Journal of perianesthesia nursing : official journal of the American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses
-
J. Perianesth. Nurs. · Apr 2006
ReviewPeripherally acting mu-opioid-receptor antagonists and the connection between postoperative ileus and pain management: The anesthesiologist's view and beyond.
The adverse effects of opioids are well documented. Because opioid receptors have a wide-ranging anatomic distribution, the effects subsequent to opioid binding, both good and bad, occur centrally and in the periphery. Postoperative strategies to reduce opioid burden, therefore, are in the patient's best interest. ⋯ In addition, they do not pass the blood-brain barrier or diminish opioid-mediated analgesia. Advanced clinical trials have already demonstrated the ability of one of these agents, alvimopan, to reduce POI and improve other postoperative outcomes while maintaining adequate analgesia. Combined with other options aimed at reducing opioid burden, alvimopan and similar drugs in development hold promise as part of multimodal protocols to optimize pain management while minimizing postoperative morbidities.
-
J. Perianesth. Nurs. · Apr 2006
A description of intraoperative and postanesthesia complication rates.
This article reviews the current rate of intraoperative and postanesthesia complications in an acute care hospital and Level II Trauma center. One thousand patients were assessed for intraoperative and postoperative complications and compared with a previous study from 1991 in a different institution. The overall rate of complications in this current study indicated an overall complication rate (combined intraoperative and PACU) of 26% with an intraoperative rate of 3.8% and a PACU rate of 23.4%. Although a slight improvement from a study in 1991, there continue to be many similarities.
-
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a letter to health care providers on December 4, 2001, concerning the medication, droperidol. The purpose of the warning was to alert health care providers to the possible role of droperidol in the development of torsades de pointes (TdP) in susceptible patients. The purpose of this article is to explore the role of droperidol in the development of TdP in susceptible patients and current recommendations for the use of droperidol as an antiemetic.