Authors: Martin Dres, M.D. et al Anesthesiology 6 2017, Vol.126, 1107-1115. Background: Pleural effusion is frequent in intensive care unit patients, but its impact on the outcome of weaning remains unknown. Methods: In a prospective study performed in three intensive care units, pleural ultrasound was performed at the first spontaneous breathing trial to detect and quantify pleural effusion […]
Read MoreAuthors: Asha Singh, M.D. et al Anesthesiology 6 2017, Vol.126, 1065-1076. Background: Brachial arterial catheters better estimate aortic pressure than radial arterial catheters but are used infrequently because complications in a major artery without collateral flow are potentially serious. However, the extent to which brachial artery cannulation promotes complications remains unknown. The authors thus evaluated a large […]
Read MoreAuthors: Linden O. Lee, M.D. et al Anesthesiology 6 2017, Vol.126, 1053-1063. Background: Thrombocytopenia has been considered a relative or even absolute contraindication to neuraxial techniques due to the risk of epidural hematoma. There is limited literature to estimate the risk of epidural hematoma in thrombocytopenic parturients. The authors reviewed a large perioperative database and performed a […]
Read MoreEdited by Susan Sadoughi, MD Use of long-acting opioids for chronic noncancer pain is associated with increased risk for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, suggests a retrospective study in JAMA. Using Tennessee Medicaid data from 1999 through 2012, researchers matched nearly 23,000 new instances of long-acting opioid prescriptions with 23,000 episodes of control medication prescriptions (analgesic anticonvulsants or […]
Read MoreAuthors: Thomas Mistral, M.D. et al Anesthesiology 6 2017, Vol.126, 1116-1124. Background: The purpose of this study was to test the diagnostic performance of clinical judgment for the prediction of a significant injury with whole-body computed tomography scanning after high-energy trauma. Methods: The authors conducted an observational prospective study in a single level-I trauma center. Adult patients were […]
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