A team of physicians from McGill's Department of Anesthesia in Montreal have performed the first "teleanesthesia," remotely administering anesthesia to a patient in Italy while they were in Montreal, according to a news release from McGill.
The approach involves a team of engineers, researchers and anesthesiologists who apply the drugs intravenously which are then controlled remotely through an automated system.
The researchers — the McGill team led by Thomas Hemmerling, MD, and a team from the Department of Anesthesia of Pisa University in Italy — see teleanesthesia helping to treat patients living remotely and as a teaching tool.
The researchers are also exploring the possibility of preoperative assessment of patients at home.
Read the McGill release on teleanesthesia.
Read more anesthesia news:
- Critical Guidance for Complying With Anesthesia Infection Control Rules
- Senate Letter to HHS Secretary Urges Review of Anesthesia Medicare Payments
- Study: Dramatic Shortage of Anesthesiologists, Surplus of Nurse Anesthetists Projected by 2020