Anesthesia and analgesia
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2021
Controlling Anesthesia Hardware With Simple Hand Gestures: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down?
Modern consumer electronic devices and automobiles are often controlled by interfaces that sense physical gestures and spoken commands. In contrast, patient monitors and anesthesia devices are typically equipped with panel-mounted buttons, dials, and keyboards. The increased use of noncontact gesture-based interfaces in anesthesia may improve patient safety through more intuitive and prompter control of equipment and also through reduced rates of surface contamination. A novel gesture-based controller was designed and retrofitted to a standard GE Solar 8000M patient monitor. This type of technical innovation is rare, due to closely held proprietary input control systems on commercially produced clinical equipment. Nevertheless, we hypothesized that anesthesiologists would find a contactless gesture interface straightforward to use. ⋯ The use of gesture sensing for controlling anesthesia equipment was well received by a cohort of anesthesiologists. Even though the simpler "press" gesture was preferred over the "rotate" gesture, the intrarespondent correlation indicates that the preference for gestures as a whole is the stronger effect. No adverse relationship was found between acceptability and anesthesia experience level. Gesture sensing is a promising new area to simplify and improve the interaction between the anesthesiologist and the anesthesia workstation.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2021
ReviewPro-Con Debate: Fibrinogen Concentrate or Cryoprecipitate for Treatment of Acquired Hypofibrinogenemia in Cardiac Surgical Patients.
Cryoprecipitate has been the gold standard for treating acquired hypofibrinogenemia in cardiac surgery for nearly 50 years. More recently, fibrinogen concentrate has been used off-label in the United States and is the standard in European countries and Canada to treat the acquired hypofibrinogenemia during cardiac surgery. ⋯ However, because fibrinogen concentrate lacks the other components contained in the cryoprecipitate, it may not be the "ideal" product for replacing fibrinogen in all cardiac surgical patients, particularly those with longer cardiopulmonary bypass duration. In this Pro-Con commentary article, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using fibrinogen concentrate and cryoprecipitate to treat acquired hypofibrinogenemia in cardiac surgical patients.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2021
Association Between Behavioral and Learning Outcomes and Single Exposures to Procedures Requiring General Anesthesia Before Age 3: Secondary Analysis of Data From Olmsted County, MN.
Two prior population-based (children born in Olmsted County, MN), retrospective cohort studies both found that multiple exposures to anesthesia before age 3 were associated with a significant increase in the frequency of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disabilities (LD) later in life. The primary purpose of this secondary analysis of these data was to test the hypothesis that a single exposure to anesthesia before age 3 was associated with an increased risk of ADHD. We also examined the association of single exposures with LD and the need for individualized educational plans as secondary outcomes. ⋯ This analysis did not find evidence that single exposures to procedures requiring general anesthesia, before age 3, are associated with an increased risk of developing ADHD, LD, or the need for individualized educational plans in later life.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2021
Construct Validation of the American Board of Anesthesiology's APPLIED Examination for Initial Certification.
The American Board of Anesthesiology administers the APPLIED Examination as a part of initial certification, which as of 2018 includes 2 components-the Standardized Oral Examination (SOE) and the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The goal of this study is to investigate the measurement construct(s) of the APPLIED Examination to assess whether the SOE and the OSCE measure distinct constructs (ie, factors). ⋯ The analyses provide evidence that the SOE and the OSCE measure distinct constructs, supporting the rationale for administering both components of the APPLIED Examination for initial certification in anesthesiology.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Jul 2021
Cannabinoid Receptor-2 Activation in Keratinocytes Contributes to Elevated Peripheral β-Endorphin Levels in Patients With Obstructive Jaundice.
Cholestatic diseases are often accompanied by elevated plasma levels of endogenous opioid peptides, but it is still unclear whether central or peripheral mechanisms are involved in this process, and little is known about the change of pain threshold in these patients. The purpose of this study was to determine the preoperative pain threshold, postoperative morphine consumption, and central and peripheral β-endorphin levels in patients with obstructive jaundice. This study also tests the hypothesis that activation of the cannabinoid receptor-2 (CB2R) in skin keratinocytes by endocannabinoids is the mechanism underlying circulating β-endorphin elevation in patients with obstructive jaundice. ⋯ CB2R activation in keratinocytes by the endocannabinoid anandamide may play an important role in the peripheral elevation of β-endorphin during obstructive jaundice.