International anesthesiology clinics
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Int Anesthesiol Clin · Jan 1998
Biography Historical Article Classical ArticlePostoperative hepatic dysfunction in perspective. 1970.
Postoperative hepatic dysfunction will remain a difficult entity to place in perspective until increased data are obtained from prospective clinical trials. Ideally these data should compare hepatic dysfunction not only to other postoperative complications, both with regard to overall incidence and to mortality, but also to the overall risks of anesthesia and surgery. The contribution of drug-induced hepatic damage to postoperative hepatic dysfunction has remained unsettled since chloroform was first incriminated during the nineteenth century. ⋯ Just as we have conducted the definitive retrospective hypothesis-testing study--the National Halothane Study--demanded by the "halothane hepatitis" controversy, so must we now move to the final stage of epidemiological investigation (experimental epidemiology) by investigating the effects of multiple administrations of the drug. On this point the National Halothane Study acts more as a hypothesis-formulating study than as a hypothesis-testing study. Hill has noted that statistical problems must be dealt with by the statistical method. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED)
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As physicians in the OR suite, anesthesiologists' interests extend beyond the technical issues of rendering anesthesia care, and a number of topics germane to problems in the OR and anesthesia department have been covered. More and more anesthesiology practices are locating outside the "safety" zone of the hospital; thus, it becomes encumbent on the physicians working in those environments to be aware of the regulations, safety standards, and hazards in order to provide a safe environment for their patients and to run a well-managed OR suite.