Here are 10 recent studies shaping the provision of anesthesia.
1. Better order-entry systems could reduce error in patient-controlled analgesia. The combination of well-designed patient-controlled analgesia pumps, pre-printed physician orders and nursing education can reduce overall PCA administration errors and pump-programming errors, according to a study published in Anesthesiology. The study suggests facilities could use barcode readers and computerized physician order-entry systems to improve safety further.
2. Patients fear health system changes will lead to lower standards of care. Patients believe that changes to the healthcare system may lead to lower standards of care, citing particular concerns over anesthesia administration and less time with physicians, according to the Vital Health Report, a survey conducted by the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Fifty-two percent of respondents were concerned they would have less time to spend with their physicians.
3. Greater use of pulse oximetry could improve anesthesia safety. The World Health Organization is conducting a pilot project to study the use of pulse oximetry during surgery, hoping to make anesthesia safer for patients in the developing world and facilitate greater access to the technology. The study will measure the effectiveness of pulse oximetry use and training by monitoring rates of hypoxemia during surgery. The research will concentrate on two hospitals in the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of Zambia.
4. Anesthetic gases affect climate as much as 1M cars each year. Anesthetic gases affect the climate as much as one million cars, according to a study done in conjunction with NASA and the University of Michigan medical school. According to a report in the Montreal Gazette, the study examined three gases — isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane — used regularly in human medicine. According to the study, all three are worse than CO2.
5. Computerized facial structure analysis predicts difficult intubation. Computerized analysis of facial structure can classify patients for whom intubation might be difficult, according to a study published in Anesthesia & Analgesia. The study, titled looked at 80 male patients who were divided into two groups, each group consisting of 20 easy and 20 challenging intubations. The best model of classification correctly classified 70 of the 80 subjects.
6. Anesthesiologists trained pre-1980 more likely to order unnecessary tests. Anesthesiologists trained before 1980 were significantly more likely to order at least one unnecessary test, according to a study published in Anesthesia & Analgesia. The study looked at medical records of 1,000 consecutive patients scheduled for surgery at SUNY at Stony Brook (N.Y.) and examined those records for testing outside the facility's approved guidelines.
7. Checklist before anesthesia administration could lower mortality rates. Organizations which use checklists to ensure proper and timely administering of antibiotics, and confirm a patient's condition and operation, at various stages of the patient surgical process including before the administering of anesthesia can reduce mortality rates significantly, according to a presentation by Atul Gawande, MD, a general and endocrine surgeon at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting.
8. Improved ultrasound imaging makes femoral nerve blocks viable choice for post-op pain. Newer equipment and improved ultrasound imaging make femoral nerve blocks a more viable choice for post-operative pain relief in total joint replacements, allowing patients to block pain just where it hurts. While spinal anesthesia necessitates morphine or other narcotic drugs for post-operative pain, frequently leaving patients too sick or weak to begin rehabilitation, femoral nerve blocks allow enough sensation to begin rehabilitation of the joint.
9. Less-invasive method of detecting lung cancer could spare patients general anesthesia, surgery. A less-invasive method to determine the state of non-small-cell lung cancer may spare patients the need for general anesthesia and surgery, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The new method would start with an endosonography to avoid surgery for patients whose cancer could be detected through a less invasive method.
10. Spinal anesthesia does not cause or worsen restless leg syndrome. Spinal anesthesia doesn't cause or worsen restless leg syndrome, according to a new study published as a letter to the editor in the Nov. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study compared people undergoing general anesthesia to those undergoing surgery with spinal anesthesia and found no difference in restless leg syndrome symptoms between the two groups.
Read more on anesthesia:
-4 Ways ASCs Can Improve Operational Efficiency With Anesthesia
-5 Traits to Look for in an Anesthesia Group
-8 Statistics on 2010 Anesthesiologist Compensation
1. Better order-entry systems could reduce error in patient-controlled analgesia. The combination of well-designed patient-controlled analgesia pumps, pre-printed physician orders and nursing education can reduce overall PCA administration errors and pump-programming errors, according to a study published in Anesthesiology. The study suggests facilities could use barcode readers and computerized physician order-entry systems to improve safety further.
2. Patients fear health system changes will lead to lower standards of care. Patients believe that changes to the healthcare system may lead to lower standards of care, citing particular concerns over anesthesia administration and less time with physicians, according to the Vital Health Report, a survey conducted by the American Society of Anesthesiologists. Fifty-two percent of respondents were concerned they would have less time to spend with their physicians.
3. Greater use of pulse oximetry could improve anesthesia safety. The World Health Organization is conducting a pilot project to study the use of pulse oximetry during surgery, hoping to make anesthesia safer for patients in the developing world and facilitate greater access to the technology. The study will measure the effectiveness of pulse oximetry use and training by monitoring rates of hypoxemia during surgery. The research will concentrate on two hospitals in the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of Zambia.
4. Anesthetic gases affect climate as much as 1M cars each year. Anesthetic gases affect the climate as much as one million cars, according to a study done in conjunction with NASA and the University of Michigan medical school. According to a report in the Montreal Gazette, the study examined three gases — isoflurane, sevoflurane and desflurane — used regularly in human medicine. According to the study, all three are worse than CO2.
5. Computerized facial structure analysis predicts difficult intubation. Computerized analysis of facial structure can classify patients for whom intubation might be difficult, according to a study published in Anesthesia & Analgesia. The study, titled looked at 80 male patients who were divided into two groups, each group consisting of 20 easy and 20 challenging intubations. The best model of classification correctly classified 70 of the 80 subjects.
6. Anesthesiologists trained pre-1980 more likely to order unnecessary tests. Anesthesiologists trained before 1980 were significantly more likely to order at least one unnecessary test, according to a study published in Anesthesia & Analgesia. The study looked at medical records of 1,000 consecutive patients scheduled for surgery at SUNY at Stony Brook (N.Y.) and examined those records for testing outside the facility's approved guidelines.
7. Checklist before anesthesia administration could lower mortality rates. Organizations which use checklists to ensure proper and timely administering of antibiotics, and confirm a patient's condition and operation, at various stages of the patient surgical process including before the administering of anesthesia can reduce mortality rates significantly, according to a presentation by Atul Gawande, MD, a general and endocrine surgeon at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting.
8. Improved ultrasound imaging makes femoral nerve blocks viable choice for post-op pain. Newer equipment and improved ultrasound imaging make femoral nerve blocks a more viable choice for post-operative pain relief in total joint replacements, allowing patients to block pain just where it hurts. While spinal anesthesia necessitates morphine or other narcotic drugs for post-operative pain, frequently leaving patients too sick or weak to begin rehabilitation, femoral nerve blocks allow enough sensation to begin rehabilitation of the joint.
9. Less-invasive method of detecting lung cancer could spare patients general anesthesia, surgery. A less-invasive method to determine the state of non-small-cell lung cancer may spare patients the need for general anesthesia and surgery, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The new method would start with an endosonography to avoid surgery for patients whose cancer could be detected through a less invasive method.
10. Spinal anesthesia does not cause or worsen restless leg syndrome. Spinal anesthesia doesn't cause or worsen restless leg syndrome, according to a new study published as a letter to the editor in the Nov. 20 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The study compared people undergoing general anesthesia to those undergoing surgery with spinal anesthesia and found no difference in restless leg syndrome symptoms between the two groups.
Read more on anesthesia:
-4 Ways ASCs Can Improve Operational Efficiency With Anesthesia
-5 Traits to Look for in an Anesthesia Group
-8 Statistics on 2010 Anesthesiologist Compensation