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Uncategorized Published - 5 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
Minimal Clinically Important Difference for Three Quality of Recovery Scales

Authors: Paul S. Myles, M.B.B.S., M.P.H., M.D. et al  Anesthesiology 7 2016, Vol.125, 39-45. Background: Several quality of recovery (QoR) health status scales have been developed to quantify the patient’s experience after anesthesia and surgery, but to date, it is unclear what constitutes the minimal clinically important difference (MCID). That is, what minimal change in score would […]

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Uncategorized Published - 5 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
A Retrospective Study of Success, Failure, and Time Needed to Perform Awake Intubation

Authors: Thomas T. Joseph, M.D., Ph.D. et al Anesthesiology 7 2016, Vol.125, 105-114. Background: Awake intubation is the standard of care for management of the anticipated difficult airway. The performance of awake intubation may be perceived as complex and time-consuming, potentially leading clinicians to avoid this technique of airway management. This retrospective review of awake intubations at […]

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Uncategorized Published - 5 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
Coprescribing Naloxone with Long-Term Opioids Effective and Feasible

Coprescribing naloxone to people who take opioids for chronic pain is both feasible and has clinical benefit, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Six San Francisco primary care clinics that had lost patients to opioid overdose in recent years implemented a protocol emphasizing naloxone coprescription for patients with chronic pain. Of nearly […]

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Uncategorized Published - 5 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
The Value of Uncertainty in Critical Illness? An Ethnographic Study of Patterns and Conflicts in Care and Decision-making Trajectories

BMC Anesthesiol. 2016;16(11) Authors: I. J. Higginson et al Background: With increasingly intensive treatments and population ageing, more people face complex treatment and care decisions. We explored patterns of the decision-making processes during critical care, and sources of conflict and resolution. Methods: Ethnographic study in two Intensive Care Units (ICUs) in an inner city hospital comprising: non-participant observation […]

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Uncategorized Published - 1 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
APS Issues New Guidance on Medical Marijuana for Pain

With growing public support and promising, but inconclusive, signs of therapeutic benefits in the use of herbal cannabis, medical marijuana laws are marching full steam ahead across the United States, prompting the American Pain Society (APS) to issue a white paper to assist in cannabis-related clinical issues that pain physicians are increasingly facing. “Cannabis is […]

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Uncategorized Published - 1 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
Buprenorphine ‘Underused’ in Primary Care as Opioid Abuse Soars

Despite being at the front lines in the nation’s battle against opioid addiction as the first to treat chronic pain, and opioid overuse, few primary care and family physicians use the one drug available to them to treat addiction, buprenorphine, experts say. “Sublingual buprenorphine is the only treatment for opioid addiction that can be provided […]

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Uncategorized Published - 1 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
Lithium Absorption Systems Equal Calcium Absorbers When Nitric Oxide Administered Via Anesthesia Systems

Lithium (Li) absorption systems are equal to calcium (Ca) absorbers in their ability to scavenge nitrogen dioxide (NO2) when nitric oxide (NO) is administered via anesthesia systems in the cardiac lab or operating room, research suggests. The anesthesia systems are “semiclosed” to conserve anesthetic agents and require carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption to allow recirculation. As […]

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Uncategorized Published - 1 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
Dexmedetomidine and Propofol in Critically Ill ICU Patients Pose Hemodynamic Risks

When maintaining light sedation in critically ill ICU patients, dexmedetomidine should be avoided in those predisposed to bradycardia and propofol in those predisposed to hypotension. While propofol and dexmedetomidine are the preferred sedative agents to maintain light sedation in the ICU, both sedatives leave critically ill patients at risk for hemodynamic adverse events, said Amy […]

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Uncategorized Published - 1 July, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
ERAS Pathway Improves Analgesia, Opioid Use and PONV Following Total Mastectomy

With surgery still the primary treatment for breast cancer, strategies to minimize acute postoperative pain have the potential for significant benefit, perhaps even preventing development of chronic pain. A research team at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has moved much closer to this lofty goal. They developed an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) […]

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Uncategorized Published - 30 June, 2016    By - Dr Clemens
Determining Readmission Risk After Hip Replacement

A Preoperative Scale for Determining Surgical Readmission Risk After Total Hip Replacement Authors: Siracuse BL, Chamberlain RS JAMA Surg. 2016 Mar Study Summary In this study, investigators analyzed retrospective discharge data on 268,518 patients from New York and California (ie, the derivation cohort) and 153,560 patients from Florida and Washington (ie, the validation cohort) who […]

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