Anesthesiology clinics
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Neuraxial anesthesia for outpatient surgery can provide excellent anesthesia for certain patients. The short-acting local anesthetic 2-chloroprocaine has an appropriate length of action for short outpatient procedures with a very low risk of transient neurologic symptoms. Epidural anesthesia with short-acting agents can provide good outpatient anesthesia for procedures lasting 90 minutes or longer.
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Anesthesiology clinics · Jun 2014
ReviewPerioperative consideration of obstructive sleep apnea in ambulatory surgery.
The prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is increasing and a significant number of patients with OSA are undiagnosed. The suitability of ambulatory surgery in patients with OSA remains controversial, and the evidence regarding the safety of ambulatory surgery for patients with OSA is limited. Preoperative screening and careful selection of patients for ambulatory surgery is the most important step. Patients diagnosed and suspected of having OSA should be managed with a systematic algorithm to improve outcomes.
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Pediatric patients often undergo anesthesia for ambulatory procedures. This article discusses several common preoperative dilemmas, including whether to postpone anesthesia when a child has an upper respiratory infection, whether to test young women for pregnancy, which children require overnight admission for apnea monitoring, and the effectiveness of nonpharmacological techniques for reducing anxiety. Medication issues covered include the risks of anesthetic agents in children with undiagnosed weakness, the use of remifentanil for tracheal intubation, and perioperative dosing of rectal acetaminophen. The relative merits of caudal and dorsal penile nerve block for pain after circumcision are also discussed.
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Peripheral nerve blocks (PNBs) provide significant improvement in postoperative analgesia and quality of recovery for ambulatory surgery. Use of continuous PNB techniques extend these benefits beyond the limited duration of single-injection PNBs. ⋯ This article provides a broad overview of the indications and clinically useful aspects of the most commonly used upper and lower extremity PNBs in the ambulatory setting. Emphasis is placed on approaches that can be used for single-injection PNBs and continuous PNB techniques.
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Anesthesiology clinics · Jun 2014
ReviewPerioperative evaluation and management of cardiac disease in the ambulatory surgery setting.
Preoperative cardiac evaluation focuses on risk assessment and reduction. Diagnostic testing and interventions are used only when the risk of adverse outcomes is high and intervention will lower the risk. The evaluation is performed in a stepwise fashion according to guidelines in the literature.