UNLABELLED The advent of managed care, reduction of costs, and advances in medical technology place increasing demands on anesthesiologists. Preoperative anxiety may go unnoticed in an environment that stresses increased productivity. The present study compares different methods for measuring preoperative anxiety, identifies certain patient characteristics that predispose to high anxiety, and d...

Each year over 16 million older Americans undergo general anesthesia for surgery, and up to 40% develop postoperative delirium and/or cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Delirium and POCD are each associated with decreased quality of life, early retirement, increased 1-year mortality, and long-term cognitive decline. Multiple investigators have thus suggested that anesthesia and surgery place severe ...

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES Effective postoperative analgesia is important for reducing the incidence of chronic pain. This study evaluated the effect of preoperative gabapentin on postoperative analgesia and the incidence of chronic pain among patients undergoing carpal tunnel syndrome surgical treatment. DESIGN AND SETTINGS Randomized, double-blind controlled trial, Federal University of São Pau...

Background Airway management remains one of the most important responsibilities of anesthesiologists. Prediction of difficult airway allows time for proper selection of equipment, technique, and personnel experienced in managing patients with difficult airway. Face to face preoperative anesthesia interviews are difficult to conduct as they necessitate patients traveling to the clinics, and, in ...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Patient's satisfaction is a standard indicator of care quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a preoperative oral ingestion of 200mL of a carbohydrate drink can improve comfort and satisfaction with anesthesia in elderly patients with hip fracture. METHOD Prospective randomized clinical trial conducted in a Brazilian public hospital, with patients ASA...

Several studies have suggested that the menstrual cycle has the impact on sedation. No previous study has evaluated the effects of the menstrual cycle on sedation level and propofol requirement with preoperative intravenous dexmedetomidine. Sixty-four adult fertile women receiving general anesthesia for elective gynecologic surgery were included in the study. Patients were classified into four ...

www.aana.com/aanajournalonline Anesthesia providers and surgeons do poorly at consistently identifying patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) without use of screening tools. Aims of this evidence-based-practice project were to determine whether educating nurses about OSA and incorporating the STOP-BANG Questionnaire into preoperative forms was associated with an increased identification of...

This prospective, randomized study evaluated the effects of spinal versus general anesthetic technique on perioperative blood loss and the development of postoperative coagulopathies in 50 patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP). Preoperative hematologic measurements included hemoglobin, platelet count, electrolytes, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, fibr...

Dr Pasternak: Bayview uses a preoperative evaluation center (PEC) that is under the management of senior clinical nurses. Bayview has 10 ORs and a surgical volume of 8,000 patients a year. Administratively and clinically, the nurses run the clinic under the direction of an anesthesiologist who is a medical director but who is not on site. We used to have a physician on site who was assigned as ...

AIM Preoperative fluid and electrolyte management is usually performed by intravenous therapy. We investigated the safety and effectiveness of oral rehydration therapy (ORT) for preoperative fluid and electrolyte management of surgical patients. METHODS The study consisted of two studies, designed as a prospective observational study. In a pilot study, 20 surgical patients consumed 1000 mL of...