Thoracic technique

Manual thoracic techniques are effective in removing pulmonary secretions, facilitating inspiration, and improving alveolar ventilation. Guidebooks have been published that demonstrate the hand placements and thrusting techniques in children and adults (56). 

Visceral Fetal Examinations. The examination of the abdominal and thoracic viscera of fetuses is performed either fresh without fixation ( Staples technique ) or after Bouin s fixation by making freehand razor blade sections ( Wilson s technique Wilson, 1965). Both techniques have advantages. The fresh examination technique, which may require less training for thorough proficiency, provides a more easily interpreted view of heart anomalies. The examination must be performed on the day the dam is terminated, however, so having a large number of litters to examine in one day requires that a large team of workers be committed to the task. 

Putnam JB Jr, Suell DM, McMurtrey MJ, et al. Comparison of three techniques of esophagectomy within a residency training program. Ann Thorac Surg 1994 57(2)319-325. 

Favalaro RG. Saphenous vein graft in the surgical treatment of coronary artery disease operative technique. J Thorac Cariovasc Surg 1969 58 178. 

Von Dossow V et al Thoracic epidural anesthesia combined with general anesthesia The preferred anesthetic technique for thoracic surgery. Anesth Analg 2001 92 848. 

Sellke FW, Laham RJ, Edelman ER, Pearlman JD, Simons M. Therapeutic angiogenesis with basic fibroblast growth factor technique and early results. Ann Thorac Surg 1998 65(6) 1540-1544. 

Alfieri O, Maisano p De Bonis M, et al. The double-orifice technique in mitral valve repair a simple solution for complex problems. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2001 122 674-681. 

Fetal examinations Each live fetus weighed and examined for external abnormalities Live fetuses killed and a midcoronal slice made in the head of each fetus to evaluate the contents of the cranium Internal organs of the thoracic and abdominal cavities of all fetuses examined in the fresh state using Staples s technique, and the sex of each fetus determined Viscera removed and discarded Carcasses processed for skeletal examination using the Alizarin Red S staining method and evaluated Findings judged to be variations or malformations... 

Kennergren C, Olsson GW, Lonnroth P, Mantovani V, Berggren H, Nystrbm B, NystrOm U, Hamberger A (1994) Microdialysis technique for continuous in vivo surveillence of intramyocardial ischemia. Scand J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, submitted. 

Extradural (epidural) anaesthesia is used in the thoracic, lumbar and sacral (caudal) regions. Lumbar epidurals are used widely in obstetrics and low thoracic epidurals provide excellent analgesia after laparotomy. The drug is injected into the extradural space where it acts on the nerve roots. This technique is less likely to cause hypotension than spinal anaesthesia. Continuous analgesia is achieved if a local anaesthetic, often mixed with an opioid, is infused through an epidural catheter. 

Bethune N. A new technique for the deliberate production of pleural adhesions as a prehminary to lobectomy. J Thorac Surg 1935 4 251-61. 

Using conventional and whole cell patch techniques, we have current- and voltage-clamped the somata in cultures of dissociated embryonic cockroach brain neurons and preparations of isolated thoracic neurons from locusts to examine their responses to GABA and other putative neurotransmitters and neuropeptides. These neurons respond to the micro-application of GABA with a transient membrane conductance increase. The effect is blocked by picrotoxin but unaffected by bicuculline up to 10M. 

Tung A. New anesthesia techniques. Thoracic Surg Clin 2005 15 27-38. 

It has recently been recognized that a fraction of particles deposited on surfaces of ciliated thoracic airways is not removed from these airways within 40 h but retained for longer periods (4). This long-term retention phenomenon was observed for particles smaller than 6 pm in diameter. Although particle removal from thoracic airways is therefore overestimated by the radiotracer technique, it affects bronchial deposition by less than 10%. 

Using the ICRP deposition model, Pritchard et al. (6) were able to demonstrate that this approach is suitable to predict extrathoracic (oropharyngeal) and thoracic mass deposition of particles released from a dry powder inhaler obtained by the radiotracer technique (Fig. 14). The ballistic fraction comprised 50-70% of the particle mass but only about 12% were deposited in thoracic airways and airspaces of 19 patients. 

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