More than two-thirds of children from low-income Latino families don’t receive adequate pain control when they go home after surgery, according to a study being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting. Obstacles to appropriate pain management include language barriers, misconceptions about pain management and a preference for alternative therapies, the study found.
Often overlooked in estimates of the carbon footprint created by the health care industry, inhaled anesthetics contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, suggests research being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting. Switching to different types of anesthesia can reduce anesthesia-related emissions by more than 11 times, the study found.
Patients with a psychological cognitive disorder known as catastrophizing are more likely to develop persistent, chronic pain after surgery, according to new research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting. Pain catastrophizing occurs when a patient has an irrational and illogical focus on pain, perceiving that it is worse than it actually is.
More than two-thirds of women who have had mastectomies struggle with persistent pain, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Breast cancer patients who receive a common local anesthetic during surgery are less likely to experience chronic pain following mastectomy, suggests a new study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.
Most surgical patients know a physician anesthesiologist will “put them to sleep,” but what they don’t realize is that this medical doctor plays a major role in preparing them for the operation. Just as important, these physicians keep them safe and preserve their health during surgery and help them recover as quickly and as comfortably as possible, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.
It is well known that patients should avoid eating and drinking before surgery to help prevent complications while under anesthesia. But is it safe to chew gum? Although chewing gum significantly increases the volume of liquids in the stomach, it is safe to administer sedatives or anesthesia to patients who have chewed gum while fasting before surgery, reports a new study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.
Anesthesia-related complications decreased by more than half in four years, according to the Anesthesia Quality Institute’s (AQI) National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry (NACOR) of more than 3.2 million anesthesia cases. The results are being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.
A single application of a common anesthetic procedure could be the answer to alleviating anxiety, depression and psychological pain in those suffering from chronic, extreme post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting in New Orleans.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®) today announced an initiative with Teleflex Incorporated (NYSE: TFX), a leading global provider of medical devices for critical care and surgery, to benefit the ASA Charitable Foundation and its Lifebox campaign. The Lifebox photo challenge will be hosted at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting. For every annual meeting attendee who visits the Lifebox photo booth and has his or her picture taken, Teleflex will donate $20 per participant, up to $20,000 total.
ASA corporate supporters PharMEDium, Baxter and TeamHealth today announced initiatives to benefit the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) during the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA) will sponsor the Run For The Warriors® 5K Run/Walk at 6 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, in New Orleans. The race coincides with the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting and marks the fifth consecutive year of ASA sponsorship of the event.
People interested in how medicine was practiced 70 years ago will find World War II-era equipment, manuals and photos illustrating how anesthesia was used on the battlefield and in the operating room (O.R.) during a five-day exhibit this month at The National WWII Museum. The exhibit will run October 10-14.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists®’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology and the National WWII Museum present wartime artifacts in conjunction with the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 annual meeting.
ASA and Hope For The Warriors® invite all to attend the Run For The Warriors® 5K Run/Walk, a race series dedicated to post-9/11 service members.
Scheduled for surgery? New research suggests that you may want to get screened and treated for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) before going under the knife. According to a first-of-its-kind study in the October issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), patients with OSA who are diagnosed and treated for the condition prior to surgery are less likely to develop serious cardiovascular complications such as cardiac arrest or shock.
While anesthesia is safer than ever before, every person scheduled for a procedure or surgery must have a serious conversation with their physician anesthesiologist about their anesthesia care delivery plan ahead of time, according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®).
A recent literature review by the Cochrane Collaboration found no scientific evidence that care provided by a nurse anesthetist is as safe and effective as patient-centered, physician-led anesthesia care, prompting the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) to call for further examination to measure patient safety and anesthesia care delivery.
People taking prescription opioids to treat moderate to severe pain may be able to breathe a little easier, literally. A study published in the September issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), found that a new therapeutic drug, GAL-021, may reverse or prevent respiratory depression, or inadequate breathing, in patients taking opioid medication without compromising pain relief or increasing sedation.
Antidepressants are known to provide effective pain relief for various chronic pain conditions; however, the jury is still out on their use in treating the millions of patients who suffer from acute or chronic pain following surgery. A first-of-its-kind literature review published in the September issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), suggests although a majority of studies report positive outcomes, there is currently insufficient evidence to support the clinical use of antidepressants for the treatment of postoperative pain.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA) was honored by the attendance of U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (IL-8) who congratulated ASA in a speech to attendees at its ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, August 16. The grand-opening event welcomed approximately 175 attendees, including ASA leaders, members, staff and guests to the building for the first time.
The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) announced its 2014 Power of A Award winners, including two affiliated organizations of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA).
The American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®) today announced the launch of its ASA Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) Learning Collaborative, a national initiative designed to improve the patient experience before, during and after surgery. More than 40 leading health care organizations from across the country will participate in the collaborative, which will convene for the first time at the ASA’s PSH Learning Collaborative Launch, July 25-26, in Schaumburg, Ill.
Researchers may be one step closer to better understanding how anesthesia works. A study in the August issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), found stimulating a major dopamine-producing region in the brain, the ventral tegmental area (VTA), caused rats to wake from general anesthesia, suggesting that this region plays a key role in restoring consciousness after general anesthesia. Activating this region at the end of surgery could provide a novel approach to proactively induce consciousness from anesthesia in surgical patients, researchers say.
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) Global Humanitarian Outreach (GHO) volunteers arrived in Rwanda today to participate in a teaching program at the two teaching hospitals of the National University of Rwanda in the cities of Kigali and Butare. The volunteers will teach Rwandan physician anesthesiologists, residents and staff about perioperative anesthesia (before, during and after a procedure), including critical care medicine, procedural skills in a new simulation center, and pediatric anesthesia.
There is new hope for people suffering from depression. Researchers have identified a compound, hydroxynorketamine (HNK), that may treat symptoms of depression just as effectively and rapidly as ketamine, without the unwanted side effects associated with the psychoactive drug, according to a study in the July issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®). Interestingly, use of HNK may also serve as a future therapeutic approach for treating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, the authors note.
A study in the July issue of Anesthesiology revealed that patients who receive a simple, multicolor, standardized medication instruction sheet before surgery are more likely to comply with their physician’s instructions and experience a significantly shorter post-op stay in recovery. These findings are important because surgical patients often fail to follow their doctor’s medication instructions for preexisting conditions such as diabetes and hypertension on the day they are having surgery – a costly mistake that can lead to surgery cancellation, complications and longer hospital stays.
Proving that less really is more, five specific tests or procedures commonly performed in anesthesiology that may not be necessary and, in some cases should be avoided, will be published online June 16 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The “Top-five” list was created by the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®) for inclusion in the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely® campaign.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA) applauds Friday’s introduction of the bipartisan Medicare Access to Rural Anesthesiology Act by Rep. Lynn Jenkins (KS-05) and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (MO-01). Many rural areas of the country face challenges in recruiting and retaining physicians to serve rural patients. This legislation, which is the companion to S. 1444 by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA), reforms Medicare’s rural incentive payment for all types of anesthesia providers and extends rural hospitals’ access to physician anesthesiologists. Under this legislation, rural hospitals would expand access to physician anesthesiologist services and be able to more readily recruit and retain physician anesthesiologists who may want to serve their rural communities, providing greater access to physician care.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has certified the Anesthesia Quality Institute’s (AQI’s) National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry (NACOR) as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) – one of only 40 entities to achieve this designation. Registry participants will select performance measures aimed at improving patient care and safety, and influencing health care legislation.
ASA® invites all health care organizations to apply to participate in its PSH learning collaborative. Applications are being accepted through May 30, 2014. The PSH collaborative of health care organizations will work to improve surgical patients’ care from the moment surgery is planned, through recovery, discharge and the first 30 days post-operatively.
Patients experience fewer postoperative complications when a surgical safety checklist is used by their surgical team, reports the first large-scale review on the subject published in the June issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®). By following a simple checklist, health care providers can minimize the most common postoperative risks such as wound infection and blood loss.
Expectant mothers concerned about receiving an epidural, spinal or general anesthesia during childbirth can breathe a little easier. According to a study published in the June issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®), serious complications due to anesthesia during childbirth are very rare, occurring in one out of every 3,000 deliveries.
A new prediction tool can help doctors better identify patients who are at highest risk for respiratory failure after surgery and therefore prevent the often deadly condition, suggest data from a large multi-center study published in the May issue of Anesthesiology.
Surgery for frail, senior citizen patients can be risky. A new patient-centered, team-based approach to deciding whether these high-risk patients will benefit from surgery is championed in an April 10 Perspective of the New England Journal of Medicine. The Perspective suggests that the decision to have surgery must balance the advantages and disadvantages of surgical and non-surgical treatment as well as the patient’s values and goals in a team-based setting that includes the patient, his or her family, the surgeon, the primary care physician and the physician anesthesiologist.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) today announced it has chosen Premier, Inc. (NASDAQ: PINC), a leading health care improvement company, to develop a first-of-its-kind learning collaborative for the ASA’s Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) model of care.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R) signed into law Senate Bill 233 yesterday, which authorizes licensure for anesthesiologist assistants. The American Society of Anesthesiologists® (ASA®) and the Indiana Society of Anesthesiologists (ISA) applaud this action, which will make the services of anesthesiologist assistants available to Indiana patients.
An ultrasound of the lungs could help doctors quickly determine if a pregnant woman with preeclampsia is at risk for respiratory failure, suggests preliminary research published in the April issue of Anesthesiology.
Rats’ brains may remember odors they were exposed to while deeply anesthetized, suggests research in rats published in the April issue of Anesthesiology.
Although cardiac arrest during childbirth is rare, it may be two times more common than previously reported in the literature, suggests the first large U.S. study on the potentially deadly condition published in the April issue of Anesthesiology. The study, based on data for more than 56 million births, also found that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was often successful, and that the survival rate improved between 1998 and 2011.
Two types of regional anesthesia do not make patients more prone to falls in the first days after having knee replacement surgery as some have previously suggested, according to a study based on nearly 200,000 patient records in the March issue of Anesthesiology.
Without administering a simple blood test in the first few days after surgery, 85 percent of the heart attacks or injuries patients suffer could be missed, according to a study in the March issue of Anesthesiology. Globally, more than 8 million adults have heart attacks or injuries after surgery every year, and 10 percent of those patients die within 30 days.
More than 14 percent of pregnant women were prescribed opioids (narcotics) for pain at some time during their pregnancy, according to a study posted to the online version of Anesthesiology. Given the surprising rate these medications were prescribed to pregnant women, more research is needed to assess the risk of opioids to unborn babies, the study suggests.
Three members of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) and staff at Stanford University School of Medicine depart for Kigali, Rwanda on Friday to take part in a teaching program at the two teaching hospitals of the National University of Rwanda. For four weeks, these ASA members will teach Rwandan physician anesthesiologists, residents and staff about perioperative anesthesia (before, during and after a procedure), including critical care medicine, procedural skills in a new simulation center, and pediatric anesthesia, as part of ASA’s GHO program.
Implementing a system to ensure the surgical team uses the most effective practices resulted in significant improvements in operating room (O.R.) performance, suggests research being presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists PRACTICE MANAGEMENT 2014.
Patients feel safer – and likely are safer – when they receive a surgical safety checklist and request that their health care providers use it, suggests a pilot study being presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists PRACTICE MANAGEMENT 2014.
ASA today issued a guidance document with recommendations on sedation with regard to the integration of computer-assisted personalized sedation (CAPS) devices, including the SEDASYS® System, into medical practices in the safest and most efficient way. The SEDASYS® System has been approved for use by the FDA in the delivery of the drug propofol to healthy adults undergoing sedation for upper (esophageal) and lower (colon) cancer screenings.
Not prescribing opioids first or as a long-term therapy for chronic, non-cancer pain and avoiding MRIs, CTs and X-rays for low-back pain are among the tests and treatments identified by ASA that are commonly ordered but not always necessary. As part of the ABIM Foundation’s Choosing Wisely campaign, ASA today released its second list of five targeted, evidence-based recommendations that can support conversations between patients and physician anesthesiologists about what care is really necessary.
Anesthesiology residents want frequent feedback on their clinical performance, as well as evaluations of their performance compared to their fellow residents as a whole, according to a study in the January issue of Anesthesiology. The study conducted by faculty in the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine demonstrates how an automated case evaluation tool can fulfill some of the new assessment requirements in the Milestones system of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), which begins in July 2014 for all anesthesiology residencies.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) recently distributed a Request for Proposal (RFP), the initial step in a major initiative to develop a learning collaborative of health care organizations to improve surgical care through the Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) model. The PSH is an innovative model that will improve patient care and health care delivery, and reduce costs by implementing a seamless continuity of care from the moment surgery is planned, through recovery and discharge from a medical facility and beyond.
A study in the December issue of Anesthesiology suggests a role for brain imaging in the assessment and potential treatment of chronic pain. University of Michigan researchers are the first to use brain imaging procedures to track the clinical action of pregabalin, a drug known by the brand name Lyrica® that is prescribed to patients suffering from fibromyalgia and neuropathic pain.
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