Anesthesiology
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While 4 to 10% of medications administered in the operating room may involve an error, few investigations have prospectively modeled how these errors might occur. Systems theoretic process analysis is a prospective risk analysis technique that uses systems theory to identify hazards. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the use of systems theoretic process analysis in a healthcare organization to prospectively identify causal factors for medication errors in the operating room. ⋯ In this study, the authors demonstrated the use of systems theoretic process analysis to describe potential causes of errors in the medication use process in the operating room. Causal scenarios were linked to controllers ranging from the frontline providers up to the highest levels of perioperative management. Systems theoretic process analysis is uniquely able to analyze management and leadership impacts on the system, making it useful for guiding quality improvement initiatives.
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Dexmedetomidine induces a sedative response that is associated with rapid arousal. To elucidate the underlying mechanisms, the authors hypothesized that dexmedetomidine increases the activity of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area, and that this action contributes to the unique sedative properties of dexmedetomidine. ⋯ Dexmedetomidine activates dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area and increases dopamine concentrations in the related forebrain projection areas. This mechanism may explain rapid arousability upon dexmedetomidine sedation.