Journal of clinical anesthesia
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
Respiratory volume monitoring in an obese surgical population and the prediction of postoperative respiratory depression by the STOP-bang OSA risk score.
To evaluate use of a respiratory volume monitor (RVM; ExSpiron, Respiratory Motion, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA) that provides minute ventilation (MV), tidal volume (TV) and respiratory rate (RR) measurements in obese surgical patients, hitherto undescribed. ⋯ There was excellent correlation and accuracy between the RVM and ventilator volumes in obese surgical patients. A considerable number of patients exhibited PORD and POA in the PACU. The STOP-Bang risk scores correlated poorly with PORD and POA which suggests that obese surgical patients remain at risk for early post-operative respiratory events irrespective of the STOP-Bang score.
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Opioids are important for surgical pain control but may not be appropriate for patients with narcotic abuse histories or opioid intolerance. We describe a laparoscopic bilateral inguinal herniorrhaphy performed without perioperative or postoperative narcotics. Postoperative analgesia involves a novel technique using 2 different bupivacaine formulations that act synergistically to avoid lag time and provide extended pain relief during the acute surgical recovery phase.
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The objective was to analyze if an at-risk salary model for faculty anesthesiologists could improve on-time first case starts (FCSs) and case turnovers (TOs) in an academic hospital inpatient operating room (IOR) and ambulatory surgery center (ASC). Organizational goals were 65% and 70% on-time FCS and case TO times for IOR and ASC, respectively. ⋯ Anesthesiologists can drive efficiency in an operating room setting. By incentivizing on-time FCS and timely case TO with an at-risk salary model for faculty anesthesiologists, we were able to demonstrate a sustained significant improvement for these metrics. In both an inpatient and an ambulatory setting, operating room efficiency may be best served by aligning provider financial incentives with desired outcome metrics.
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Case Reports
Real-time measurement of blood pressure with Nexfin in a patient with thalidomide-related phocomelia.
We report the novel application of photoplethysmographic technology with the Nexfin HD monitor for real-time measurement of blood pressure (BP) in a patient with tetraamelia. The patient was a 58-year-old man with tetraamelia secondary to thalidomide exposure in utero, who presented for surgical excision of a maxillary schwannoma. Because difficulty of cuff use on rudimentary limbs and failure to gain invasive arterial access due to abnormalities of limb vasculature, this population is known to pose some unique challenges for BP measurement. Nexfin may offer an alternative noninvasive method to detect BP in patients with phocomelia during the perioperative period.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Impact of time interval between remifentanil and propofol on propofol injection pain.
To determine the most effective time interval between remifentanil and propofol (TimeRP) for the prevention of propofol injection pain in association with remifentanil dosage. ⋯ The efficacy of remifentanil pretreatment for preventing propofol injection pain can be influenced by the time interval between remifentanil and propofol as well as the remifentanil dose.