Glut of Anesthesia Guidelines a Disservice, Except for Lawyers

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: 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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