I thought this was interesting so I wanted to share with our readers. SYDNEY – An Australian man who has spent most of his life donating blood is retiring. James Harrison has donated blood nearly every week for 60 years. He’s made 1,100 donations, saving the lives of more than 2.4 million Australian babies, according to the Australian Red Cross Blood […]
Read MoreAuthors: Harbaugh CM et al. Pediatrics 2017 Dec 4. Persistent postsurgical opioid use in adolescents was 5%, similar to the estimated rate in adults. Prescription opioids, though an important tool for pain management, are contributing to significant morbidity and mortality from opioid overuse and misuse in the U.S. Opioid prescribing practices vary widely, and opioids are […]
Read MoreAuthors: Chu DK et al. Lancet 2018 Apr 28. A meta-analysis shows significantly higher mortality with liberal use of supplemental oxygen in acutely ill patients. Supplemental oxygen can be a life-saving intervention for patients with hypoxemic respiratory failure; however, emerging evidence suggests that too much oxygen is harmful (NEJM JW Gen Med Dec 1 2016 and JAMA 2016; 316:1583). Small […]
Read MoreAUTHORS: Peter Kranke, M.D., M.B.A. et al Anesthesiology 6 2018, Vol.128, 1099-1106. Background: Postoperative nausea and vomiting causes distress for patients and can prolong care requirements. Consensus guidelines recommend use of multiple antiemetics from different mechanistic classes as prophylaxis in patients at high risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting. The prophylactic efficacy of the dopamine D2/D3 antagonist amisulpride […]
Read MoreAUTHORS: Cameron, Matthew, J., MDCM et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: January 2018 – Volume 126 – Issue 1 – p 33–38 BACKGROUND: Postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is associated with early and late morbidity and mortality of cardiac surgical patients. Prophylactic treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF) has been recommended to improve outcome in cardiac surgical patients at high […]
Read MoreAn investigational formulation of IV meloxicam relieved pain, spared opioid usage and was well tolerated after major surgeries in patients of varied demographics and health status. These findings come from three reports of phase 3 studies presented at the 2017 annual PAINWeek meeting. “Because IV meloxicam is in the nonopioid class of drugs, Recro Pharma […]
Read MoreAuthors: Bowring MG et al. Am J Transplant 2017 Nov Patients who accepted an IRD kidney had lower 5-year mortality than those who declined IRD organs. The Public Health Service has defined behavioral criteria that identify potential donors as increased-risk donors (IRDs) at higher risk for recent infection with hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and […]
Read MoreThe committee that plans and oversees medical care for the county of Hertfordshire, England announced recently that unless obese patients lose a specified amount of weight and smokers quit smoking for at least eight weeks, they will not be allowed to undergo elective surgery. Patients with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 40 must […]
Read MoreAUTHORS: Kalra, Rajat, MBChB et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: March 2018 – Volume 126 – Issue 3 – p 867–875 BACKGROUND: Targeted temperature management (TTM) with therapeutic hypothermia is an integral component of postarrest care for survivors. However, recent randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have failed to demonstrate the benefit of TTM on clinical outcomes. We sought […]
Read MoreAUTHORS: Magliocca, Aurora, MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: January 2018 – Volume 126 – Issue 1 – p 85–92 BACKGROUND: Orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is characterized by significant intraoperative hemodynamic variability. Accurate and real-time cardiac output (CO) monitoring aids clinical decision making during OLT. The purpose of this study is to compare accuracy, precision, and trending […]
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