Author: David J. Cullen MD, MS Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation SUMMARY:In patients who are anesthetized for surgery in the beach chair position, brain blood pressure can fall to levels below the brain’s ability to autoregulate. This can result in brain damage, but an understanding of cerebral autoregulation is essential to prevent this occurrence. Cerebral blood […]
Recommendations for Endotracheal Intubation of COVID-19 Patients
Authors: Orser, Beverley A. MD, PhD Anesthesia & Analgesia: May 2020 – Volume 130 – Issue 5 – p 1109-1110 Health care workers are committed to learning from each other to optimize the management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses recently called […]
Labor Epidurals Do Not Cause Autism; Safe for Mothers and Infants, say Anesthesiology, Obstetrics, and Pediatric Medical Societies
ASA Joint Statement of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology, American Society of Anesthesiologists, Society for Pediatric Anesthesia, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine The Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP), the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA), the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal […]
Low-Intensity Shockwave Therapy Shows Promise in Relieving Male Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome
Author: Shazia Qureshi DG News In a small, double-blinded randomised study of male patients with chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS), 6 sessions of low-intensity shockwave therapy (LiST) applied to the perineum once per week led to improvements in pain and quality of life scores over 24 weeks, compared with sham therapy, according to a study […]
A return to normalcy: Resuming sexual activity soon after a heart attack boosts survival
This has nothing to do with anesthesia other than we have providers who have had a MI. Author: Michael Walter Cardiovascular Business News Resuming sexual activity within a few months of an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is associated with a significant increase in long-term survival, according to new research published in the European Journal of Preventive […]
Production Pressure and Anesthesia Professionals
Author: Richard C. Prielipp, MD, MBA, FCCM Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation SUMMARY:Anesthesia professionals must navigate the colliding tectonic plates of patient safety and OR efficiency. But we are not unique in facing this industrial challenge. Indeed, Erik Hollnagel describes the engineering efficiency–thoroughness trade-off (ETTO) principle13 that acknowledges the inviolate swap between efficiency on one hand and […]
National Partnership for Maternal Safety— Maternal Safety Bundles
Authors: Jennifer M. Banayan, MD; Barbara M. Scavone, MD Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation The United States is one of only eight countries worldwide and the only high-resource nation where maternal mortality has increased since 1990.1 Parturients in this country are three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than women in Britain, Germany, or Japan.1 These […]
Anesthesia for Endoscopic Procedures: An Update
Author: Tony Mira Summary Endoscopy cases had been an increasing line of business for many anesthesia practices in recent years, but revaluing of certain endoscopy-related anesthesia codes and the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic have caused concern among some groups. This article will explore where we currently stand as it concerns endoscopic cases. No […]
Acupuncture before surgery may reduce pain, opioid use
Author: Anuradha Varanasi MedicalNewsToday A new pilot study concludes that using acupuncture before surgery can reduce a person’s need for opioids following surgery. The Detroit-based researchers believe that acupuncture is a low-cost, safe method that reduces pain and anxiety in some people. In the United States, the opioid crisis claimed the lives of 47,000 people in 2018, […]
Increased risk of COVID-19 in patients with autoimmune diseases, glucocorticoid use plays a role
Author: Denise Baez DG Alerts Patients with autoimmune diseases appear to have an increased risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), primarily attributed to glucocorticoid use, although their clinical outcomes were not considerably worse when compared with individuals without autoimmune diseases, according to a meta-analysis published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. The study also […]