BACKGROUND:Induction is an important step, while conducting general anaesthesia. Patients are susceptible to hemodynamic lability at the time of induction. Thus, an agent with least effect on hemodynamics would be the agent of choice. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the hemodynamic effects of etomidate in comparison to those of thiopentone and propofol during induction of general anaesthesia. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was conducted in the department of anaesthesia of SRMS IMS, over a period of one year from June 2013-2014, on patients undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 105 adult patients aged 18 -50 years, belonging to ASA grade 1 and 2, undergoing elective surgery under general anaesthesia, were divided randomly into three groups of 35 patients each. Group A patients were induced with injection thiopentone sodium 5 mg/kg, Group B with injection propofol 2mg/kg and Group C with injection etomidate 0.3 mg/kg intravenously. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data are presented as mean and standard deviation. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 20. A "p" value of less than 0.05 was taken as significant. RESULTS: There was no significant change in mean heart rate at one, two and three minute after induction as compared with the mean heart rate at the time of induction in all the groups(p>0.05). In Groups A and B there was a significant fall in systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure at one, two and three minute after induction, as compared to the induction value (p<0.05). In Group C however, there was no significant change in systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Etomidate offers superior hemodynamic stability during induction compared to thiopentone and propofol. Thus etomidate is a better induction agent for general anaesthesia.

In this article we discuss in detail the effective approaches to enhance the thermal conductivity in polymer composites. It is shown from numerical simulations that maximizing interfacial area between filler and polymer enhances very significantly the effective thermal conductivity in composites. Our study outlines two main facts. (a) Although the nature of the filler's geometry plays an important role in the effective thermal conductivity, we show that among the different geometries thermal conductivity is high for those geometries for which the ratio of surface-area to volume is high. Thus non-spherical shaped fillers show high thermal conductivity compared to the spherical fillers. (b) For fillers of a particular geometry, by maximizing its surface area without changing the volume fraction of the metallic filler, the effective thermal conductivity increases. Thus, the interfacial area between filler and polymer plays an important role in the enhancement of thermal conductivity. Maximizing interfaces facilitates more routes for heat conduction through the metallic filler. Thus filler material can be transformed to result into more surface such that more interfaces between the filer polymer can be obtained. It is also observed that as this interfacial area increases, increase in effective thermal conductivity follows from linear to the logarithmic growth. It should be noted that to inherit the polymer properties there is a restriction on the upper bound of volume fraction of the fillers. The current study bring out an important step in this direction. Our results are technologically very important in designing composite polymers for better heat conduction, and are very cost-effective. This study also provides a connection between the bulk and the surface area in effectively determination of the thermal conductivity.

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BACKGROUND: Post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most distressing and frequent adverse event occurring after general anaesthesia. OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacy of Ondansetron with Granisetron in preventing post-operative nausea and vomiting (PONV) after general anaesthesia. STUDY DESIGN: The study was conducted over a period of 1.5 years in the Department of Anaesthesiology in SRMSIMS, Bareilly on patients undergoing elective surgeries under general anaesthesia. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 60 patients of American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) status I and II were randomly divided into two groups. Group 1(n=30) Ondansetron 0.15 mg/kg i.v, Group 2(n=30) Granisetron 10 mcg/kg i.v. Incidence of nausea and vomiting was observed upto 24 hours post operatively after extubation. The efficacy was assessed in terms of number (percentage) of patients with mild nausea not requiring rescue antiemetic, number (percentage) of patients with severe nausea or vomiting requiring rescue antiemetic and number (percentage) of patients with no nausea or vomiting for 24 hours post operatively. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Data presented as number and percentages. Analysis done using ANOVA followed by Chi square, Unpaired 't-test'. RESULTS: The number (percentage) of patients with mild nausea not requiring rescue antiemetic in group 1 was 10(33.3%) and in group 2 was 2(6.6%). The number (percentage) of patients with severe nausea or vomiting requiring rescue antiemetic in group 1 was 12(40%) and in group 2 was 5(16.6%).The number (percentage) of patients with no nausea or vomiting in group 1 was 8(26.6%) and in group 2 was 23(76.6%). CONCLUSION: Granisetron is the better drug for prevention of postoperative nausea and vomiting than Ondansetron.