Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2022
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter StudyThe Influence of Positive End-Expiratory Pressure on Leakage and Oxygenation Using a Laryngeal Mask Airway: A Randomized Trial.
The value of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) in maintaining oxygenation during ventilation with a laryngeal mask airway (LMA) mask is unclear. To clarify the potential benefit or harm to PEEP application during positive pressure ventilation with a ProSeal LMA® mask, we compared the effect of PEEP versus zero end-expiratory pressure (ZEEP) on gas leakage and oxygenation. We hypothesized that a PEEP of 8 mbar (8.2 cm H 2 O) would be associated with an increased incidence of gas leakage compared to ZEEP. ⋯ Use of PEEP did not affect the overall incidence of gas leakage. However, PEEP did result in a higher incidence of attempts to reseat the LMA mask compared to ZEEP, whereas the incidence of rescue intubation did not differ between groups. We concluded that a PEEP of 8 mbar did not increase overall gas leakage during positive pressure ventilation with an LMA mask, but it did slightly improve gas exchange and compliance. Overall, our study does not provide strong arguments for using PEEP during ventilation with an LMA mask in elective surgery.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Oct 2022
A Call to Action: A Specialty-Specific Course to Support the Next Generation of Clinician Scientists in Anesthesiology.
Clinical production pressure is a significant problem for faculty of anesthesiology departments who seek to remain involved in research. Lack of protected time to dedicate to research and insufficient external funding add to this long-standing issue. Recent trends in funding to the departments of anesthesiology and their academic output validate these concerns. ⋯ Directed toward early career academic anesthesiologists who wish to gain competency specifically in the fundamentals of clinical research and receive mentorship to develop an investigative project, the yearlong course will provide participants with the skills necessary to design research initiatives, ethically direct research teams, successfully communicate ideas with data analysts, and write and submit scientific articles. Additionally, the course, articulated in a series of interactive lectures, mentored activities, and workshops, will teach participants to review articles submitted for publication to medical journals and to critically appraise evidence in published research. It is our hope that this initiative will be of interest to junior faculty of academic anesthesiology departments nationally and internationally.
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Postoperative cognitive dysfunction and delirium are undesirable consequences of surgery and anesthesia that regrettably do not have consistent predictive markers. Nor do they have reliable prophylactic or treatment methodologies. In an effort to better understand how anesthetic drugs alter the rate of postoperative delirium, Chang et al explore how patients with preoperative cognitive impairment respond to the influence of intraoperative ketamine. ⋯ Is it possible that ketamine and other drugs could be used as agents to stratify cognitive risk? Should we definitively avoid such drugs as potentiators of cognitive dysfunction? A variety of contextual limitations must be entertained when interpreting the results of this study as summarized in this infographic. These are also elaborated in greater detail in both the primary article as well as its attendant editorial. The reader is encouraged to review both in their entirety for an in-depth scope of understanding.