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Uncategorized Published - 9 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
Do Epidural Catheter Size and Flow Rate Affect Bolus Injection Pressure in Different Programmed Intermittent Epidural Bolus Regimens?

AUTHORS: Krawczyk, Paweł MD, PhD et al    Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2019 – Volume 129 – Issue 6 – p 1587-1594 BACKGROUND:  The optimal programmed intermittent epidural bolus regimen for labor analgesia remains unknown. Some studies indicate that better drug spread in the epidural space results from greater injection pressure; however, there is a […]

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Uncategorized Published - 9 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
Targeted Use of Alcohol-Based Hand Rub on Gloves During Task Dense Periods: One Step Closer to Pathogen Containment by Anesthesia Providers in the Operating Room

AUTHORS: Birnbach, David J. MD, MPH et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2019 – Volume 129 – Issue 6 – p 1557-1560 BACKGROUND:  Anesthesia providers’ hand hygiene practices in the operating room may contribute to the transmission of bacteria. There is a debate, however, over the best approaches for pathogen containment during task dense periods […]

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Uncategorized Published - 9 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
Dexmedetomidine Pharmacokinetics and a New Dosing Paradigm in Infants Supported With Cardiopulmonary Bypass

AUTHORS: Zimmerman, Kanecia O. MD, MPH et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2019 – Volume 129 – Issue 6 – p 1519-1528 BACKGROUND:  Dexmedetomidine is increasingly used off-label in infants and children with cardiac disease during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and in the postoperative period. Despite its frequent use, optimal dosing of dexmedetomidine in the setting […]

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Uncategorized Published - 9 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
How Going Green Can Save Your Hospital Millions

This doesn’t directly involve anesthesia but I thought this was interesting so I wanted to share with our readers. Author: Victoria Stern Anesthesiology News When Stephanie M. Barman, RN, saw how much waste a single procedure in the OR generated, she knew something needed to be done. “One procedure created an entire case cart of […]

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Uncategorized Published - 6 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
A Simple Method for Estimating Hand Hygiene Use Among Anesthesia Personnel: Development, Validation, and Use in a Quality Improvement Project

AUTHORS: Segal, Scott MD, MHCM et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2019 – Volume 129 – Issue 6 – p 1549-1556 BACKGROUND:  Frequent hand hygiene by anesthesia personnel may be an important factor in reducing contamination of IV lines and medication access ports and may reduce hospital-acquired infections. Measurement of hand hygiene frequency at the […]

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Uncategorized Published - 6 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
Using Pupillary Pain Index to Assess Nociception in Sedated Critically Ill Patients

AUTHORS: Vinclair, Marc MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2019 – Volume 129 – Issue 6 – p 1540-1546 BACKGROUND:  Pupillary reflex dilation is a reliable indicator of response to noxious stimulation. In a proof of concept study, we investigated the performance of pupillary pain index, a new score derived from pupillary reflex dilation […]

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Uncategorized Published - 6 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
Dexmedetomidine for Improved Quality of Emergence From General Anesthesia

AUTHORS: Aouad, Marie T. MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2019 – Volume 129 – Issue 6 – p 1504-1511 BACKGROUND:  Dexmedetomidine provides smooth and hemodynamically stable emergence at the expense of hypotension, delayed recovery, and sedation. We investigated the optimal dose of dexmedetomidine for prevention of cough, agitation, hypertension, tachycardia, and shivering, with […]

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Uncategorized Published - 6 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
COPD patients’ hospital stays 67% shorter due to one additional staff meeting

By American Osteopathic Association Hospitals can dramatically reduce the length of a patient’s stay (by up to 67%) when their provider teams hold integrated care conferences (ICCs), a daily meeting for providers to share information at once. However, the seemingly obvious concept is rarely implemented, according to researchers in The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association. […]

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Uncategorized Published - 6 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
American Mothers Are Dying Because of the U.S. Health Care System

By: Faye Flam Bloomberg The U.S. has a weirdly high maternal death rate. It’s a symptom of a sick health care system. The number of women dying of complications of pregnancy and childbirth is going down in all developed countries except the United States. New statistics released last week show that the U.S. maternal death rate has […]

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Uncategorized Published - 5 March, 2020    By - Dr Clemens
Association of Preoperative Serum Chloride Levels With Mortality and Morbidity After Noncardiac Surgery

AUTHORS: Oh, Tak Kyu MD et al Anesthesia & Analgesia: December 2019 – Volume 129 – Issue 6 – p 1494-1501 BACKGROUND:  Postoperative hyperchloremia is known to be related to increases in mortality and morbidity after surgery. However, the relationship between preoperative hyperchloremia and hypochloremia and postoperative mortality and morbidity is not well established. Our […]

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