This study looked at the effects of posture on the morning/evening expiratory flows and airway responsiveness to methacholine. Fourteen nonsmoking subjects with stable asthma (eight men, six women) were included in the study. Subjects were randomly allocated to spend 4 h in the supine or seated position on separate days, in the morning from 8 to 12 AM and in the evening from 8 to 12 PM. The FEV...

In the prone knee-chest position the spread of plain 0.5% bupivacaine in the cerebrospinal fluid and associated haemodynamic changes may be different compared with the horizontal position. A randomized comparison was performed in 40 ASA I-II patients, aged 24-61 yr, undergoing lumbar disc surgery. Subarachnoid injection (27-gauge needle) at the L2-3 interspace with 3 ml of 0.5% bupivacaine was ...

BACKGROUND It is well known that upper airway resistance increases with postural change from a sitting to supine position in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). It is not known, however, how the postural change affects the ventilatory and occlusion pressure response to hypercapnia in patients with OSA when awake. METHODS The responses of minute ventilation (VE) and mouth pressure 0....

The relationship between lung volume and regional distribution of ventilation measured by the single breath oxygen test has been found to be similar in the upright and supine positions. When subjects breathe at progressively smaller lung volumes there is an increase in the slope of the alveolar plateau indicative of a redistribution of ventilation to the uppermost parts of the lung. On assuming...

BACKGROUND Early stage breast cancer patients are long-term survivors and finding techniques that may lower acute and late radiotherapy-induced toxicity is crucial. We compared dosimetry of wedged tangential fields (W-TF), tangential field intensity-modulated radiotherapy (TF-IMRT) and multi-beam IMRT (MB-IMRT) in prone and supine positions for whole-breast irradiation (WBI). METHODS MB-IMRT,...

OBJECTIVES Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) is most commonly measured via the bladder with the patient in the supine position. In the ICU, patients are nursed with the head of the bed elevated at 30° (HOB30) to reduce the risk of ventilator-associated pneumonia. This study investigated whether gastric pressure at HOB30 can be used as a surrogate measure of IAP via the bladder in the supine positi...

It is presently unclear how the fast and slow components of pulmonary oxygen uptake (VO(2)) kinetics would be altered by body posture during heavy exercise [i.e., above the lactate threshold (LT)]. Nine subjects performed transitions from unloaded cycling to work rates representing moderate (below the estimated LT) and heavy exercise (VO(2) equal to 50% of the difference between LT and peak VO(...

OBJECTIVES The accidental puncture of the renal cavities and the performance of anterograde pyelogram by Goodwin in 1955 gave way to the beginning of modern endourology. The possibility to insert thick caliber catheters in the excretory system through the renal parenchyma had led to the current state of percutaneous surgery techniques in the treatment of urinary lithiasis. Percutaneous nephroli...

device in the supine position, in both elective and emergency situations, for both ventilation and intubation. Intubation in lateral position might be necessary in some congenital syndromes, morbid obesity, or after accidental extubation in laterally positioned patients. This study was undertaken to evaluate the ILMA for intubation of patients in the lateral position and compare it with intubat...

OBJECTIVES Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is the standard management for large and/or complex urolithiasis, but the standard patient position for PCNL is undecided. With the patient prone PCNL has several drawbacks, while when supine, as described previously, PCNL has mechanical limitations. We describe a modification that aims to overcome these limitations and provide easy access comparab...