Anesthesia Considerations for a Patient on Semaglutide and Delayed Gastric Emptying.

Semaglutide is a class of long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RA) used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity. We present a 31-year-old female patient with a past medical history of T2DM without complication and no long-term or current use of insulin, class 3 obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and anxiety, who underwent an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) in preparation for bariatric surgery while taking semaglutide. Despite appropriately following the preoperative fasting guidelines of the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), endoscopy revealed food residue in the gastric body, necessitating abortion of the procedure to reduce the risk of intraoperative pulmonary aspiration.

Anesthetic Challenges Posed by Heavy Kratom Users.

Kratom is a herbal and natural dietary supplement from Southeast Asia that is gaining popularity in the United States. Its leaves contain multiple psychoactive chemicals that stimulate opioid, alpha-2, and serotonergic receptors. Kratom is used as a stimulant and in the treatment of anxiety, pain, and opioid withdrawal.

Reevaluation of the utilization of arterial blood gas analysis in the Intensive Care Unit: effects on patient safety and patient outcome.

Purpose: Arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is a useful tool to evaluate hypercapnia in the context of conditions and diseases affecting the lungs. Oftentimes, indications for ABG analysis are broad and nonspecific and lead to frequent testing without test results influencing patient management.

Materials And Methods: Electronic charts of 300 intensive care unit (ICU) patients at a single institution were reviewed retrospectively.