Month: May 2024

Uncategorized Published - 23 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Improving Outcomes in Hip Fractures with Regional Anesthesia

Author: Kelly Wolfgang ASA Monitor April 2024, Vol. 88, 27. Emerging evidence suggests that patients who suffer hip fractures and other traumatic injuries are at risk of prolonged opioid use when inadequate analgesia occurs. For anesthesiologists, proper acute pain management is imperative, from preoperative patient assessment to the postoperative recovery stage. Uncontrolled pain can be detrimental, […]

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Uncategorized Published - 22 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Influence of clinical and genetic factors on propofol dose requirements

Authors: Sirkku Ahlström, M.D. et al  Anesthesiology May 2024. Background Propofol is a widely used intravenous hypnotic. Dosing is mostly based on weight with great interindividual variation in consumption. Suggested factors affecting propofol requirements include age, gender, ethnicity, anxiety, alcohol consumption, smoking, and concomitant valproate use. Genetic factors have not been widely explored. Methods We […]

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Uncategorized Published - 22 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Rebound Pain After Peripheral Nerve Blocks: End of the Honeymoon Period

Author: Vishal Uppal, MBBS, MSc, FRCA ASA Monitor May 2024, Vol. 88, 1–9. When compared with general anesthesia (GA), patients undergoing surgery solely under peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) are more likely to have improved short-term postoperative pain control, less nausea and vomiting, early discharge from the postanesthesia care unit and hospital, and overall improved patient satisfaction […]

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Uncategorized Published - 22 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Ultrasound-Guided Pediatric Regional Anesthesia for Orthopedic Surgery

Author: Asha Clarke, MD ASA Monitor February 2024, Vol. 88, 1–7.  Ultrasound image showing the placement of a lumbar plexus nerve catheter. Photo courtesy of Asha Clarke, MD. Gaston Labat stated in the forward to his seminal “Regional Anesthesia” textbook, “I do not look forward to the day when regional anesthesia will wholly displace general anesthesia; […]

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Uncategorized Published - 22 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
In the Weeds: Nation’s First Guidelines for Management of Perioperative Patients on Cannabis

Author: Kim Sumrak ASA Monitor March 2024, Vol. 88, 30–33. Figure: ASRA Pain Medicine consensus guidelines on the management of the perioperative patient on cannabis and cannabinoids: an infographic. (Reg Anesth Pain Med 2023;48:119). Whether due to legalization, culture change, or other reasons, Americans have been using more cannabis over the past 20 years. According to […]

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Uncategorized Published - 22 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Impacting the Next Generation of Patient Safety Champions

Authors: Candace Chang, MD, MPH et al  ASA Monitor June 2024, Vol. 88, 56–58. The importance of educating the next generation of patient safety advocates goes beyond ensuring sustainability of current efforts to improve patient care. Engaging anesthesiology residents and practicing anesthesiologists in patient safety and quality improvement (PSQI) projects harnesses their creativity, enhances their understanding […]

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Uncategorized Published - 21 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
The Anesthesia Patient Safety Officer: Why Every Institution Needs One

Authors: Jonathan B. Cohen, MD, MS, CPPS, FASA et al  ASA Monitor June 2024, Vol. 88, 52–55. The Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) defined quality patient care as care that is safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered. These discrete elements have historically been conflated by health care organizations. The drawback to this […]

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Uncategorized Published - 21 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Increased Postoperative Opioid Consumption in the Presence of Co-administration of 5-HT3 Antagonists with Acetaminophen

Authors: Nikolai Ratajczak, cand. med et al  Anesthesiology May 2024. Background Acetaminophen and 5-hydroxytryptamine-type-3 (5-HT3) receptor antagonists are administered as standard prophylaxes for postoperative pain, nausea, and vomiting. Preclinical studies however suggest that 5-HT3 antagonists may compromise acetaminophen’s analgesic effect. This hospital registry study investigates whether 5-HT3 antagonists mitigate the analgesic effect of prophylactic acetaminophen in a […]

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Uncategorized Published - 21 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Electroencephalographic indices for clinical endpoints during propofol anesthesia in infants—an early phase propofol biomarker-finding study.

Authors: Ian Yuan, MD, MEng. et al  Anesthesiology May 2024. Background Unlike expired sevoflurane concentration, propofol lacks a biomarker for its brain effect site concentration (Ce), leading to dosing imprecision particularly in infants. Electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring can serve as a biomarker for propofol Ce, yet proprietary EEG indices are not validated in infants. We evaluated […]

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Uncategorized Published - 21 May, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
The Five Rs of Effective Anesthesia Management: A Comprehensive Approach

Somnia Anesthesia In the realm of healthcare reform, the American Society of Anesthesiologists has coined the concept of the “Three Rs” – delivering the right care, in the right place, at the right time. However, when it comes to anesthesia management, Somnia proposes expanding this framework to encompass two additional Rs: the right provider and […]

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