Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2023
A Systematic Review on Long-Term Postsurgical Pain Outcomes; What Is the Effect of Upper Extremity Regional Anesthesia?
Chronic pain is a recognized complication of surgery, and it has been hypothesized that regional anesthesia might reduce the risk of development of chronic pain after upper extremity surgery. ⋯ The results of this review indicate that upper extremity regional anesthesia, compared to general anesthesia, is unlikely to change pain intensity at >3 months postoperatively.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2023
Determinants of Professional Fulfillment and Burnout Among Intensivists: A National Survey by the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists in 2022.
Increased burnout and decreased professional fulfillment among intensive care physicians is partly due to intensive care unit (ICU) workload. Although the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic increased ICU workload, it also may have increased feelings of personal fulfillment due to positive public perceptions of physicians caring for COVID patients. We surveyed critical care anesthesiologists to identify the effect of provider demographics, ICU workload, and COVID-19-related workload, on professional fulfillment and burnout. ⋯ Professional fulfillment and work exhaustion in this cross-sectional survey were associated with several demographic and practice characteristics but not COVID-19-related workload, suggesting that COVID-19 workload may not have either positive or negative perceptions on professional fulfillment.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2023
Combined Arterial Hypertension and Ischemic Stroke Exaggerate Anesthesia-Related Hypotension and Cerebral Oxygenation Deficits: A Preclinical Study.
Intraoperative arterial hypotension (IOH) is a common side effect of general anesthesia (GA), associated with poor outcomes in ischemic stroke. While IOH is more prevalent with hypertension, it is unknown whether IOH may differ when GA is induced during ischemic stroke, versus other clinical settings. This is important given that many stroke patients receive GA for endovascular thrombectomy. ⋯ Our findings are the first demonstration that ischemic stroke per se increases the severity of IOH, particularly when combined with a prior history of hypertension; this combination appears to compromise penumbral perfusion.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2023
Comparative StudyRacial Disparities in Compensation Among US Anesthesiologists: Results of a National Survey of Anesthesiologists.
A racial compensation disparity among physicians across numerous specialties is well documented and persists after adjustment for age, sex, experience, work hours, productivity, academic rank, and practice structure. This study examined national survey data to determine whether there are racial differences in compensation among anesthesiologists in the United States. ⋯ Compensation for anesthesiologists showed a significant pay disparity associated with race and ethnicity even after adjusting for provider and practice characteristics. Our study raises concerns that processes, policies, or biases (either implicit or explicit) persist and may impact compensation for anesthesiologists from racial and ethnic minority populations. This disparity in compensation requires actionable solutions and calls for future studies that investigate contributing factors and to validate our findings given the low response rate.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Aug 2023
Trends in Cardiac Anesthesiologist Compensation, Work Patterns, and Training From 2010 to 2020: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists Salary Survey.
Increasing cardiac procedural volume, a shortage of practicing cardiac anesthesiologists, and growth in specialist physician compensation would be expected to increase cardiac anesthesiologist compensation and work load. Additionally, more cardiac anesthesiologists are graduating from accredited fellowships and completing echocardiography certification. The Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA) biannual salary survey longitudinally measures these data; we analyzed these data from 2010 to 2020 and hypothesized survey respondent inflation-adjusted total compensation, work load, and training would increase. ⋯ Reported TEE certification increased from 69% to 90% (aOR, 1.10 per year; 95% CI, 1.10-1.11; P < .001); reported fellowship training increased from 63% to 82% (aOR, 1.15 per year; 95% CI, 1.14-1.16; P < .001). After adjusting for the proportion of academic or private practice survey respondents, SCA salary survey respondents reported decreasing inflation-adjusted compensation, rising volumes of cardiac anesthetics, and increasing levels of formal training in the 2010 to 2020 period. Future surveys measuring burnout and job satisfaction are needed to assess the association of increasing work and lower compensation with attrition in cardiac anesthesiologists.