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

The Anesthesia Consultant

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. As with all anesthetics, the patient will be fully monitored for heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate, and exhaled carbon dioxide level.

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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

The blood oxygen level dropped acutely to life-threatening levels. The anesthesiologist then performed an emergency reintubation to replace the ET tube to again ventilate oxygen into the patient’s lungs to save his life. The patient’s vital signs remained normal and the ET tube was removed.

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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.

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ROBOTIC ANESTHESIA 

The Anesthesia Consultant

The Glidescope, sugammadex, ultrasound-guided blocks, and the time-consuming Electronic Medical Record arrived, but we typically administer the same medications, use the same airway tubes, and watch the same vital signs monitors as we did in the 1990s. Why have there been no new anesthetics?