Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2009
Automatic updating of times remaining in surgical cases using bayesian analysis of historical case duration data and "instant messaging" updates from anesthesia providers.
Operating room (OR) whiteboards (status displays) communicate times remaining for ongoing cases to perioperative stakeholders (e.g., postanesthesia care unit, anesthesiologists, holding area, and control desks). Usually, scheduled end times are shown for each OR. However, these displays are inaccurate for predicting the time that remains in a case. Once a case scheduled for 2 h has been on-going for 1.5 h, the median time remaining is not 0.5 h but longer, and the amount longer differs among procedures. ⋯ For cases taking nearly as long as or longer than scheduled, each 1 min progression of OR time reduces the median time remaining in a case by <1 min. We implemented automated calculation of times remaining for every case at a 29 OR hospital.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2009
Xenon preconditioning: the role of prosurvival signaling, mitochondrial permeability transition and bioenergetics in rats.
Similar to volatile anesthetics, the anesthetic noble gas xenon protects the heart from ischemia/reperfusion injury, but the mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon are not fully understood. We tested the hypothesis that xenon-induced cardioprotection is mediated by prosurvival signaling kinases that target mitochondria. ⋯ These results indicate that xenon preconditioning reduces myocardial infarct size, phosphorylates Akt, and GSK-3beta, preserves mitochondrial function, and inhibits Ca(2+)-induced mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening. These data suggest that xenon-induced cardioprotection occurs because of activation of prosurvival signaling that targets mitochondria and renders them less vulnerable to ischemia-reperfusion injury.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2009
Comparative StudyImplications of event entry latency on anesthesia information management decision support systems.
Decision support systems (DSSs) are being developed to use events entered in anesthesia information management systems (AIMS) for quality of care, compliance, billing, documentation, and management purposes. DSS performance is impacted by latency from the actual time an event occurs to when it is written to the database, as well as how often the database is queried. Such latencies may result in poor DSS recommendations. ⋯ DSS performance is influenced by the timeliness of documentation, the incidence of missing documentation and the query interval. Facilities using a DSS, including electronic whiteboards showing patient status, should assess the latencies of the measured events and critique the influence of the latencies on clinical and managerial decisions.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2009
Proprioceptive function is more sensitive than motor function to desflurane anesthesia.
Evaluating the effects of sub-immobilizing anesthetic doses on movement will identify target neural circuits for investigation as sites of action for anesthetic-induced immobility. ⋯ Proprioceptive function is more sensitive to anesthetic-induced depression than motor function in frogs. This suggests that the most anesthetic-sensitive component of the spinal neural circuitry underlying movement generation in response to noxious stimulus is prior to the level of the motoneuron.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Mar 2009
Case ReportsSevere methemoglobinemia detected by pulse oximetry.
An elderly surgical patient acquired a life-threatening methemoglobinemia as a result of topical benzocaine spray to the oropharynx in preparation for awake endotracheal intubation. A new multiwavelength pulse oximeter, the Masimo Rad-57, detected this methemoglobinemia an hour before it was confirmed by laboratory CO-oximetry. ⋯ The new pulse oximeter gave continuous readings of methemoglobin level at the bedside, whereas the laboratory values were delayed by up to an hour. This case demonstrates the clinical application of a multiwavelength pulse oximeter in the diagnosis and treatment of a life-threatening dyshemoglobinemia.