Survey of anesthesiologists' practices related to steep Trendelenburg positioning in the USA.

Background: Steep Trendelenburg during surgery has been associated with many position-related injuries. The American Society of Anesthesiology practice advisory recommends documentation, frequent position checks, avoiding shoulder braces, and limiting abduction of upper extremities to avoid brachial plexopathy. We conducted a web-based survey to assess anesthesiologists' practices, institutional policies, and complications encountered when using steep Trendelenburg.

Improving compliance with timely intraoperative redosing of antimicrobials in surgical prophylaxis.

Background: Appropriate use of antimicrobials for surgical prophylaxis is an important patient safety issue. Antimicrobial levels should be present during the duration of the surgical procedure until incision site closure. For prolonged surgical procedures in which the tissue concentration of the prophylactic antimicrobial may decrease to below the necessary minimum inhibitory concentration, intraoperative redosing of antimicrobials may be crucial.

Frequency of interactions and hand disinfections among anesthesiologists while providing anesthesia care in the operating room: induction versus maintenance.

We evaluated the behaviors of anesthesiologists during induction and maintenance of anesthesia. Contacts with surfaces occurred a mean (±standard error) of 154.8 ± 7.

Randomized crossover study evaluating the effect of a hand sanitizer dispenser on the frequency of hand hygiene among anesthesiology staff in the operating room.

Forty anesthesia providers were evaluated with and without hand sanitizer dispensers present on the anesthesia machine. Having a dispenser increased the frequency of hand hygiene only from 0.5 to 0.

Interactions between anesthesiologists and the environment while providing anesthesia care in the operating room.

We describe 1,132 contacts between anesthesiologists and the operating room. Objects most commonly touched included anesthesia machines and keyboards. Only 13 hand hygiene events were witnessed during 8 hours of observations.