Nonoperating Room Anesthesia: Anesthesia in the Gastrointestinal Suite.

Exponential growth in endoscopy suite procedures due to technological advances requires teamwork between anesthesiologists, endoscopists, nursing teams, and technical and support staff. The current standard of care for moderate sedation includes a combination of anxiolytic drugs and analgesic drugs and sometimes are not adequate to ensure patient safety, efficiency, and comfort. The use of anesthesia services can improve safety, recovery, turnovers, and efficiency.

Nil per os guidelines: what is changing, what is not, and what should?

Preoperative nil per os (NPO) guidelines have been in existence since the recognition of the risk of perioperative aspiration. These guidelines aim at reducing the risk for gastric content aspiration to the lowest possible, to avoid associated morbidity, unplanned hospital and/or an intensive care admission. Thus, such guidelines are not only considered for patients having major surgeries, but more so in those having ambulatory surgery including those performed at non-operating room anesthesia locations.

Surgical options for refractory ventricular tachycardia.

Ventricular tachycardia (VT) is most often treated with antiarrhythmic drug therapy. When standard drugs fail, percutaneous, endocardial ablation guided by electroanatomic mapping is usually curative. Occasionally, these options are either unsuccessful or are not feasible, and surgical ablation is required.

Deep sternal wire infection resulting in severe pulmonary valve endocarditis.

Right-sided infective endocarditis is uncommon, comprising less than 5% of all cases of endocarditis. This is primarily seen in patients with drug abuse, long-term intravenous catheters, and congenital malformations, or a combination of these. Isolated pulmonary valve endocarditis is difficult to recognize due to its rarity, minimal cardiac manifestations, and predominance of pulmonary infections secondary to embolization of the vegetations.

Intraoperative electro-anatomical mapping and beating heart ablation of ventricular tachycardia.

In most cases ventricular tachycardia is responsive to antiarrhythmic drug therapy. If antiarrhythmic drugs fail, then percutaneous, endocardial ablation guided by electro-anatomical mapping is usually curative. Occasionally neither of these therapies is successful and surgical ablation is required.