Authors: Wayne Simmons, DO; Dandan Feng, MD; Zhengliang Ma, MD; Xiaoping Gu, MD; Jeffrey Huang, MD Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Treatment of intraoperative malignant hyperthermia (MH) usually involves administration of IV dantrolene, which reduces the mortality from over 80% if untreated to less than 10%.1 When dantrolene is simply not available, physical and metabolic treatments must […]
Read MoreAuthor: Shinju Obara Journal of Anesthesia (2020) Abstract The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) disease [coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection] first appeared in December 2019 in China and is now spreading worldwide. Because SARS-CoV-2 can be transmitted via aerosols and surface contaminations of the environment, appropriate use of anesthesia machines and appropriate behavior in […]
Read MoreAuthor: L. A. McKeown tct/MD Good communication and teamwork before, during, and after are keys to minimizing the risk of stroke in patients undergoing cardiac and thoracic aortic surgery, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association (AHA). “I would be the happiest person on earth if this document is useless because […]
Read MoreBy Kelly Young NEJM Journal Watch Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, DFASAM The World Health Organization recommends systemic corticosteroids to treat patients with severe and critical COVID-19. The guidance coincides with the publication of three randomized trials and a meta-analysis on corticosteroids in JAMA. The WHO recommends 6 mg of dexamethasone orally […]
Read MoreAuthors: Frédérique Hovaguimian, M.D. et al Anesthesiology August 2020, Vol. 133, 548–558. Background The effect of anesthetic drugs on cancer outcomes remains unclear. This trial aimed to assess postoperative circulating tumor cell counts—an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer—to determine how anesthesia may indirectly affect prognosis. It was hypothesized that patients receiving sevoflurane would have higher […]
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