The impact of health maintenance organizations on improving cardiac surgery outcomes.

Background And Objectives: California is one of a few states with mandatory reporting of mortality after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. The Affordable Care Act restructured Medicaid, preferentially penalizing patients experiencing poverty because payments to hospitals for isolated surgical events overshadow payments to primary care clinicians. We propose outcomes are superior when hospital networks organize surgical episodes within the context of primary care inside that same network.

Robotic Pediatric Urologic Surgery-Clinical Anesthetic Considerations: A Comprehensive Review.

Minimally invasive robotic approaches have become standard in many institutions over the last decade for various pediatric urological procedures. The anesthetic considerations for common laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgeries are similar since both require the insufflation of CO to adequately visualize the operative area. However, few studies exist regarding anesthesia for robotic procedures in children.

The Significance of Equipment Availability and Anesthesia Educational Conferences to Decision-Making for EKG Lead V5 Abnormalities.

Introduction To predict postoperative myocardial infarction rates in patients who undergo noncardiac surgery, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society Guidelines on Perioperative Cardiac Risk Assessment and Management recommends assessment of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) in certain patients. Serial troponins are measured if the BNP level is elevated. In certain cases, Revised Cardiac Risk Index (RCRI) alone does not perform well, for example, during vascular surgery.

A Perioperative Blood Management Algorithm Aimed at Conservation of Platelets in Clinical Practice: The Role of the Anesthesiologist in Decision-Making.

Platelet dysfunction and thrombocytopenia are associated with postoperative morbidity not only from modifiable preoperative factors but also from a lack of local patient blood management algorithms. In this regard, platelet transfusions have risen after the COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, there has been a shortage of donors.

Veno-venous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: Anesthetic Considerations in Clinical Practice.

Context: After the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple reviews have documented the success of veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). Patients who experience hypoxemia but have normal contractility may be switched to veno-venous-ECMO (VV-ECMO).

Purpose: In this review, we present three protocols for anesthesiologists.

Low-Dose Initiation of Buprenorphine: A Narrative Review.

Purpose Of Review: Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a chronic disorder in which a person loses control over the use of opioids, develops a compulsive behavior, and defends the use despite knowing the negative consequences. There are numerous treatments for OUD, including buprenorphine. Since it is displacing a full agonist opioid, precipitated withdrawal can occur with standard inductions involving buprenorphine.

Flooding the surgical field with carbon dioxide during open heart surgery improves segmental wall motion.

Air embolization to the coronary arteries is a common cause of myocardial ischemia during open heart surgery. Carbon dioxide emboli may be absorbed faster than air emboli. In this randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled trial, we determined that flooding the surgical field with carbon dioxide is associated with improved myocardial function assessed by transesophageal echocardiography.

Cerebral oxygen balance is impaired during repair of aortic coarctation in infants and children.

Objective: During repair of aortic coarctation through a left thoracotomy without cardiopulmonary bypass, clamping the proximal transverse aortic arch occludes antegrade flow to the left carotid and vertebral arteries. It is assumed that flow through the right carotid and vertebral arteries is adequate for cerebral perfusion. The study objective is to determine whether aortic occlusion impairs left hemispheric cerebral oxygen balance measured by near-infrared spectroscopy.