Author: Dr Clemens

Uncategorized Published - 1 February, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Breast cancer incidence rising among women under 50

Not about anesthesia but I wanted to share this with our readers. Author: Marty Stempniak  InnovateHealthcare Radiology Business  Breast cancer incidence is rising among U.S. women under 50, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open [1]. This includes elevated diagnosis rates for non-Hispanic Black women in their 20s and 30s, before the disease is even […]

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Uncategorized Published - 1 February, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Advancing Workplace Well-Being for Anesthesiologists

Authors: Amr E. Abouleish, MD, MBA, FASA. et al ASA Monitor February 2024, Vol. 88, 15. At the 2023 ASA annual meeting, the House of Delegates approved an ASA statement titled “Statement on Fundamentals of a Safe and Healthy Workplace for Anesthesiologists.” Unlike traditional ASA declarations, this unique statement doesn’t introduce new policies, but rather consolidates existing […]

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Uncategorized Published - 31 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Closed Claims Case Review Case 2024-02: Tamponade: A Tale of Two Suits

ASA Monitor February 2024, Vol. 88, 12–13. Case presentation 1: A 40-year-old female who was 10 days s/p uneventful laparoscopic tubal ligation with lysis of adhesions presented with presumed sepsis and necrotizing fasciitis (fever, severe abdominal pain, odiferous fluid leak from the abdominal wall, elevated WBC and lactate, anemia, CT: free air in the abdomen, gas […]

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Uncategorized Published - 31 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Anesthesia Incident Reporting System Case 2024-02: Supply and Demand – Importance of the Supply Chain

ASA Monitor February 2024, Vol. 88, 1–11. Case presentation: A 15-year-old adolescent female was scheduled for two surgical procedures on a Monday morning. The surgeon for the second procedure uses a harmonic scalpel. The OR nursing coordinator discovered on the previous Friday that the OR had no harmonic scalpels in stock and escalated this to hospital […]

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Uncategorized Published - 31 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Trends in Anesthesiology

ASA Monitor February 2024, Vol. 88, 16. Norepinephrine deficiencies could reveal likelihood of Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia In a recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) study, researchers utilized positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the heart to identify individuals at risk of developing Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia. Scientists at the National Institute of […]

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Uncategorized Published - 31 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Challenges Abound for Indigenous Peoples of North America

Author: Elizabeth T. Drum, MD, FAAP, FCPP, FASA ASA Monitor February 2024, Vol. 88, 17–18. Our world, our nation, our communities, and our specialty have struggled with access to health care and issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare many more inequities that were “hidden” in plain view, and struggles for […]

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Uncategorized Published - 31 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
4 prior authorization updates

Author” Andrew Cass  Becker’s Payer Issues From the finalization of a rule CMS estimates will save $15 billion over 10 years to the implementation of another, here are four prior authorization updates Becker’s has reported on since Dec. 29: 1. CMS finalized a rule to streamline the prior authorization process and improve the electronic exchange of health information that […]

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Uncategorized Published - 30 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Reversal of propofol-induced depression of the hypoxic ventilatory response by BK-channel blocker ENA-001

Authors: Simone C Jansen, MD et al  Anesthesiology January 2024 Background The use of anesthetics may result in depression of the hypoxic ventilatory response. Since there are no receptor-specific antagonists for most anesthetics, there is the need for agnostic respiratory stimulants, that increase respiratory drive irrespective of its cause. We tested whether ENA-001, an agnostic […]

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Uncategorized Published - 30 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Gastric volume and antral area in the fasting state. A meta-analysis of individual patient data.

Authors: Anahi Perlas, MD, FRCPC et al  Anesthesiology January 2024. Background Pulmonary aspiration of gastric content is a serious anesthetic complication. Gastric point-of-care ultrasound can determine the type and volume of gastric content when clinical information is equivocal. However, a cut-off value of either antral cross-sectional area or volume that may be considered as the […]

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Uncategorized Published - 30 January, 2024    By - Dr Clemens
Antithrombin levels and heparin responsiveness during veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Authors: Alexandre Mansour et al  Anesthesiology January 2024. Background Unfractionated heparin, administered during veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to prevent thromboembolic events, largely depend on plasma antithrombin for its antithrombotic effects. Decreased heparin responsiveness seems frequent on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation however its association with acquired antithrombin deficiency is poorly understood. Our objective was to describe longitudinal […]

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