A & A case reports
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Previous literature on preoperative evaluation focuses on the impact on the day of surgery cancellations and delays; however, the framework of cancellations and delays at the time of the elective outpatient preoperative anesthesia visit has not been categorized. We describe the current model in the preoperative clinic at Brigham and Women's Hospital, examining the pattern of cancellations at the time of this preoperative visit and the framework used for categorizing the issues involved. Looking at this broader framework is important in an era of patient-centered care; we seek to identify targets to modify the preoperative assessment and adequately assess and capture the spectrum of issues involved. ⋯ Cancellation patterns included categories encompassing clinical, financial, alignment with patient values and goals, compliance, and social issues. The period of preoperative assessment can therefore be leveraged to review a number of domains that can adversely affect surgical outcomes and improve patient-centered care. Also, our framework allows the institution to benchmark these patterns over time; increases in cancellations at the time of the preoperative anesthesia clinic visit for specific categories can prompt an opportunity to examine and improve preoperative workflow.
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The development of acute abdominal pain in a laboring parturient after a previous cesarean delivery is of concern and may be the result of a potentially life-threatening condition such as uterine rupture. We present a case of a parturient with type II diabetes mellitus, who had undergone 2 previous cesarean deliveries and now presented in labor with increasing abdominal pain. An emergency cesarean delivery was performed for probable uterine rupture. Intraoperatively, the patient was noted to be severely hypocarbic with significant metabolic acidosis, and the diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis was established.
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Social media is a nascent medical educational technology. The benefits of Twitter include (1) easy adoption; (2) access to experts, peers, and patients across the globe; (3) 24/7 connectivity; (4) creation of virtual, education-based communities using hashtags; and (5) crowdsourcing information using retweets. ⋯ Our inaugural anesthesia Twitter-augmented journal club succeeded in engaging the anesthesia community and increasing residents' professional use of Twitter. Notably, our experience suggests that anesthesia residents are willing to use social media for their education.
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Anesthesiologists and surgeons are frequently called on to perform procedures on critically ill patients with advanced directives. We assessed the attitudes of attending and resident surgeons and anesthesiologists at our institution regarding their understanding of and practice around the application of consenting critically ill patients with advance directives in the operating room. To do so, we deployed a survey after interdepartmental grand rounds, featuring a panel discussion of ethically complex cases featuring end-of-life issues.
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Case Reports
A Delayed Complication of Temporal Craniotomy Leading to a Potentially Difficult Airway.
Pseudoankylosis of the temporomandibular joint may occur as a complication of frontotemporal craniotomy. We report a patient who presented for surgery with a restricted mouth opening resulting from an infectious complication after frontotemporal craniotomy. ⋯ We explain the mechanism of this late complication that may result in a difficult airway. If this is not identified preoperatively when a patient presents for emergency surgery or when the patient is in altered sensorium, it may lead to an unanticipated difficult airway.