Author: Dr Clemens

The Use of Ultrasound Guidance for Perioperative Neuraxial and Peripheral Nerve Blocks in Children: A Cochrane Review.

Anesthesia & Analgesia: June 15, 2016 AUTHORS: Guay, Joanne MD et BACKGROUND: Objectives were to determine whether the use of ultrasound guidance offers any clinical advantage in the performance of neuraxial or peripheral nerve blocks in children in terms of increasing the success rate or decreasing the rate of complications. METHODS: We searched the following […]

Researchers Surprised by Opioid Scripts for Low-Risk Surgical Procedures

Tissue Oximetry and Clinical Outcomes.

Anesthesia & Analgesia: June 15, 2016 AUTHORS: Bickler, Philip MD, PhD et al A number of different technologies have been developed to measure tissue oxygenation, with the goal of identifying tissue hypoxia and guiding therapy to prevent patient harm. In specific cases, tissue oximetry may provide clear indications of decreases in tissue oxygenation such as […]

Effect of Individual Surgeons and Anesthesiologists on Operating Room Time

Anesthesia & Analgesia: August 2016 – Volume 123 – Issue 2 – p 445–451 AUTHORS: van Eijk, Ruben P. A. MD et al BACKGROUND: Variability in operating room (OR) time causes overutilization and underutilization of the available ORs. There is evidence that for a given type of procedure, the surgeon is the major source of […]

Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Neuropathic Pain

A Systematic Review Authors: Yunkun Deng et al BMC Anesthesiol. 2016;16(12) Background: The management of neuropathic pain (NP) is challenging despite it being the recent focus of extensive research. A number of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for the management of NP have been published worldwide over the past 2 decades. This study aimed to assess the quality […]

Anesthesia Exposure and Risk of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease: A Prospective Study

Authors: Erin J. Aiello Bowles, MPH et al J Am Geriatr Soc. 2016;64(3):602-607. Objectives: To evaluate the associations between anesthesia and dementia or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk using prospectively collected data. Design: Cohort study. Participants: Community-dwelling members of the Adult Changes in Thought cohort aged 65 and older and free of dementia at baseline (N = 3,988). Measurements: Participants self-reported […]

Researchers Surprised by Opioid Scripts for Low-Risk Surgical Procedures

Opioid-naive adults who underwent at least one of four low-risk surgical procedures—carpal tunnel release, laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal), inguinal hernia repair and knee arthroscopy—in the years 2004, 2008 and 2012 were prescribed over time an increasing mean opioid morphine equivalent for postoperative pain. The adjusted increase was highest for knee arthroscopy (18%), according to a JAMA research […]

Does the Perioperative Surgical Home Model Affect Malpractice Coverage?

Do the increased responsibilities inherent in the perioperative surgical home (PSH) model mean that anesthesiologists are necessarily increasing their legal vulnerabilities? Although the advent of the PSH concept has been a boon for many anesthesiologists looking to expand the scope of their responsibilities and cement their position in this innovative medical care model, these impending […]

Local Infiltration Analgesia for TKA Cuts Recovery Times, Hospital LOS

Preoperative ultrasound-guided infiltration analgesia (US-LIA) with liposomal bupivacaine (Exparel, Pacira) is a safe, effective technique that reduces recovery times and hospital lengths of stay for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) patients, a new study suggests. “In our institution, patients who have total knee arthroplasty receive an ultrasound-guided local infiltration analgesia,” said Sanjay Sinha, MD, study author […]

Opioids Common After Hospital Discharge; Storage Knowledge Poor

About 15% of a group of Medicare patients who had not used opioid medications in the previous 2 months filled opioid prescriptions within a week of hospital discharge, according to a research report published June 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine. A second report finds “suboptimal” practices related to sharing, storing, and disposing of opioids, as well as […]