Anesthesiology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Anesthesiologist Age and Sex Influence Patient Perceptions of Physician Competence.
Uncovering patients' biases toward characteristics of anesthesiologists may inform ways to improve the patient-anesthesiologist relationship. The authors previously demonstrated that patients prefer anesthesiologists displaying confident body language, but did not detect a sex bias. The effect of anesthesiologists' age on patient perceptions has not been studied. In this follow-up study, it was hypothesized that patients would prefer older-appearing anesthesiologists over younger-appearing anesthesiologists and male over female anesthesiologists. ⋯ Patients preferred older anesthesiologists on the measures of confidence, intelligence, and leadership. Patients also preferred female anesthesiologists on the measures of confidence and likelihood of choosing the anesthesiologist to care for one's family member.
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Perioperative arterial cannulation in children is routinely performed. Based on clinical observation of several complications related to femoral arterial lines, the authors performed a larger study to further examine complications. The authors aimed to (1) describe the use patterns and incidence of major short-term complications associated with arterial cannulation for perioperative monitoring in children, and (2) describe the rates of major complications by anatomical site and age category of the patient. ⋯ The overall major complication rate of arterial cannulation for monitoring purposes in children is low (0.2%). All complications occurred in femoral arterial lines in children younger than 5 yr of age, with the greatest complication rates in infants and neonates. There were no complications in distal arterial cannulation sites, including more than 3,000 radial cannulations.
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Disease severity in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may be associated with inoculation dose. This has triggered interest in intubation barrier devices to block droplet exposure; however, aerosol protection with these devices is not known. This study hypothesized that barrier devices reduce aerosol outside of the barrier. ⋯ Barrier devices may reduce exposure to droplets and aerosol. With meticulous tucking, the glove box and drape tent can retain aerosol during airway management. Devices that are not fully enclosed may direct aerosol toward the laryngoscopist. Aerosol evacuation reduces aerosol content inside fully enclosed devices. Barrier devices must be used in conjunction with body-worn personal protective equipment.