A&A practice
-
Bain H circuit is an innovatively modified breathing circuit designed for the transportation and resuscitation of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19). For this circuit, the Heidbrink valve was replaced with a 15F inlet and 15M/22F outlet adjustable pressure-limiting (APL) valve, and a high-efficiency particulate air filter was placed over the APL outlet valve. ⋯ All benefits of the conventional Bain circuit were retained. Besides its use in dedicated COVID-19 areas, this circuit can be used in other emergency units of the hospital.
-
Increasing medical student enrollment creates challenges for clinical course directors to accommodate students and to provide consistency in clinical experiences. We discuss curricular modifications addressing these challenges specific to anesthesiology electives through the creation of 2-week anesthesiology electives to provide scheduling flexibility in the clinical years. We also incorporated curricular enhancements as a consistent didactic framework congruent with the clinical experience. ⋯ More fourth-year students have enrolled in these courses. The annual number of students matching anesthesiology has maintained ≥8% graduating class. Our highest has been 15% in 2020.
-
Pain management options in neonates after thoracotomy have traditionally been limited to intravenous opioids and caudal catheters. However, because of increasing familiarity with ultrasound imaging, erector spinae and paravertebral nerve blocks are being performed more frequently. For thoracic procedures, we describe a case series of 4 neonates involving ropivacaine infusion via an extrathoracic chest wall catheter placed by the surgeon. This technique requires less time, is less invasive, does not require ultrasound, and enabled us to accomplish tracheal extubation in the operating room immediately after surgery, and decreased postoperative opioid use in the neonatal intensive care unit.
-
Case Reports
Severe Abdominal Wall Infection After Subcostal Transversus Abdominis Plane Block: A Case Report.
Transversus abdominis plane (TAP) blocks are increasingly used for perioperative analgesia in patients undergoing abdominal surgeries. TAP blocks are easy to perform, reliably effective, and have an excellent safety profile. Nevertheless, we report a patient who underwent an open cholecystectomy and right hemicolectomy where a subcostal TAP block possibly contributed to an unusual abdominal wall abscess that lead to a prolonged and complicated postoperative course.
-
Anesthetic management of pediatric circumcisions typically involves intravenous access and advanced airway management. We explored the use of a minimally invasive anesthetic protocol for pediatric circumcisions akin to the anesthetic management for bilateral myringotomy and tympanostomy. ⋯ The mean (standard deviation) intraoperative anesthesia time was 41.4 (5.7) minutes, and 1 patient experienced a mild intraoperative complication with emesis at induction. Pediatric circumcisions can be efficiently and safely performed with minimally invasive anesthesia.