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Uncategorized Published - 20 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Association of Hospital-level Neuraxial Anesthesia Use for Hip Fracture Surgery with Outcomes: A Population-based Cohort Study

Authors: Daniel I. McIsaac, M.D., M.P.H., F.R.C.P.C. et al Anesthesiology 3 2018, Vol.128, 480-491. Background: There is consistent and significant variation in neuraxial anesthesia use for hip fracture surgery across jurisdictions. We measured the association of hospital-level utilization of neuraxial anesthesia, independent of patient-level use, with 30-day survival (primary outcome) and length of stay and costs (secondary […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Do Anesthetic Choices Signal Quality?

Authors: Catherine L. Chen, M.D., M.P.H. et al Anesthesiology 3 2018, Vol.128, 429-430. HOW does one identify high-quality anesthetic care? Although the specialty of anesthesiology has succeeded in improving the safety and quality of care over time, with a 97% reduction in anesthesia-related deaths between 1948 and 2005, from 3.3 per 100,000 population to 1.1 per […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Opioid Use Tied to Risk for Invasive Pneumococcal Disease

Current use of prescription opioids is associated with increased risk for invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), suggests an Annals of Internal Medicine study. Researchers studied Tennessee patients who’d filled an opioid prescription between 1995 and 2014. Of these, they compared 1200 patients with an IPD diagnosis with 24,000 controls without IPD. After multivariable adjustment, current opioid use was […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Anaemia and red blood cell transfusion in intracranial neurosurgery: a comprehensive review

Authors: A. Kisilevsky et al British Journal of Anesthesia February 2018 Summary Both anaemia and blood transfusion are associated with poor outcomes in the neurosurgical population. Based on the available literature, the optimal haemoglobin concentration for neurologically injured patients appears to be in the range of 9.0–10.0 g dl−1, although the individual risks and benefits […]

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Uncategorized Published - 19 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
You’re wrong. Pain is not a vital sign.

Author: MYLES GART, MD After years of exaggeration, misinformation and a national epidemic of opioid and heroin abuse, the nation is finally coming to terms with the fact that pain is not the fifth vital sign. This heresy, as I understand it, has existed for close to three decades and, in my opinion, has been […]

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Uncategorized Published - 16 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
FDA Updates Naloxegol Labeling for Opioid-Induced Constipation to Include Prior Cancer Indication

The FDA has updated the indication of naloxegol (Movantik, AstraZeneca) tablets for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) in adult patients with chronic noncancer pain to include patients with chronic pain related to prior cancer or its treatment who do not require frequent (e.g., weekly) opioid dosage escalation. This label update follows initial FDA approval for naloxegol in 2014 […]

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Uncategorized Published - 16 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Nerve Block Combos Found Best for TKA Patients Post-op

The best approach to balancing analgesia, opioid use and passive range of motion after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is to block multiple nerves rather than any single nerve, according to a sophisticated network meta-analysis. This approach proved better than periarticular local anesthetic infiltration and epidural analgesia. “Based on available evidence, we found that combinations of […]

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Uncategorized Published - 16 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Dexmedetomidine Maintains Its Direct Cardioprotective Effect Against Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Hypertensive Hypertrophied Myocardium

AUTHORS: Yoshikawa, Yusuke MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: February 2018 – Volume 126 – Issue 2 – p 443–452 BACKGROUND: Dexmedetomidine (DEX) has a direct cardioprotective effect against ischemia/reperfusion injury through endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) phosphorylation via α2-adrenoreceptor (α2-AR). By using spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rat models, the cardioprotective effect of DEX […]

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Uncategorized Published - 16 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Effect of an Intravenous Dexamethasone Added to Caudal Local Anesthetics to Improve Postoperative Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis With Trial Sequential Analysis

AUTHORS: Kawakami, Hiromasa MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2017 – Volume 125 – Issue 6 – p 2072–2080 BACKGROUND: Caudal anesthesia has been used for postoperative pain control in pediatric surgical patients, but the duration of the analgesic effect is occasionally unsatisfactory. Intravenous steroids have been shown to be effective for postsurgical pain management after […]

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Uncategorized Published - 16 February, 2018    By - Dr Clemens
Exchanging Endotracheal Tubes In Adults Outside The Operating Room

Please take this very serious one of our groups lost a pt that could not be reintubated after being extubated.  Sally Stander, MD Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology Department of Anesthesiology University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine “Please come exchange the endotracheal tube in the ICU. We think there is a cuff leak.” […]

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