by Karl E. Hammermeister, MD; Michael Bronsert, PhD; Joshua S. Richman, MD, PhD; and William G. Henderson, PhD Historical The earliest description of curare, a naturally occurring predecessor of the neuromuscular blocking agents commonly used today in anesthesia, has been attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh in his 1596 book, The Discoverie of the Large, Rich, and […]
Read Moreby Glenn Murphy, MD The Neuromuscular Research Group at Organon Newhouse Scotland (east of Glasgow) had been working on the development of fast-onset, short-acting, nondepolarizing steroidal neuromuscular blocking agents since the 1960s, which led to the development of pancuronium, vecuronium and rocuronium. Shortly after the launch of rocuronium, questions arose about a possible action of […]
Read MoreWhat Would You Expect If You Were the Patient? by Robert K. Stoelting, MD The Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) believes that residual neuromuscular blockade in the postoperative period is a patient safety hazard that could be addressed partially by better and consistent use of our qualitative standard train-of-four (TOF) nerve stimulator monitors, but will […]
Read MoreMORBID OBESITY AND SLEEP APNEA February 2016 – Volume 29 – Issue 1 – p 134–140 AUTHORS: Lam, Karen K. et al Purpose of review: Perioperative opioid-based pain management of patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) may present challenges because of concerns over severe ventilatory compromise. The interaction between intermittent hypoxia, sleep fragmentation, pain, […]
Read MoreAnesthesia & Analgesia: February 2016 – Volume 122 – Issue 2 – p 490–496 AUTHORS: Hörner, Elisabeth MD et al BACKGROUND: The immediate initiation and high quality of basic life support (BLS) are pivotal to improving patient outcome after cardiac arrest. Although cardiorespiratory monitoring could shorten the time to recognize the onset of cardiac arrest, […]
Read More