Performance of pulse oximeters as a function of race compared to skin pigmentation: a single center retrospective study.

Pulse oximetry (SpO) is a critical monitor for assessing oxygenation status and guiding therapy in critically ill patients. Race has been identified as a potential source of SpO error, with consequent bias and inequities in healthcare. This study was designed to evaluate the incidence of occult hypoxemia and accuracy of pulse oximetry associated with the Massey-Martin scale and characterize the relationship between Massey scores and self-identified race.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in US Anesthesiology Residency Matching.

Background: Patient outcomes are improved with physician-patient gender, racial, and ethnic concordance. However, female, Black, Hispanic or Latino, Native Hawaiian-Pacific Islander (NH-PI), and American Indian-Native Alaskan (AI-AN) physicians are underrepresented in anesthesiology. The American Association of Medical Colleges 2018 Diversity in Medicine Report revealed that women comprise only 35% of anesthesiologists yet nearly half of medical school graduates are women.

Effect of lipid-lowering medications in patients with coronary artery bypass grafting surgery outcomes.

Background: Increased life expectancy and improved medical technology allow increasing numbers of elderly patients to undergo cardiac surgery. Elderly patients may be at greater risk of postoperative morbidity and mortality. Complications can lead to worsened quality of life, shortened life expectancy and higher healthcare costs.

Comparison of Oral Loading Dose to Intravenous Acetaminophen in Children for Analgesia After Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Background: Acetaminophen is a frequently used adjunct analgesic in pediatric patients undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy. We compared opioid administration following preoperative intravenous (IV) or oral acetaminophen in addition to a standard multimodal regimen to test the hypothesis that 1 loading dose approach would provide superior opioid sparing effects among pediatric surgical patients undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy.

Methods: This single-center, double-blind, double-dummy prospective randomized study was conducted in patients ages 3 to 15 years undergoing tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy with or without myringotomy and tube placement between September 2017 and July 2019.

Course of illness and outcomes in older COVID-19 patients treated with HFNC: a retrospective analysis.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread worldwide and causes high mortality of elderly patients. High-flow nasal cannula therapy (HFNC) is an oxygen delivery method for severely ill patients. We retrospectively analyzed the course of illness and outcomes in 110 elderly COVID-19 patients (≥65 years) treated with HFNC from 6 hospitals.

Perioperative dexmedetomidine and 5-year survival in patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

Background: Dexmedetomidine sedation has been associated with favourable outcomes after surgery. We aimed to assess whether perioperative dexmedetomidine use is associated with improved survival after cardiac surgery.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 2068 patients undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting and/or valve surgery.

Simultaneous comparison of depth of sedation performance between SedLine and BIS during general anesthesia using custom passive interface hardware: study protocol for a prospective, non-blinded, non-randomized trial.

Background: Intraoperative brain function monitoring with processed electroencephalogram (EEG) indices, such as the bispectral index (BIS) and patient state index (PSI), may improve characterization of the depth of sedation or anesthesia when compared to conventional physiologic monitors, such as heart rate and blood pressure. However, the clinical assessment of anesthetic depth may not always agree with available processed EEG indices. To concurrently compare the performance of BIS and SedLine monitors, we present a data collection system using shared individual generic sensors connected to a custom-built passive interface box.

Frailty, Race/Ethnicity, Functional Status, and Adverse Outcomes After Total Hip/Knee Arthroplasty: A Moderation Analysis.

Background: Although frailty has been shown to be associated with adverse outcomes in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA), prior studies have not examined how race/ethnicity might moderate these associations. We aimed to assess race/ethnicity as a potential moderator of the associations of frailty and functional status with arthroplasty outcomes.

Methods: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was queried for patients who underwent THA or TKA from 2011 to 2017.

Remote Ischemic Pre-conditioning in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage: A Prospective Pilot Trial.

Background: Cerebral injury from aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) is twofold. The initial hemorrhage causes much of the injury; secondary injury can occur from delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI). Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is a mechanism of organ protection in response to transient ischemia within a distant organ.

Oxygen Reserve Index: Utility as an Early Warning for Desaturation in High-Risk Surgical Patients.

Background: Perioperative pulse oximetry hemoglobin saturation (Spo2) measurement is associated with fewer desaturation and hypoxia episodes. However, the sigmoidal nature of oxygen-hemoglobin dissociation limits the accuracy of estimation of the partial pressure of oxygen (Pao2) >80 mm Hg and correspondingly limits the ability to identify when Pao2 >80 mm Hg but falling. We hypothesized that a proxy measurement for oxygen saturation (Oxygen Reserve Index [ORI]) derived from multiwavelength pulse oximetry may allow additional warning time before critical desaturation or hypoxia.

Perioperative Dexmedetomidine Improves Outcomes of Kidney Transplant.

Graft function is crucial for successful kidney transplantation. Many factors may affect graft function or cause delayed graft function (DGF), which decreases the prognosis for graft survival. This study was designed to evaluate whether the perioperative use of dexmedetomidine (Dex) could improve the incidence of function of graft kidney and complications after kidney transplantation.

Study of early warning for desaturation provided by Oxygen Reserve Index in obese patients.

Acute hemoglobin desaturation can reflect rapidly decreasing PaO. Pulse oximetry saturation (SpO) facilitates hypoxia detection but may not significantly decrease until PaO < 80 mmHg. The Oxygen Reserve Index (ORI) is a unitless index that correlates with moderately hyperoxic PaO.

Impact of preoperative pectoralis plane nerve blocks for mastectomy on perioperative opioid consumption: a retrospective study.

To compare perioperative opioid consumption for patients undergoing mastectomy surgery with or without pectoralis nerve (PECS) plane blocks. Retrospective study evaluating 152 adult females with mastectomies. Demographics, postanesthesia care unit stay duration and opioid consumption data at three time points were collected and analyzed for statistical significance.

Effect of Dexmedetomidine on Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury: A Meta-Analysis With Trial Sequential Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Objective: Cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CS-AKI) is associated with high mortality rates. This study aimed to determine the effects of perioperative dexmedetomidine (DEX) administration on CS-AKI in adult patients.

Design: A meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis of randomized controlled trials.

A comparison of postoperative outcomes with PDA ligation in the OR versus the NICU: a retrospective cohort study on the risks of transport.

Background: Although patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligations in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) have been an accepted practice, many are still performed in the Operating Room (OR). Whether avoiding transport leads to improved perioperative outcomes is unclear. Here we aimed to determine whether PDA ligations in the NICU corresponded to higher risk of surgical site infection or mortality and if transport was associated with worsened perioperative outcomes.

A comparison of midazolam and zolpidem as oral premedication in children, a prospective randomized double-blinded clinical trial.

Background: Anxiety associated with pediatric surgery can be stressful. Midazolam is a well-accepted anxiolytic in this setting. However, there are cases in which this medication is not effective.

Inhalation of high concentration hydrogen gas improves short-term outcomes in a rat model of asphyxia induced-cardiac arrest.

Cardiogenic global brain hypoxia-ischemia is a devastating medical problem that is associated with unfavorable neurologic outcomes. Low dose hydrogen gas (up to 2.9%) has been shown to be neuroprotective in a variety of brain diseases.

Retrospective Cohort Study on the Optimal Timing of Orogastric Tube/Nasogastric Tube Insertion in Infants With Pyloric Stenosis.

Background: Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis in infants can cause a buildup of gastric contents. Orogastric tubes (OGTs) or nasogastric tubes (NGTs) are often placed in patients with pyloric stenosis before surgical management to prevent aspiration. However, exacerbation of gastric losses may lead to electrolyte abnormalities that can delay surgery, and placement has been associated with increased risk of postoperative emesis.

Remote Limb Ischemic Preconditioning Attenuates Cerebrovascular Depression During Sinusoidal Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation via α-Adrenoceptor-Protein Kinase Cε-Endothelial NO Synthase Pathway in Rats.

Background: Vasovagal syncope (VVS) is characterized by hypotension and bradycardia followed by lowering of cerebral blood flow. Remote limb ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is well documented to provide cardio- and neuroprotection as well as to improve cerebral blood flow. We hypothesized that RIPC will provide protection against VVS-induced hypotension, bradycardia, and cerebral hypoperfusion.

Extreme Plasma Dilution Decreases Heparin and Protamine Cardiopulmonary Bypass Requirements: A Case Report on a Jehovah's Witness Patient.

The primary focus of cardiopulmonary bypass management in Jehovah's Witness patients is the need to conserve blood. A consequence of these strategies inevitably results in hemodilution that is frequently extreme enough to dilute clotting factors and potentially impair coagulation. The purpose of this case report is to demonstrate that a hemodiluted patient requires less heparin to sustain anticoagulation and less protamine to reverse heparin at cardiopulmonary bypass termination.

Phase I and Phase II Therapies for Acute Ischemic Stroke: An Update on Currently Studied Drugs in Clinical Research.

Acute ischemic stroke is a devastating cause of death and disability, consequences of which depend on the time from ischemia onset to treatment, the affected brain region, and its size. The main targets of ischemic stroke therapy aim to restore tissue perfusion in the ischemic penumbra in order to decrease the total infarct area by maintaining blood flow. Advances in research of pathological process and pathways during acute ischemia have resulted in improvement of new treatment strategies apart from restoring perfusion.

Crotalus atrox venom preconditioning increases plasma fibrinogen and reduces perioperative hemorrhage in a rat model of surgical brain injury.

Perioperative bleeding is a potentially devastating complication in neurosurgical patients, and plasma fibrinogen concentration has been identified as a potential modifiable risk factor for perioperative bleeding. The aim of this study was to evaluate preconditioning with Crotalus atrox venom (Cv-PC) as potential preventive therapy for reducing perioperative hemorrhage in the rodent model of surgical brain injury (SBI). C.