AANA journal
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With the advancement of medicine, surgery, and technology, along with the decline in mortality, anesthesia providers encounter patients with complex and rare conditions. One such example is the single ventricle congenital cardiac defect, which is corrected with Fontan reconstructive surgery. ⋯ The case report describes a parturient who, approximately 2 decades earlier, had undergone a Fontan operation at the age of 4 years and recovered uneventfully. This article discusses the anesthetic management for the patient during cesarean delivery using epidural anesthesia, and the minimally invasive monitoring technology (Vigileo monitor, Edwards Lifesciences) to assist in monitoring the patient intraoperatively.
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This report describes the noncardiac, nonobstetric surgical case of a 29-year old woman with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. To safely manage a patient with pulmonary hypertension, the anesthesia provider must have a thorough understanding of the disease and associated risks. This case study briefly summarizes the surgical case and then discusses history, current classifications, epidemiology, pathophysiology, contemporary treatments, and basic anesthetic management related to pulmonary hypertension.
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Forced-air warming devices are effective for the prevention of surgical hypothermia. However, these devices intake nonsterile floor-level air, and it is unknown whether they have adequate filtration measures to prevent the internal buildup or emission of microbial contaminants. We rated the intake filtration efficiency of a popular current-generation forced-air warming device (Bair Hugger model 750, Arizant Healthcare) using a monodisperse sodium chloride aerosol in the laboratory. ⋯ Swabbing detected microorganisms within 100% of the forced-air warming blowers sampled, with isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci, mold, and micrococci identified. Particle counting showed 96% of forced-air warming blowers to be emitting significant levels of internally generated airborne contaminants out of the hose end. These findings highlight the need for upgraded intake filtration, preferably high-efficiency particulate air filtration (99.97% efficient), on current-generation forced-air warming devices to reduce contamination buildup and emission risks.