Current opinion in anaesthesiology
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2020
ReviewConjoined twins in 2020 - state of the art and future directions.
A number of high profile conjoined twin separations have been extensively covered by the world media. Anaesthesia for conjoined twins is a procedure rarely experienced by paediatric anaesthetists. The increased survival of the twins has prompted discussion as to the most appropriate selection of patients, teams and hospitals to provide exceptional anaesthetic care. ⋯ There appears to be an expanding role for international teams with extensive separation experience becoming involved in international teleconferencing to improve patient management in low-resource countries. Whether the perioperative outcome is better when the conjoined twins are transferred to major centres for surgery or teams operate in the twin's country of origin remains to be seen.
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The objective of this review is to identify the potential of peripheral nerve blocks established over the last years for perioperative pain management in breast surgery. These new blocks will be discussed with respect to their clinical effect and necessity. ⋯ Taking the pain levels after breast surgery into account, the request of additional nerve blocks has to be pondered against the potential risks and resource requirement. To reduce or avoid intraoperative or postoperative opioids, an ultrasound-guided Pecs II block proves to be the best option for perioperative pain relief.
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Simulation training (crew resource management training and scenario training) has become an important tool in the education of anesthesiologists. This review summarizes recent research performed in this area, focusing more specifically on obstetric anesthesia. ⋯ Simulation training has acquired a central role in modern education of anesthesiologists. Further research regarding elements to optimize simulation training in terms of learning outcomes and long-term skill retention is desirable. In addition, little data exist concerning the effect of simulation training on possible improvement of patient outcomes in anesthesia.
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Curr Opin Anaesthesiol · Jun 2020
ReviewState of the art in clinical decision support applications in pediatric perioperative medicine.
The goal of this review is to describe the recent improvements in clinical decision tools applied to the increasingly large and complex datasets in the pediatric ambulatory and inpatient setting. ⋯ With more than a decade of electronic medical data generation, clinical decision support tools have begun to evolve into more sophisticated and complex algorithms capable of transforming large datasets into succinct, timely, and pertinent summaries for treatment and management of pediatric patients. Future developments will need to leverage patient-generated health data, integrated device data, and provider-entered data to complete the continuum of patient care and will likely demonstrate improvements in patient outcomes.
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Both cannabis and e-cigarette use are increasing, particularly among adolescents. The use of cannabis products may impact patients' physiology under anesthesia. Understanding the effects of cannabis and vaping are critical to the provision of safe and effective anesthetic care. ⋯ There is a very wide variety of cannabis products currently available, with respect to both route of administration as well as cannabinoid content. Patients using cannabis products prior to anesthesia may present with altered physiology that place them at increased risk for cardiovascular and respiratory complications. They may also be tolerant to the effects of propofol and opioid for pain management, thus consideration should be given to use of a multimodal regimen.