Canadian journal of anaesthesia = Journal canadien d'anesthésie
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Little is known about program directors' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding parental leave policies in anesthesiology training. This study sought to understand program director perceptions about the effects of pregnancy and parental leave on resident training, skills, and productivity. ⋯ Program directors perceived that becoming a parent negatively affects the work performance of female but not male trainees. These negative perceptions could impact evaluations and future plans of female residents.
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Because of enhanced life expectancy due to medical and surgical therapeutic advances, it is estimated that there are more adults than children living with Down syndrome (DS), or trisomy 21, in the United States. Therefore, DS can no longer be considered a syndrome limited to the pediatric population. These patients are presenting for surgery and anesthesia in adult care settings, where anesthesiologists will encounter these patients more frequently. ⋯ The manifestations and consequences of chronic disease can present new challenges for the anesthesiologist and require expertise and judgement to minimize patient risk. The purpose of this narrative review is to describe the common pediatric co-morbidities associated with DS and discuss the age-acquired manifestations. Additionally, considerations for anesthetic care of the adult with DS will be presented, including the preoperative assessment, intraoperative management, and postoperative care.
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In response to the rapid spread of SARS-CoV-2, hospitals in Canada enacted temporary visitor restrictions to limit the spread of COVID-19 and preserve personal protective equipment supplies. This study describes the extent, variation, and fluctuation of Canadian adult intensive care unit (ICU) visitation policies before and during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. ⋯ During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, most Canadian hospitals had public-facing visitor restriction policies with specific exception categories, most commonly for patients at end-of-life, patients requiring assistance, or COVID-19 positive patients (varying from not allowed to case-by-case). Further studies are needed to understand the consistency with which visitation policies were operationalized and how they may have impacted patient- and family-centred care.
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Anesthesia is associated with alterations in end-tidal (ET) respiratory gases from the awake state. These alterations result in marked vasoactive changes in regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF). Altered regional cerebrovascular reactivity (rCVR) is linked to neurologic dysfunction. We examined these differences in reactivity from prior work by focusing on the ratio of vasoconstriction with hyperoxia/hypocapnia (HO/hc):vasodilation with hypercapnia (HC) using magnetic resonance imaging pseudo-continuous arterial spin labelling (pCASL) to measure rCBF and compare rCVR The distribution and magnitude of these ratios could provide insights into rCBF during clinical anesthesia and inform future research into the origins of postoperative delirium (POD). ⋯ In awake humans, marked rCBF changes occurred with alterations in ET respiratory gases common under anesthesia. Such heterogeneous reactivity may be relevant to future studies to identify those at risk of POD.