The Family Anesthesia Experience (FAX): Implementing a Social Support-Focused Wellness Programme Across Multiple Residency Programmes.

Introduction: Lack of social support negatively impacts medical trainees' wellness. Programmes to educate medical trainees and their support persons (SPs) have been developed to improve resident wellness, but implementation of these programmes at other institutions remains unclear. We aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing the Family Anesthesia Experience (FAX) programme across multiple institutions and to assess the programme's utility.

Current Trends in Mortality Attributable to Racial or Ethnic Disparities in Post-Surgical Population in The United States: A Population-Based Study.

Background: No study has contextualized the excess mortality attributable to racial and ethnic disparities in surgical outcomes. Further, not much effort has been made to quantify the effort needed to eliminate these disparities.

Objective: We examined the current trends in mortality attributable to racial or ethnic disparities in the US postsurgical population.

A Multi-Site Survey Study on the Association Between the COVID-19 Pandemic and United States Anesthesiology Residents' Mental Health.

Background:  At the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, anesthesiology residency programs were impacted differently due to various factors such as the local severity of COVID-19, exposure to patient suffering, and inability to complete rotations. We sought to investigate the impact of local-level pandemic severity on the well-being of anesthesiology residents.

Methods:  This multi-site study surveyed postgraduate year two residents from 15 United States (US) anesthesiology programs using the Perceived Stress Scale, Mini-Z, Patient Health Questionnaire-9,WHO-5 Well-Being Index,and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support before the pandemic (baseline survey) and during the first COVID-19 surge (post survey).

Association of Severe Obesity and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease With Pneumonia Following Non-Cardiac Surgery.

Background: Pneumonia is the third most common surgical complication after urinary tract infection and wound infections. In addition to increased mortality, patients who develop postoperative pneumonia have a higher risk of prolonged hospital stay, intensive care unit (ICU) admissions, and higher healthcare costs. Obesity and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are both independent risk factors for the development and severity of postoperative pneumonia, although the combined effect of these comorbidities is unknown.

Caring for Parturients with Substance Use Disorders.

Parturients with substance use disorder require expertise to manage the complexity of intoxication, withdrawal, and chronic use as well as ensure adequate analgesia throughout labor. Opioid use disorder in pregnancy has increased more than 4-fold in the past decade, with a 50-fold geographic variability that now dwarfs other substance use in this population. Understanding not only the medical but also the public health and criminal justice implications of substance use disorder is essential to providing optimal care to this at-risk population.

Perineural Liposomal Bupivacaine Is Not Superior to Nonliposomal Bupivacaine for Peripheral Nerve Block Analgesia.

Background: Liposomal bupivacaine is purported to extend analgesia of peripheral nerve blocks when administered perineurally. However, evidence of the clinical effectiveness of perineural liposomal bupivacaine is mixed. This meta-analysis seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of perineural liposomal bupivacaine in improving peripheral nerve block analgesia as compared with nonliposomal local anesthetics.

Be Active and Be Well? A Cross-sectional Survey of US Anesthesia Residents.

Background: Wellness among resident physicians is important to their well-being and ability to provide clinical care. The relationship between physical activity and wellness among anesthesia residents has not yet been evaluated. We surveyed anesthesia residents to evaluate their levels of physical activity and self-perceived wellness scores.

COVID-Activated Emergency Scaling of Anesthesiology Responsibilities Intensive Care Unit.

In response to the rapidly evolving coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the potential need for physicians to provide critical care services, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has collaborated with the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA), the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) to develop the COVID-Activated Emergency Scaling of Anesthesiology Responsibilities (CAESAR) Intensive Care Unit (ICU) workgroup. CAESAR-ICU is designed and written for the practicing general anesthesiologist and should serve as a primer to enable an anesthesiologist to provide limited bedside critical care services.

Delayed Development of Malignant Hyperthermia Following Cardiopulmonary Bypass.

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a rare but potentially life-threatening disorder encountered during general anesthesia. The use of cardiopulmonary bypass during cardiac surgery can obscure many of the cardinal signs and symptoms of MH. The development of postoperative MH following cardiac surgery is rare, but anesthesiologists and intensivists must maintain a high index of suspicion in order to make a prompt diagnosis.

Comparison of Phenylephrine and Ephedrine in Treatment of Spinal-Induced Hypotension in High-Risk Pregnancies: A Narrative Review.

Purpose: To compare maternal and fetal effects of intravenous phenylephrine and ephedrine administration during spinal anesthesia for cesarean delivery in high-risk pregnancies.

Source: An extensive literature search was conducted using the US National Library of Medicine, MEDLINE search engine, Cochrane review, and Google Scholar using search terms "ephedrine and phenylephrine," "preterm and term and spinal hypotension," "preeclampsia and healthy parturients," or "multiple and singleton gestation and vasopressor." Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology meeting abstracts for the past 4 years were also searched for relevant studies.

Preventing Ventilator-Associated Lung Injury: A Perioperative Perspective.

Introduction: Research into the prevention of ventilator-associated lung injury (VALI) in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the intensive care unit (ICU) has resulted in the development of a number of lung protective strategies, which have become commonplace in the treatment of critically ill patients. An increasing number of studies have applied lung protective ventilation in the operating room to otherwise healthy individuals. We review the history of lung protective strategies in patients with acute respiratory failure and explore their use in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation during general anesthesia.

Complications of bronchoscopy: A concise synopsis.

Flexible and rigid bronchoscopes are used in diagnosis, therapeutics, and palliation. While their use is widespread, effective, and generally safe; there are numerous potential complications that can occur. Mechanical complications of bronchoscopy are primarily related to airway manipulations or bleeding.

Noise Levels in Surgical ICUs Are Consistently Above Recommended Standards.

Objective: The equipment, monitor alarms, and acuity of patients in ICUs make it one of the loudest patient care areas in a hospital. Increased sound levels may contribute to worsened outcomes in these particularly vulnerable patients. Our objective was to determine whether ambient sound levels in surgical ICUs comply with recommendations established by the World Health Organization and Environmental Protection Agency, and whether implementation of an overnight "quiet time" intervention is associated with lower ambient sound levels.

Effects of parecoxib on analgesia benefit and blood loss following open prostatectomy: a multicentre randomized trial.

Background: This multi-centre, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was designed to test the hypotheses that parecoxib improves patients' postoperative analgesia without increasing surgical blood loss following radical open prostatectomy.

Methods: 105 patients (64 ± 7 years old) were randomized to receive either parecoxib or placebo with concurrent morphine patient controlled analgesia. Cumulative opioid consumption (primary objective) and the overall benefit of analgesia score (OBAS), the modified brief pain inventory short form (m-BPI-sf), the opioid-related symptom distress scale (OR-SDS), and perioperative blood loss (secondary objectives) were assessed.