Anesthesiology
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Prior research has provided inconsistent data regarding the risk factors associated with complications from arterial cannulation. The goal of this study was to clearly define the incidence and risks factors associated with arterial cannulation complications. ⋯ In a large retrospective study, the authors document a very low rate of complications with arterial line placement.
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An accurate risk score able to predict in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing surgery may improve both risk communication and clinical decision making. The aim of the study was to develop and validate a surgical risk score based solely on preoperative information, for predicting in-hospital mortality. ⋯ The authors have developed and validated POSPOM, a simple risk score for the prediction of in-hospital mortality in surgical patients.
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Biography Historical Article
"Gentlemen! This Is No Humbug": Did John Collins Warren, M.D., Proclaim These Words on October 16, 1846, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston?
The proclamation, "Gentlemen! this is no humbug," attributed to John Collins Warren, M. D., was not identified in any contemporaneous eyewitness report of William T. G. ⋯ D., reported Warren's alleged proclamation. However, their accounts first appeared in 1896, 50 yr after Morton's demonstration of etherization. Although Warren's alleged proclamation appears plausible, the overall impression from eyewitness statements and publications relating to the October 16, 1846, demonstration of etherization is that it may not have been made.
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Drugs acting on μ-opioid receptors (MORs) are widely used as analgesics but present side effects including life-threatening respiratory depression. MORs are G-protein-coupled receptors inhibiting neuronal activity through calcium channels, adenylyl cyclase, and/or G-protein-gated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channels. The pathways underlying MOR-dependent inhibition of rhythmic breathing are unknown. ⋯ Overall, these results identify that GIRK channels contribute to respiratory inhibition by MOR, an essential step toward understanding respiratory depression by opioids.