Month: November 2015

Uncategorized Published - 3 November, 2015    By - Dr Clemens
General Anesthesia in Peds May Affect Brain Development and IQ Scores

General anesthesia may cause unintended side effects in some infants, studies have found. Regional anesthesia may therefore be the better option. In a study published in Pediatrics (2015;136:e1-e12, doi:10.1542/peds.2014-3526), researchers found that children who received general anesthesia before 4 years of age had a lower IQ, decreased brain matter density and slower language comprehension than a comparator […]

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Uncategorized Published - 3 November, 2015    By - Dr Clemens
The Etiology and Outcome of Non-traumatic Coma in Critical Care

Authors: Mira D Franken; Jan Meulenbelt; Wilton A van Klei; Dylan W de Lange BMC Anesthesiol. 2015;15(65)  Background: Non-traumatic coma (NTC) is a serious condition requiring swift medical or surgical decision making upon arrival at the emergency department. Knowledge of the most frequent etiologies of NTC and associated mortality might improve the management of these patients. Here, […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 November, 2015    By - Dr Clemens
Avoid Emergent Surgery in IBD

Authors: Singh S et al., Gastroenterology 2015 Jun 5; Postoperative mortality is higher for emergent versus elective surgery in both ulcerative colitis and Crohn disease. In the current meta-analysis, researchers evaluated postoperative mortality following intestinal resection in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Twenty-one studies (18 articles and 3 abstracts) met the search criteria and involved 67,057 […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 November, 2015    By - Dr Clemens
Is There Evidence for Systematic Upcoding of ASA Physical Status Coincident with Payer Incentives? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis of the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry.

Anesthesia & Analgesia: 9/2015 Authors: Schonberger, Robert B. MD et al BACKGROUND: Modifications in physician billing patterns have been shown to occur in response to payer incentives, but the phenomenon remains largely unexplored in billing for anesthesia services. Within the field of anesthesiology, Medicare’s policy not to provide additional reimbursement for higher ASA physical status […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 November, 2015    By - Dr Clemens
Ketamine-Propofol Versus Propofol Alone for Procedural Sedation in the Emergency Department: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Acad Emerg Med, 2015 Sep;22(9):1003-13. doi: 10.1111/acem.12737. Authors: Yan JW et al OBJECTIVES: Propofol is an agent commonly used for procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) in the emergency department (ED), but it can cause respiratory depression and hypotension. The combination of ketamine-propofol (K-P) is an alternative that theoretically provides a reduction in adverse events compared to propofol. […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 November, 2015    By - Dr Clemens
Intrathecal hyperbaric 2% prilocaine versus 0.4% plain ropivacaine for same-day arthroscopic knee surgery: a prospective randomized double-blind controlled study

Can J Anaesth. 2015 Oct;62(10):1055-1062 Authors: Aguirre J et al BACKGROUND: Short-duration spinal anesthesia is a good option for ambulatory knee surgery. Hyperbaric 2% prilocaine has short onset and rapid recovery times and, therefore, may be well suited in this setting. The aim of this study was to compare the times to reach motor block, motor block […]

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Uncategorized Published - 2 November, 2015    By - Dr Clemens
Number of mistakes in medication errors during surgery

In a new study on how often medication errors occur during surgery researchers report that mistakes were made during almost half of the operations they analyzed. The mistakes included drug labeling errors, incorrect dosing, drug documentation mistakes, and/or failing to properly treat changes in a patient’s vital signs during surgery. Overall, a medication error or adverse drug […]

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