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AN ANESTHESIOLOGIST CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE WITH ONE FINGER

The Anesthesia Consultant

Let’s look at a common anesthetic technique for simple surgical procedures—an intravenous infusion of the sedative anesthetic propofol. This is a common technique for short procedures such as a colonoscopy, an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, or the retrieval of an oocyte (unfertilized egg) from a woman’s ovaries.

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WAS JUSTICE ANTONIN SCALIA’S DEATH FROM OBSTRUCTIVE SLEEP APNEA?

The Anesthesia Consultant

We’re going to sedate this patient for a medical procedure. The procedure does not require a breathing tube, so we’ll administer the sedation and be vigilant regarding what happens to the patient’s vital signs. If this airway obstruction is not remedied, the oxygen saturation will drop below a safe level of 90%.

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DO DOCTORS EVER RIDE IN AMBULANCES?

The Anesthesia Consultant

This includes avoiding procedures that cause major pain, bleeding, or disruption of physiology. Medical Directors work to limit the types of cases performed in a freestanding surgery center.

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ROBOT ANESTHESIA II

The Anesthesia Consultant

In addition to monitoring the patient’s EEG level of consciousness (via a BIS monitor device called NeuroSENSE), this new device monitors traditional vital signs such as blood oxygen levels, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure, to determine how much anesthesia to deliver.

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EXTUBATION IS RISKY BUSINESS. WHY THE CONCLUSION OF GENERAL ANESTHESIA CAN BE A CRITICAL EVENT

The Anesthesia Consultant

In contrast, other operating room professionals are usually relaxed and winding down at this time, because the surgical procedure is finished. low oxygen saturations or airway obstruction) occurred at a significantly higher rate following extubation than during induction of anesthesia (P < 0.01). Extubation is not a time to relax.

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ROBOTIC ANESTHESIA 

The Anesthesia Consultant

The failure of Sedasys was attributed to three factors : If a patient became too “light” during a procedure, the Sedasys system was not capable of increasing the depth of the sedation. There was limited clinical use of Sedasys, and Ethicon announced in March 2016 that it was pulling Sedasys from the market.

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FIVE MINUTES. TO AVOID ANOXIC BRAIN INJURY

The Anesthesia Consultant

Some brain cells start dying within five minutes after the oxygen supply disappears, and brain hypoxia can rapidly cause severe brain damage or death. 1,2) In malpractice cases I’ve consulted on, a five-minute window is an accepted duration for low blood oxygen levels to cause permanent brain damage.