Current guidelines may be inadequate to prepare newer generation anesthesia workstations, which require more time for purging anesthetic gases, autoclaving or replacement of parts, as well as modifications to the gas delivery system, according to a study published in the Dec. 2010 issue of Anesthesiology.
The lack of appropriate guidelines for workstation preparation could endanger patients with malignant hyperthermia, who experience an exaggerated metabolic response when exposed to volatile anesthetic gases and succinylcholine. The Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States provides specific instructions on purging anesthesia machines of volatile agents, but these recommendations are out-dated and based on older generation machines.
The study concludes that new protocols must be established to prepare newer generation anesthesia machines to purge volatile agents.
Read the Anesthesiology study on anesthesia workstation preparation.
Read more on anesthesia:
-Chronic Statin Therapy Could Reduce Postoperative Mortality
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The lack of appropriate guidelines for workstation preparation could endanger patients with malignant hyperthermia, who experience an exaggerated metabolic response when exposed to volatile anesthetic gases and succinylcholine. The Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States provides specific instructions on purging anesthesia machines of volatile agents, but these recommendations are out-dated and based on older generation machines.
The study concludes that new protocols must be established to prepare newer generation anesthesia machines to purge volatile agents.
Read the Anesthesiology study on anesthesia workstation preparation.
Read more on anesthesia:
-Chronic Statin Therapy Could Reduce Postoperative Mortality
-Sleep Apnea Makes Surgical Pulmonary Complications More Likely
-Short Onset Drugs Radiotherapy Could Help Pain Flares