Stories Category: Anesthesia
Glut of Anesthesia Guidelines a Disservice, Except for Lawyers
Anesthesia practice guidelines are out of control, too many to adopt, too anecdotal to accept and too political to take seriously! Clinicians are already ignoring and pushing back on guidelines. A study presented at the recent... read more
Ketamine: A Drug at War with Itself
KETAMINE has always been the odd one out. Like an eccentric uncle who always turns up at the holiday season with a new partner, ketamine has never really comfortably fitted in to simple classifications of anesthetic drugs.... read more
Assessing Postoperative Pulmonary Complications After Noncardiothoracic Surgery
In this multicenter study in 1202 American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status 3 patients undergoing noncardiothoracic surgery requiring 2 hours or more of general anesthesia with mechanical ventilation, at least... read more
Intravenous Lidocaine To Reduce Propofol Burning And Response To Laryngoscopy
Lidocaine (1 - 1.5 mg/kg) is often given intravenously prior to the induction of general anesthesia for a dual purpose - to mitigate the burning sensation of propofol (attributed to its glycerol additive) and to blunt the... read more
Critical Care Patients Benefit From Restrictive Transfusion Strategy
Although a restrictive transfusion strategy significantly reduces the risk for 30-day all-cause mortality in critical care patients, its benefits are less clear in perioperative patients, according to a meta-analysis by a... read more
Protocol Lacking for Post-op Delirium
While 70% of anesthesiologists say they "frequently" or "occasionally" encounter postoperative delirium in their practices, more than three-fourths (77%) lack a process to screen for at-risk patients.... read more
Audible Leak Test Accurate Measure for Tracheal Tube Sizes
The audible leak test is a reliable method for verifying appropriate tracheal tube sizes in infants and children, according to a recent study. Many factors can affect the results of the audible leak test, according to the... read more
Use of Supraglottic Airways in Patients in the Prone Position
Supraglottic airways (SGAs) may work well for prone spinal procedures of short duration, according to a recent study. But others consider this a dangerous practice. SGA use has been studied in the prone position but with... read more
New Warning for Anesthetic Use in Children and Pregnant Women
The FDA issued a warning that repeated or lengthy use of general anesthetics and sedatives during surgeries or procedures in children aged <3 years or in pregnant women during their 3rd trimester may affect the development... read more
Anesthesiologist reaction time increased after night call
For anesthesiologists, reaction time increases after a night call, with greater increases seen in correlation with reliance on avoidance as a coping mechanism. Post-call psychomotor vigilance test mean reaction time decreased... read more
Scoring System Predicts Difficult Airways in Obese Patients
As a result of the literature review, the researchers created a scoring system for independent predictors of a difficult airway in morbid obesity.... read more
Care of the eye during anaesthesia and intensive care
Perioperative eye injuries and blindness are rare but important complications of anaesthesia. The three causes of postoperative blindness are ischaemic optic neuropathy, central retinal artery thrombosis.... read more
Targeted Drug Delivery using Porous Glass Microspheres
Finding ways to improve efficiency and bioavailability is key to targeted drug delivery. Although controlled release dosage medication forms are the standard, they can have certain limitations.... read more
Cricoid Pressure at Lower Forces Does Not Increase Oxygen Consumption
A pilot study has found that patients randomly assigned to cricoid pressure or sham treatment showed no difference in time to lowest peripheral capillary oxygen saturation (SpO2) or lowest SpO2 during anesthesia induction... read more