Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jun 2017
Patient-Centered Anesthesia Triage System Predicts ASA Physical Status.
The purpose of this study was to validate a patient-centered anesthesia triage system (PCATS) by examining its association with, and predictive value of, ASA physical status (PS) classification. ASA PS classification is a widely used indicator of health status and the predictor of risk of perioperative complications. Thus, ASA PS is a good triage point such that healthy surgical patients (ASA PS I and II) undergoing low-complexity surgery are assessed by telephone, whereas less-healthy patients (ASA PS III and IV) or those patients undergoing highly complex surgery are seen in person at a presurgical clinic. However, ASA PS is not commonly available in electronic health records or easily determined by nonanesthesiologists. PCATS criteria, including the number of prescription medications used daily, body mass index (BMI), age, and surgical complexity, are readily available in electronic health records. Nonclinical scheduling personnel can use PCATS to make appropriate preassessment appointments for elective surgical patients before surgery. ⋯ PCATS serves as a useful, and valid, predictor of ASA PS classification. Thus, it may also serve as a tool to triage patients to an appropriate venue for preoperative assessment that can be utilized by nonclinical schedulers. Using a simple tool such as PCATS may help streamline the presurgical patient experience and improve clinic staff utilization.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jun 2017
Choice of Anesthesia for Cesarean Delivery: An Analysis of the National Anesthesia Clinical Outcomes Registry.
Neuraxial anesthesia use in cesarean deliveries (CDs) has been rising since the 1980s, whereas general anesthesia (GA) use has been declining. In this brief report we analyzed recent obstetric anesthesia practice patterns using National Anesthesiology Clinical Outcomes Registry data. ⋯ GA was used in 5.8% of all CDs and 14.6% of emergent CDs. Higher rates of GA use were observed in CDs performed in university hospitals, after hours and on weekends, and on patients who were American Society of Anesthesiologists class III or higher and 18 years of age or younger.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jun 2017
Analysis of Production, Impact, and Scientific Collaboration on Difficult Airway Through the Web of Science and Scopus (1981-2013).
Bibliometrics, the statistical analysis of written publications, is an increasingly popular approach to the assessment of scientific activity. Bibliometrics allows researchers to assess the impact of a field, or research area, and has been used to make decisions regarding research funding. Through bibliometric analysis, we hypothesized that a bibliometric analysis of difficult airway research would demonstrate a growth in authors and articles over time. ⋯ We found a greater increase over time in the number of difficult airway manuscripts than for anesthesiology research overall. We found that collaboration between authors increases their impact, and that an increase in collaboration increases citation rates. Publishing in English and in certain journals, and collaborating with certain authors and institutions, increases the visibility of manuscripts published on this subject.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jun 2017
Measuring and Improving the Quality of Preprocedural Assessments.
Preprocedural assessments are used by anesthesia providers to optimize perioperative care for patients undergoing invasive procedures. When these assessments are performed in advance by providers who are not caring for the patient during the procedure, there is an additional layer of complexity in ensuring that the workup meets the needs of the primary anesthesia care team. In this study, anesthesia providers were asked to rate the quality of preprocedural assessments prepared by other providers to evaluate anesthesia care team satisfaction. ⋯ The overwhelming majority of preprocedural assessments performed at our institution were considered satisfactory or exemplary by day-of-surgery anesthesia providers. This was demonstrated by both the case-by-case ratings and midpoint survey. However, the perceived frequency of "unsatisfactory" evaluations was worse when providers were asked to reflect on the quality of preprocedural evaluations generally versus rate them individually. Analysis of comments left by providers allowed us to identify specific and actionable areas for improvement. This method can be used by other institutions to identify systemic deficiencies in the preprocedural evaluation process.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jun 2017
Using High-Technology Simulators to Prepare Anesthesia Providers Before Implementation of a New Electronic Health Record Module: A Technical Report.
Learning to use a new electronic anesthesia information management system can be challenging. Documenting anesthetic events, medication administration, and airway management in an unfamiliar system while simultaneously caring for a patient with the vigilance required for safe anesthesia can be distracting and risky. ⋯ Training was feasible and valued by participants but required a combination of electronic and manual components. Further exploration may reveal simulated patient care training that provides the greatest benefit to participants as well as feedback to inform electronic health record improvements.