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…
Tag: Anesthesia Services
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…
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…
The Geriatric Patient and Perioperative Management
With the increasing elderly population in the United States, it becomes increasingly important to understand the physiologic changes of aging to better tailor anesthetic management of the geriatric patient. A review of changes by system is presented below. The CNS…
Difficult Airway Management
The difficult airway is a topic both ubiquitous and vaguely defined in clinical anesthesia practice. The most common characterization is a clinical situation in which a conventionally trained anesthesia provider has difficulty mask ventilating, intubating, or both. How one approaches…
A Typical Day for an Anesthesiologist
A physician anesthesiologist starts preparing for his or her cases the day before surgery. This includes a thorough review of each patient’s medical history. Devising a thoughtful anesthesia plan requires the anesthesiologist to consider all patient factors in conjunction with…