Journal of anesthesia
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There is growing evidence that early detection and response to physiological deterioration can improve outcomes for hospitalized infants, children, and adults. A rapid response system (RRS) is a multidisciplinary system to decrease the incidence of in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrests by detecting a crisis event and triggering a response and by dispatching a responding team. ⋯ The system is designed to locate and respond rapidly to a suddenly critically ill patient who lacks necessary critical care resources. Over the past decade, RRSs have been widely implemented in adult practice in the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavian countries.
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Memory loss and lack of concentration are symptoms that frequently occur in patients who have undergone a surgical procedure. Although cognitive function can be assessed using neuropsychological tests, reliable diagnosis of postoperative cognitive decline (POCD) appears to be difficult. Therefore, the true incidence of POCD is unknown. ⋯ In these cases, POCD probably reflects microembolic brain injury. Apart from the nature of the surgical procedure, advanced age is the most important risk factor for POCD. The anesthetic technique is not a determinant of POCD: the risk of POCD appears to be similar after both general and regional anesthesia.
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Journal of anesthesia · Jan 2009
ReviewEthical issues in anesthesia: the need for a more practical and contextual approach in teaching.
Teaching ethics to medical students is one of the current topics of major interest. Issues of ethics pertaining to anesthesia are unique. This article reviews these issues with respect to the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative periods. ⋯ In addition to separate modules in didactic and clinical formats, incorporating the ethical aspects into every clinical problem has many advantages. This approach will stimulate students to ponder over the ethical dimension of every clinical scenario, and the reinforcement of this approach during teaching in the clinical setting may help in inculcating these qualities in the students. Additionally, this approach contextualizes these issues to the local and regional perspective, instead of lecturing on the ethical codes developed elsewhere.
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Journal of anesthesia · Jan 2009
ReviewComplexity of blood volume control system and its implications in perioperative fluid management.
The use of fluid therapy attempts to optimize blood circulation by manipulating the circulating blood volume (BV). BV may be a key intermediate parameter between fluid therapy and the blood circulation, and it has been assumed that BV can be controlled by fluid therapy. In order to construct a fluid therapy protocol, firstly, we have to confirm whether BV can actually be controlled by fluid therapy. ⋯ Because inflammation and some hormones control vascular permeability and the renal adjustment of solutes and fluids, such factors may readjust the BV even after interventional fluid therapy. Perioperative BV may be predominantly controlled by an internal regulatory system, regardless of whether "restrictive" or "liberal" fluid management strategies are employed. Recognizing this physiological control of BV may help us to develop individualized fluid management strategies.