Stimulating both the occipital and supraorbital nerves provides better relief of chronic migraine than stimulating only the occipital nerve, a new study shows. Fourteen of 20 patients in a case series reported greater than 50% relief of their pain, said Shannon Wang Hann, MD, a neurosurgeon at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She presented […]
Read MoreAnesthesiologists looking to reduce the consumption of morphine after scoliosis surgery in pediatric patients may want to consider ketamine, Japanese researchers have found. In a retrospective study, a group from Keio University School of Medicine, in Tokyo, concluded that although ketamine had a morphine-sparing effect after low-dose remifentanil-based anesthesia, this was not the case after […]
Read MorePublished in Urology. 2014 Apr;83(4):893-8 Authors: Roman-Rodriguez CF et al., OBJECTIVE: To compare retrospective use of oral sucrose (SUC) vs oral sucrose plus lidocaine ring block (SUC + RB) in the management of pain during neonatal circumcision. METHODS: A retrospective review of medical records of newborns circumcised using the “Neonatal Infant Pain Scale” was done. […]
Read MorePublished in Pediatr Emerg Care. 2014 Apr;30(4):227-9 Authors: Turner AL et al., OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to compare the duration of analgesia, need for analgesic medications, and pain-related nursing interventions in patients who did and did not receive ultrasound-guided femoral nerve blocks for femur fracture pain. METHODS: This is […]
Read MorePublished in Anesthesiology. 2014 Mar Authors: Acosta CM et al., BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to test the accuracy of lung sonography (LUS) to diagnose anesthesia-induced atelectasis in children undergoing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: Fifteen children with American Society of Anesthesiology’s physical status classification I and aged 1 to 7 yr old […]
Read MoreAmbulatory surgery centers, since their inception, have touted their lower-cost services as competitive advantage, and rightfully so. According to the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association, ASCs are currently paid less than 60 percent of what hospital outpatient departments receive for the same procedures — which results in savings to both the insurer and patient. While ASCs […]
Read MoreThe cost associated with reworking a claim is $15–nearly $11 of which is staff time. By reducing the amount of time it takes to rework a claim, you’ll reduce your cost and get your claims re-submitted faster. One of the most time-consuming steps in reworking a claim is comprehending the payer’s complex rejection messages. With […]
Read MoreHealthcare spending, which was mostly in check, hovering close to the general inflation rate in recent years, may be on the rise again–or not. Healthcare spending and prices may be on an unsustainable rise after years of slow growth during the Great Recession, Forbes suggests. But healthcare spending in March was 7.1 percent higher than […]
Read MoreI thought this was an important article since many of our readers practice in a community hospital. As community hospitals around the country fall victim to declining volumes, shrinking patient care reimbursement and other financial woes, more organizations consider giving up their independent status to align with larger entities to survive. In Virginia, Community Memorial […]
Read MorePublished in Acta Neurol Scand. 2014 Apr;129(4):e16-9 Authors: Olivieri C et al., BACKGROUND: Surgery in patients affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) presents a particular anesthetic challenge because of the risk of post-operative pulmonary complications. AIMS OF THE STUDY: We report on the use of non-invasive ventilation (NIV) to prevent post-operative pulmonary complications (PPCs) in […]
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