist. In 351 patients admitted for day-case minor surgery with no previous night medication, flunitrazepam was significantly better than placebo as premedication when assessed by both the patients and the anesthesiologist, while oxazepam was only better than placebo when judged by the anesthesiologist, not by the patients.

Administration, Oral↗

Congenital tracheo-oesophageal fistula in the adult. Report of a case and review of the literature.

Congenital tracheo-oesophageal fistula without atresia can persist and remain undetected until adulthood. We present such a case and give a review of the literature. Symptoms are commonly present during infancy, but to confirm diagnosis of a fistula is often exceedingly difficult. We visualized the fistula in our case by means of a bronchofibrescope when all the other available tests had failed. The speculations as to how these patients reach adult life have been many, but we consider that we have found an important and hitherto undescribed answer to this question, namely a sphincter mechanism in the fistula.

Adolescent↗