Anesthesia & Analgesia: March 2016 AUTHORS: Culley, Deborah J. MD et al BACKGROUND: Preexisting cognitive impairment is emerging as a predictor of poor postoperative outcomes in seniors. We hypothesized that preoperative cognitive screening can be performed in a busy preadmission evaluation center and that cognitive impairment is prevalent in elective geriatric surgical patients. METHODS: We […]
Read MoreHsiu Ying “Lisa” Tseng, DO, made dubious medical history in October 2015 when she became the first US physician to be convicted of murder for overprescribing drugs that resulted in the overdose death of a patient. Last week, the 46-year-old Dr Tseng was sentenced to from 30 years to life in prison by Los Angeles […]
Read MoreIncreasing use of video recording in the operating room highlights the need for ethical recommendations to protect patients, according to surgeons and anesthesiologists. In their February 4 paper in Annals of Surgery, Dr. Celia M. Divino and colleagues from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, propose five recommendations that aim to ensure […]
Read MoreFollowing in the footsteps of earlier research demonstrating that their Preoperative Evaluation Clinic (PEC) decreased their 30-day readmission rate, researchers at New York University School of Medicine have now found that patients who attend the clinic have a significantly shorter observed-to-expected hospital length of stay (LOS) than those who do not attend. These results, they […]
Read MoreNew research points to a specific gene that may explain why patients show varied responses to taking methadone. Interview with Evan D. Kharasch, MD, PhD Prescribing safe, effective dosages of methadone can be a serious clinical challenge for practitioners. A patient’s specific genetic makeup can significantly effect how the drug is metabolized—increasing the risk of […]
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