Background and Context:Beta-blockers have been used for attenuation of stress response, decreasing anaesthetic requirement and augmentation of the effect of opioids during general anaesthesia.Aims and Objectives:The present study aims to evaluate the influence of esmolol on the requirement of an inhalational agent while monitoring the depth of anaesthesia by entropy and also its effect on immediate postoperative pain score.Methods:Fifty American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) I and II patients, between 25 and 65 years of age who underwent lower abdominal surgeries were randomly allocated to two groups: Group E and Group S of 25 patients each. Group E received esmolol infusion while Group S received the same volume of saline infusion. Demographic data, haemodynamics, amount of isoflurane used, end-tidal isoflurane concentration, postoperative pain score and total dose of morphine consumed in immediate postoperative period of 30 min were analyzed by using appropriate statistical tests. Value of P<0.05 was considered significant and P<0.001 as highly significant.Results:The two groups were comparable with respect to age, weight, ASA physical status, duration of surgery and amount of isoflurane used during anaesthesia. Assessment of postoperative pain was assessed by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) which showed significant difference at 30 min. The total dose of morphine consumption was significantly less (P<0.05) in Group E for relief of postoperative pain.Conclusions:We conclude that in light of depth of anaesthesia monitor esmolol has no effect on requirement of isoflurane, but it decreases the postoperative pain as well as postoperative requirement of morphine without increasing the risk of awareness.

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Background: Quality of life (QoL) among stroke survivors is a concern which has not received sufficient attention in India. The objective of the study was to assess the quality of life of stroke survivors in rural population of Chikkaballapur district, Karnataka.Methods: A community based longitudinal study was done amongst the 150 incident stroke cases registered during the period from March 2013 to November 2014 and who survived beyond 28 days. The cases were enrolled and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire and were followed up for 6th month period. QoL was assessed at baseline (at 28 days), at 3rd month and 6th Month using Stroke Specific QoL scale (SSQoL) and Barthel index (BI).Results: The mean age of the persons with stroke was 61.3±15 years with a majority being males (69.3%). Baseline median score (IQR) of SSQoL at 28th day was poor i.e. 131 (77-183). Among the 150 cases, 136 (91%) survived until the end of 6th month. The overall QOL gradually improved to 182 (133-213) and 185 (147-213) at 3rd and 6th month respectively and similar improvement was seen individually in physical, psychological and social domains as well and on multivariate logistic regression age <60 years and few disturbed consciousness among the stroke survivors during the 6th month follow up were found to be predictors for improved quality of life.Conclusions: QoL showed significant improvements in all physical, psychological and social domains by the end of the 6th month of follow up.

The present study was designed with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of structured teaching program on the knowledge and opinion of teacher trainees regarding learning disabilities among children. This study was carried out among 32 teacher trainees studying the Diploma in Education (D.Ed.) course. One group pre-test, post-test without control group, quasi experimental research design was adapted for the study. Instruments, socio-demographic data sheet, knowledge questionnaire on learning disabilities and opinion questionnaire on learning disabilities (prepared by the investigator) were used to assess the changes in the level of knowledge and opinion among the Teacher trainees before and after the structured teaching program. The students are exposed to five sessions of structured teaching program which included concept and definition, incidence and prevalence, causes and classification, clinical manifestations, investigations, treatment and outcome of the learning disabilities. Data collected through self report method were analyzed and processed using descriptive statistics like percentage, mean and standard deviation. Inferential statistics such as t-test, Pearson correlation and chi-square were also used. Findings revealed that, there was significant difference in the pre and post test scores on various dimensions of knowledge and opinion questionnaire (p<0.001), demonstrated the effectiveness of structured teaching program.