Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Feb 2018
LetterSugammadex and Oral Contraceptives: Is It Time for a Revision of the Anesthesia Informed Consent?
The authors suggest a possible revision of anaesthesia consent, such as:
"You may receive medications during your anesthetic that could interfere with the effectiveness of oral contraceptives. If you are using oral contraceptives, consider alternative methods of birth control for 7 days following your anesthetic." This disclosure would cover potential interactions with sugammadex, antibiotics, and other medications.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Feb 2018
Incidence and Operative Factors Associated With Discretional Postoperative Mechanical Ventilation After General Surgery.
Mechanical ventilation after general surgery is associated with worse outcomes, prolonged hospital stay, and increased health care cost. Postoperatively, patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) may be categorized into 1 of 3 groups: extubated patients (EXT), patients with objective medical indications to remain ventilated (MED), and patients not meeting these criteria, called "discretional postoperative mechanical ventilation" (DPMV). The objectives of this study were to determine the incidence of DPMV in general surgery patients and identify the associated operative factors. ⋯ In our tertiary medical center, patients often admitted to the ICU on mechanical ventilation without an objective medical indication. When compared to patients admitted to the ICU extubated, those mechanically ventilated but without an objective indication had a higher ASA PS class and were more likely to have an ASA E modifier. A surgery end time after regular working hours or difficult airway management was not associated with higher incidence of DPMV.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Feb 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyLabor Analgesia Onset With Dural Puncture Epidural Versus Traditional Epidural Using a 26-Gauge Whitacre Needle and 0.125% Bupivacaine Bolus: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Lumbar epidurals (LEs) provide excellent analgesia. Combined spinal epidural and dural puncture epidural (DPE) are 2 techniques to expedite neuraxial analgesia onset. In DPE, dura is punctured but medication is not administered in the cerebrospinal fluid. Expedited analgesia onset has been demonstrated with DPE, using 0.25% bupivacaine; however, this concentration may impede an unassisted vaginal birth and is not currently used for induction and maintenance of labor analgesia. The primary goal of this study was to compare the percentage of patients who achieved adequate labor analgesia following DPE or LE with an epidural bolus of 0.125% bupivacaine. Adequate labor analgesia was defined as Visual Analog Scale (VAS) measurement ≤ 10 mm on a 100-mm scale during active contractions, measured 10 minutes after epidural bolus initiation. ⋯ Although the percentage of parturients achieving adequate labor analgesia at 10 minutes after epidural bolus did not differ by technique, DPE was associated with faster time to VAS ≤ 10 mm compared with LE.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Feb 2018
Meta Analysis Comparative StudyLow- Versus High-Chloride Content Intravenous Solutions for Critically Ill and Perioperative Adult Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
To assess whether use of low-chloride solutions in unselected critically ill or perioperative adult patients for maintenance or resuscitation reduces mortality and renal replacement therapy (RRT) use when compared to high-chloride fluids. ⋯ The current evidence on low- versus high-chloride solutions for unselected critically ill or perioperative adult patients demonstrates no benefit, but suffers from considerable imprecision. We noted a limited exposure volume for study fluids and a relatively low risk of the populations in each study. Together with the relatively small pooled sample size, these data leave us underpowered to detect potentially important differences. Results from well-conducted, adequately powered randomized controlled trials examining sufficiently large fluid exposure are necessary.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Feb 2018
The Pediatric Anesthesiology Workforce: Projecting Supply and Trends 2015-2035.
A workforce analysis was conducted to predict whether the projected future supply of pediatric anesthesiologists is balanced with the requirements of the inpatient pediatric population. The specific aims of our analysis were to (1) project the number of pediatric anesthesiologists in the future workforce; (2) project pediatric anesthesiologist-to-pediatric population ratios (0-17 years); (3) project the mean number of inpatient pediatric procedures per pediatric anesthesiologist; and (4) evaluate the effect of alternative projections of individual variables on the model projections through 2035. ⋯ If historical trends continue, the growth in pediatric anesthesiologist supply may exceed the growth in both the pediatric population and inpatient procedures in the 20-year period from 2015 to 2035.