Inhaled nitrous oxide has been used for labor analgesia since the late 1800s. It is not a potent labor analgesic, but it can provide effective pain relief and is safe for pregnant women, their newborns, and health care workers. Nitrous…
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Anesthesia for Tonsillectomy
Tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy is a common procedure in pediatric anesthesia, and occasionally in adult anesthesia. It is unfortunately also associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality due to both patient population and surgical complications. Anesthetic technique can significantly…
Discerning a Patient’s Potential for Non-Medical Use of Opioids
The United States is experiencing an increase of opioid related deaths, driven by high rates of prescription, high prescription dosages, and high rates of opioid use and misuse.[1] The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that 2.6 million Americans over…
Sharps Safety
Sharps related injuries are especially common in the perioperative setting. Anesthesia providers, perioperative nurses, and surgical staff are at particular risk for sustaining injuries from sharp instruments, given their need to administer medications, draw samples of blood and bodily fluid,…
Selective Cannabinoids: A Potential Adjuvant for Chronic Neuropathic Pain?
For anesthesia pain specialists, neuropathic pain continues to be an elusive target. Anti-epileptics, antidepressant, and opiate medications have historically been used for its treatment, but nonetheless as many as two in three patients who suffer from neuropathic pain are recalcitrant…
Changes to How Small Businesses are Covered Under BCRA
On July 13th, the GOP released a more recent draft of their Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017. The original version was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on June 26, 2017.[i] Though the original bill was slated…
How Do We Prevent the Physician Shortage?
A multipronged approach will be required to mitigate the possibility for severe physician shortages, specifically in specialized fields such as anesthesia. A physician shortage is defined as the gap between physician supply and demand, as determined by institutions within the…
Effects of the Per Capita Medicaid Caps in the House AHCA
On June 16th, a bipartisan group of governors authored a letter to the Senate calling for a more open approach to legislating healthcare reform while heavily criticizing the House version of the American Health Care Act (AHCA), or the so-called…
Ketamine for Chronic Pain Management
Ketamine is known to anesthesiologists for its unique anesthetic profile of relative hemodynamic stability (due to its sympathomimetic properties which compensate in most patients for its direct myocardial depressive effects), lack of respiratory depression, bronchodilation, and significant analgesic properties. It…
Big Data and Cybersecurity
In 2015, over 77% of office-based physicians reported using a certified EHR to manage clinical care.[i] From the smartphones in physicians’ pockets, to the vast EHR registries converging upon interoperability and the IoT medical devices in patients’ bodies, there are…