Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 2018
Comparative StudyAge Does Not Affect Metoprolol's Effect on Perioperative Outcomes (From the POISE Database).
Perioperative β-blockade reduces the incidence of myocardial infarction but increases that of death, stroke, and hypotension. The elderly may experience few benefits but more harms associated with β-blockade due to a normal effect of aging, that of a reduced resting heart rate. The tested hypothesis was that the effect of perioperative β-blockade is more significant with increasing age. ⋯ The effect of perioperative β-blockade on the major outcomes studied did not vary with age. Resting heart rate decreases slightly with age. Our data do not support a recommendation for the use of perioperative β-blockade in any age subgroup to achieve benefits but avoid harms. Therefore, current recommendations against the use of β-blockers in high-risk patients undergoing noncardiac surgery apply across all age groups.
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Infusion systems are complicated electromechanical systems that are used to deliver anesthetic drugs with moderate precision. Four types of systems are described-gravity feed, in-line piston, peristaltic, and syringe. ⋯ A brief example of the use of an infusion system during anesthetic induction is presented. With understanding of the functioning of these systems, users may develop greater comfort.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 2018
ReviewFatigue Risk Management: The Impact of Anesthesiology Residents' Work Schedules on Job Performance and a Review of Potential Countermeasures.
Long duty periods and overnight call shifts impair physicians' performance on measures of vigilance, psychomotor functioning, alertness, and mood. Anesthesiology residents typically work between 64 and 70 hours per week and are often required to work 24 hours or overnight shifts, sometimes taking call every third night. Mitigating the effects of sleep loss, circadian misalignment, and sleep inertia requires an understanding of the relationship among work schedules, fatigue, and job performance. ⋯ We then propose countermeasures that have been implemented to mitigate the effects of fatigue and describe how training programs or practice groups who must work overnight can adapt these strategies for use in a hospital setting. Countermeasures include the use of scheduling interventions, strategic naps, microbreaks, caffeine use during overnight and extended shifts, and the use of bright lights in the clinical setting when possible or personal blue light devices when the room lights must be turned off. Although this review focuses primarily on anesthesiology residents in training, many of the mitigation strategies described here can be used effectively by physicians in practice.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 2018
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative StudyUltrasound-Assisted Versus Fluoroscopic-Guided Lumbar Sympathetic Ganglion Block: A Prospective and Randomized Study.
Fluoroscopy (FL)-guided lumbar sympathetic ganglion block (LSGB) is widely performed to diagnose and manage various diseases associated with sympathetically maintained pain. Recently, numerous ultrasound (US)-assisted procedures in pain medicine have been attempted, showing an advantage of low radiation exposure. This randomized, prospective trial compared the procedural outcomes and complications between FL-guided and US-assisted LSGBs. ⋯ US-assisted LSGB appears to be a feasible method with the added benefit of lower radiation exposure. In our study, we did not find an advantage of US-assisted LSGB over FL-guided LSGB in terms of performance time.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Apr 2018
ReviewThe Science of Local Anesthesia: Basic Research, Clinical Application, and Future Directions.
Local anesthetics have been used clinically for more than a century, but new insights into their mechanisms of action and their interaction with biological systems continue to surprise researchers and clinicians alike. Next to their classic action on voltage-gated sodium channels, local anesthetics interact with calcium, potassium, and hyperpolarization-gated ion channels, ligand-gated channels, and G protein-coupled receptors. They activate numerous downstream pathways in neurons, and affect the structure and function of many types of membranes. ⋯ Allergy to local anesthetics is rare, while the variation in individual patient's response to local anesthetics is probably larger than previously assumed. Several adjuncts are available to prolong sensory block, but these typically also prolong motor block. The 2 main research avenues being followed to improve action of local anesthetics are to prolong duration of block, by slow-release formulations and on-demand release, and to develop compounds and combinations that elicit a nociception-selective blockade.