Anesthesiology Commons^™

Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines For The Optimal Assessment Of The Airway In Predicting Difficult Intubation, Meredith Louden

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Adverse respiratory events are the most common injuries in anesthesia; difficult intubation and ventilation contribute to most cases. Injuries following inadequate airway management include cerebral hypoxia, aspiration, and cardiac arrest. Despite the risk and consequences following inadequate airway management, most medical facilities lack standardized airway assessments for anesthesia providers. Current evidence implicates that ultrasound measurement of the hyomental distance demonstrates the highest specificity and accuracy in predicting difficult intubation. The traditional approach to conducting airway assessments includes Mallampati classification, which shows high specificity for predicting difficult airways only when combined with other airway assessments. The purpose of this evidence-based project …

The Anxiolytic Effects Of Aromatherapy On Preprocedural Anxiety: An Integrated Review, Rebekah Smith

Senior Honors Theses

Anxiety before procedures can negatively impact patients by increasing cortisol levels which delays wound healing and increases infection risk, increasing pain and sedation medication needs, and increasing hospitalization time. This review was conducted to find how inhaled essential oils affect pre-procedural anxiety of adults in acute care settings. Nine databases and some gray literature were searched within the past ten years, and documented using the PRISMA flow chart. Ten articles fitting the inclusion criteria were retrieved. Nine of the articles found a significant difference between the aromatherapy group and control group and pre- and post- intervention anxiety scores, and none …

Opioid Free Anesthesia, Sarah Medina

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Patients undergoing surgery are often given opioids intraoperatively. Administration of opioids is associated with untoward side effects that include nausea, respiratory depression, constipation, ileus, hyperalgesia, prolonged length of stay, and the potential for dependence (Garimella & Cellini, 2013). Emerging research on the topic of opioid-free anesthesia (OFA) is available and indicates several benefits of OFA, including reduction in postoperative pain, reduction in postoperative nausea and vomiting, reduction in postoperative shivering, and improved oxygen saturation levels (Mulier et al., 2018). This quality improvement project aimed to advance anesthesia providers' understanding of OFA by creating an OFA guideline and providing a learning …

A Quality Improvement Project To Determine The Incidence And Prevalence Of Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Best Practice Anesthesia Guidelines, And The Incidence Of Perioperative Cardiac And Respiratory Complications After The Implementation Of The Stop-Bang Questionnaire, Bradly Diamond, Gregory Guerrier, Cody Holliman, Robert Marrero, Tyler Nelson

Doctoral Projects

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are at risk for perioperative respiratory and cardiovascular compromise (Opperer et al., 2016). Unfortunately, almost 90% of patients with moderate-to-severe OSA are not diagnosed and unaware of their disorder; however, they remain at increased perioperative risks (Singh et al., 2015). The STOP-BANG questionnaire was developed to meet the need for a reliable, concise, and efficient screening tool for OSA risk. The facility at which this project was conducted did not utilize a prescreening OSA risk tool. The facility not using a prescreening OSA risk tool is especially important because the State of Mississippi currently …

Aortic Stenosis Poster, Katonya Lawson

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Aortic stenosis is the narrowing of the aortic valve secondary to calcification and fibrosis. It is the most common valve disorder and the second most frequent reason for cardiac surgery. As the elderly population increases, the number of patients presenting with aortic stenosis will increase. RNs and APRNs need to be aware of the pathophysiology and clinical manifestations of aortic stenosis because the disease can progress quickly and be fatal if mismanaged. Patients with aortic stenosis have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality during the peri-operative period during non-cardiac surgery. Therefore, CRNAs must remain vigilant when caring for this …

Aortic Stenosis Poster.Pptx, Katonya Lawson

Katonya Lawson

Continuous Epidural Analgesia For Postoperative Pain Management: A Policy Analysis, Madison Nowell

Doctoral Projects

Postoperative pain management is a necessary component of the care of every surgical patient. Epidural analgesia is a widely used method to provide excellent postoperative pain relief and enhance postoperative recovery (Sawhney, 2012). Epidural analgesia is associated with fewer side effects than alternative pain management techniques; however, when epidural catheters are managed improperly, or pain is inadequately assessed, epidural analgesia fails to provide adequate pain relief (Deni et al., 2016). More than 80% of surgical patients experience moderate to severe postoperative pain, and 28 to 50% of these patients have a pain score greater than 6 out of 10 at …

Local Anesthesia Toxicity, Nicole Mccleery

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Local anesthesia (LA) provides a way to relieve temporary pain in a small part of the body and has been used for over 100 years (Fencl, 2015). LA also prevents the passage of surgical stimuli into the central nervous system (CNS) making a surgical procedure less painful for the patient (Noble, 2015). According to Noble, “altering the passage of stimuli from smaller diameter neurons in a confined area with lower drug dosages is called LA, such as the injection of LA around a surgical incision” (Noble, 2015, p.325). LA can be used in a variety of settings, such as in …

In The Postoperative Cardiothoracic Surgical Patient Being Mechanically Ventilated, Is There A Difference In Outcomes When Comparing Sedation With Dexmedetomidine Versus Propofol?, Benjamin Heinrich Riebesel

Doctoral Projects

Patients undergoing a cardiothoracic operation typically require mechanical ventilation in the postoperative phase. Each year approximately 395,000 of these operations are performed in the United States alone. As many as 10% of these patients require reoperation within the first few hours of recovery due to complications (Barash & Cullen, 2013). This comprehensive review of the literature was performed to determine whether postoperative sedation with dexmedetomidine leads to better patient outcomes than sedation with propofol. Inclusion criteria included publications written in the English language, articles available in full text, articles written within the last 10 years, and publications with a focus …

Malignant Hyperthermia, Aaron Roth

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Malignant hyperthermia is a rare disease trait and can take place in a variety of settings. If not treated in a timely manner, the consequences will be dire. It is recommended that nurses and other healthcare personnel be properly educated on MH crises. By detecting the signs and symptoms associated with the disease, providers can efficiently remedy the crisis and save patient lives (Seifert, 2014). Since the discovery of dantrolene in 1975 and the advancement of genetics regarding MH, death rates dropped from about 80% to about 5% (Schneiderbanger et al., 2014). Today there is a MH group called the …