Anesthesiologists are likely to encounter many patients who smoke cigarettes over their career. Smoking is an independent risk factor for surgical complications, even after accounting for its contribution to such chronic diseases as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and heart…
With outpatient procedures becoming increasingly commonplace, patients now have a variety of surgical settings available to them. Deciding between a surgical center and a hospital is an important decision, and determining which option is best warrants careful consideration. Surgery centers…
In March 2017, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education weighed in on a controversial debate throughout the medical community, deciding that first-year residents would be allowed to work 24-hour shifts — an increase from the historical 16 hours[1]. The…
In diagnosing heart attack, doctors in the emergency room will order a series of troponin tests. One is administered immediately and the rest in a few hour intervals over several days. Constantly elevated blood troponins are indicative of cardiac injury.…
When an elderly loved one needs surgery, there are a host of worries and fears in the minds of friends, family, and caregivers. Advanced age predisposes people to many surgical complications, but one of the most common yet least recognized…
As the surgical field progresses to new technological and strategic heights, the role of addressing patient satisfaction is increasingly important for practice development — both in and out of the operating room (OR). Along with clinical efficacy, patient satisfaction is…
Delirium is defined as an acute cognitive decline in the form of inattention, disorganized thinking, and fluctuating mental status. It is seen most often in elderly hospitalized patients, especially those who are critically ill. A separate varietal, emergence delirium, is…
The perioperative surgical home (PSH) model is a novel treatment paradigm in which the anesthesiologist serves as the coordinator of care from the preoperative to perioperative phase. In effect, the PSH model aims to increase efficiency in the care continuum…
There are anesthesia providers who recall using ether and halothane anesthetics, agents largely unheard of in American operating rooms today. Newer agents with fewer negative side effects and superior pharmacokinetic profiles have all but replaced them, each in its turn…
Cesarean delivery is the most commonly performed major surgery in the country. Effective postoperative pain management is of foremost concern for patients, and should be achieved through a multimodal approach. Potential complications for poor pain control in the immediate postoperative…