A dose of 1 mg/kg of tramadol administered intravenously 30 minutes before the expected extubation, compared with 1 μg/kg of fentanyl, decreased cough incidence, improved emergence quality, and provided stable hemodynamics. However, there was no significant difference between tramadol and fentanyl in pain scores and fentanyl consumption postoperatively.

While anaesthetics are frequently used on cancer patients during surgical procedures, their consequence on cancer progression remains to be elucidated. In this study, we sought to investigate the influence of local anesthetics on lung cancer cell dissemination in vitro and in vivo. A549 human non-small lung cancer cells were treated with various local anaesthetics including ropivacaine, lidocaine, levobupivacaine and bupivacaine. Cell barrier property was assessed using an electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) system. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of treated cells was studied by immunofluorescence staining. In vitro and in vivo cancer cell dissemination were investigated.Gene expression microarray and quantitative real-time PCR (qrt-PCR) assays were used to identify the genes responsible for levobupivacaine-mediated cancer cell dissemination.The results illustrated that only levobupivacaine induced EMT in the treated cells and also caused the dissemination of cancer cells in vitro. In addition, after intravenous injection, levobupivacaine encouraged cancer cell dissemination in vivo. Gene expression microarray, qrt-PCR and immunoblotting revealed that after levobupivacaine treatment, the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)- 2α gene was upregulated in cancer cells. Our findings suggest that levobupivacaine may induce A549 lung cancer cell dissemination both in vitro and in vivo. More specifically, HIF-2α signaling possibly contributes to levobupivacaine-mediated A549 lung cancer cell dissemination.

OBJECT Anesthesia techniques can contribute to the reduction of anesthesia-controlled time and may therefore improve operating room efficiency. However, little is known about the difference in anesthesia-controlled time between propofol-based total intravenous anesthesia (TIVA) and desflurane (DES) anesthesia techniques for prolonged lumbar spine surgery under general anesthesia. METHODS A retrospective analysis was conducted using hospital databases to compare the anesthesia-controlled time of lengthy (surgical time > 180 minutes) lumbar spine surgery in patients receiving either TIVA via target-controlled infusion (TCI) with propofol/fentanyl or DES/fentanyl-based anesthesia, between January 2009 and December 2011. A variety of time intervals (surgical time, anesthesia time, extubation time, time in the operating room, postanesthesia care unit [PACU] length of stay, and total surgical suite time) comprising perioperative hemodynamic variables were compared between the 2 anesthesia techniques. RESULTS Data from 581 patients were included in the analysis; 307 patients received TIVA and 274 received DES anesthesia. The extubation time was faster (12.4 ± 5.3 vs 7.0 ± 4.5 minutes, p < 0.001), and the time in operating room and total surgical suite time was shorter in the TIVA group than in the DES group (326.5 ± 57.2 vs 338.4 ± 69.4 minutes, p = 0.025; and 402.6 ± 60.2 vs 414.4 ± 71.7 minutes, p = 0.033, respectively). However, there was no statistically significant difference in PACU length of stay between the groups. Heart rate and mean arterial blood pressure were more stable during extubation in the TIVA group than in the DES group. CONCLUSIONS Utilization of TIVA reduced the mean time to extubation and total surgical suite time by 5.4 minutes and 11.8 minutes, respectively, and produced more stable hemodynamics during extubation compared with the use of DES anesthesia in lengthy lumbar spine surgery.