Articles: cations.
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Anesthesia and analgesia · Dec 2023
The Physician Anesthesia Workforce in Canada From 1996 to 2018: A Longitudinal Analysis of Health Administrative Data.
A robust anesthesia workforce is essential to the provision of safe surgical, obstetrical, and critical care but information describing the physician anesthesia workforce and volume of clinical services delivered in Canada is limited. This study examines the Canadian physician anesthesia workforce, exploring trends in physician characteristics and activity levels over time. Practice patterns of specialist anesthesiologists and family physician anesthetists (FPAs) working in urban and rural communities were of particular interest. ⋯ This study provides foundational information regarding anesthesia workforce capacity over a 22-year period, including insights into demographics, locations of practice, and clinical volumes. The results do not quantify the gap between service capacity and need; however, they support the need for a national workforce strategy to achieve equitable access to sustainable anesthesia services in Canada, particularly for rural communities.
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Disparity in surgical care impedes the delivery of uniformly high-quality care. Metrics that quantify disparity in care can help identify areas for needed intervention. A literature-based Disparity-Sensitive Score (DSS) system for surgical care was adapted by the Metrics for Equitable Access and Care in Surgery (MEASUR) group. The alignment between the MEASUR DSS and Delphi ratings of an expert advisory panel (EAP) regarding the disparity sensitivity of surgical quality metrics was assessed. ⋯ Applying the MEASUR DSS criteria using available literature allowed for identification of disparity-sensitive surgical metrics. The results suggest that this literature-based method of selecting quality metrics may be comparable to more complex consensus-based Delphi methods. In fields with robust literature, literature-based composite scores may be used to select quality metrics rather than assembling consensus panels.
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Critical care medicine · Dec 2023
Practice Standards for the Use of Multimodality Neuromonitoring: A Delphi Consensus Process.
To address areas in which there is no consensus for the technologies, effort, and training necessary to integrate and interpret information from multimodality neuromonitoring (MNM). ⋯ We provide expert consensus in the clinical considerations, minimum necessary technologies, implementation, and training/education to provide practice standards for the use of MNM to individualize clinical care.
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J Clin Monit Comput · Dec 2023
Editorial CommentPerioperative monitoring of the oxygen reserve: where do we stand?
The Oxygen Reserve Index (ORi) is an advanced plethysmography-derived variable that may help to quantify the degree of hyperoxia in patients receiving supplemental oxygen administration. ORi is a (relative) indicator of the actual partial pressure of oxygen dissolved in arterial blood (PaO2). ⋯ Within the moderate hyperoxic range (100-200 mmHg PaO2), there is a sound correlation between ORi and PaO2. This editorial discusses the clinical implications of this validation study and elaborates on the possible role of ORi monitoring in addition to SpO2 (peripheral arterial oxygen saturation) monitoring alone.
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Evolving technologies have influenced the practice of myelomeningocele repair (MMCr), including mandatory folic acid fortification, advances in prenatal diagnosis, and the 2011 Management of Myelomeningocele Study (MOMS) trial demonstrating benefits of fetal over postnatal MMCr in select individuals. Postnatal MMCr continues to be performed, especially for those with limitations in prenatal diagnosis, health care access, anatomy, or personal preference. A comprehensive, updated national perspective on the trajectory of postnatal MMCr volumes and patient disparities is absent. We characterize national trends in postnatal MMCr rates before and after the MOMS trial publication (2000-2010 vs 2011-2019) and examine whether historical disparities persist. ⋯ National rates of postnatal MMCr gradually declined in the post-MOMS era. Medicaid and low-income patients comprise an increasing majority of MMCr patients post-MOMS, whereas historical race/ethnicity-specific disparities are improving. Now more than ever, we must address disparities in the care of MMC patients before and after birth.