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Anesthesiology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Anesthesiology

Implementation Of Guidelines For Preprocedural Ultrasound In Neuraxial Placement For Obstetric Patients With Scoliosis, Luther Nyirenda May 2025

Implementation Of Guidelines For Preprocedural Ultrasound In Neuraxial Placement For Obstetric Patients With Scoliosis, Luther Nyirenda

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Neuraxial anesthesia including epidural, spinal, and combined spinal-epidural, is used with 65% of parturients in the United States for the management of pain and discomfort. Conventional landmark palpation has been the mainstay technique for neuraxial anesthesia, but unfamiliar spinal anatomy can lead to incomplete blockade or an increased incidence of complications. Scoliosis causes lateral curvature and rotation of the spine leading to arthritis and soft tissue changes that can present obscure anatomical landmarks, cause difficulty in needle passage, and result in inadequacy of local anesthetic efficacy. The literature illustrates that preprocedural ultrasound is recommended for needle placement in parturients with …


Using The Bispectral Index Monitor To Decrease The Incidence Of Unintended Intraoperative Awareness In The High-Risk Population, Bridget Hayes May 2025

Using The Bispectral Index Monitor To Decrease The Incidence Of Unintended Intraoperative Awareness In The High-Risk Population, Bridget Hayes

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Unintended intraoperative awareness is a traumatizing complication of general anesthesia. This negative outcome affects 0.1-0.2% of all patients undergoing general anesthesia. Patients at higher risk for this experience include those undergoing emergency surgery, traumas, cesarian sections, those on cardiopulmonary bypass, those with substance use disorder, and those undergoing total-intravenous anesthesia (TIVA). This high-risk population is affected by unintended intraoperative awareness 1% of the time. The bispectral index (BIS) monitor has been proposed as a tool to decrease the incidence of unintended intraoperative awareness. There are several large, randomized controlled trials that demonstrate that using a BIS monitor decreases the incidence …


Routine Evaluation With Gastric Ultrasound To Reduce Gastric Aspiration (Regurga), Joel Jackson Apr 2024

Routine Evaluation With Gastric Ultrasound To Reduce Gastric Aspiration (Regurga), Joel Jackson

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

When a patient undergoes anesthesia, there are inherent risks that the providers should protect the patient from. Despite adherence to fasting guidelines established by the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), patients undergoing anesthesia continue to experience intrapulmonary aspiration of gastric contents. There are several factors that delay gastric emptying, including coexisting disease, trauma, pain, and opioid use. Gastric ultrasound assessment of the gastric antrum is a relatively new technology in anesthesia and can be used to assess the gastric antrum and provide information to anesthesia providers regarding the risk of aspiration in the perioperative period. The primary aim of this …


Evidence-Based Practice Guidelines For The Optimal Assessment Of The Airway In Predicting Difficult Intubation, Meredith Louden Apr 2023

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 …


Pectoralis Nerve Block Compared To Thoracic Paravertebral Nerve Block In The Mastectomy Patient: Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations, Eric Boyer Apr 2023

Pectoralis Nerve Block Compared To Thoracic Paravertebral Nerve Block In The Mastectomy Patient: Evidence-Based Practice Recommendations, Eric Boyer

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Patients undergoing a mastectomy are at increased risk of becoming opioid dependent. Most patients undergoing a mastectomy are diagnosed with breast cancer, and the use of opioids is known to aid in cancer metastasizing due to the suppression of the body's natural killer cells. In addition, regional anesthesia, also known as a nerve block, has long provided a reduction in sensation by blocking the nerve pathway, thus numbing the feeling of pain in the operative area. The Pectoralis nerve block (PECS) and the Thoracic Paravertebral block (TPVB) are used in patients undergoing a mastectomy to help reduce the severity of …


Malignant Hyperthermia, Joel Jackson Jul 2021

Malignant Hyperthermia, Joel Jackson

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a hypermetabolic response to succinylcholine or inhaled volatile gases administered during anesthesia and is caused by an autosomal dominant mutation of RYR1 or CACNA1S genes which affect how calcium channels function. The uncontrolled, unopposed calcium release and excitation-contraction coupling results in sustained skeletal muscle contraction resulting in muscle rigidity, hyperthermia, hypercapnia, hypertension, and tachycardia among other less common clinical features. The sequelae of an MH crisis include renal failure, rhabdomyolysis, hyperkalemia, metabolic disturbance and left untreated will result in mortality. All clinicians involved in peri-operative care both in-hospital and out of hospital must be cognizant of …


Malignant Hyperthermia For The Nurse Anesthetist, Victor Clark Jul 2020

Malignant Hyperthermia For The Nurse Anesthetist, Victor Clark

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Malignant Hyperthermia (MH) is a rare, autosomal dominant skeletal muscle disorder that can have an insidious onset in susceptible patients exposed to the triggering agents succinylcholine, halothane, desflurane, sevoflurane, and isoflurane. MH can occur in patients who have received anesthesia with these agents in the past (Nagelhout & Plaus, 2018, p 775). Patients with a family history of MH or associated skeletal muscle disorder must be treated as MH-susceptible until proven otherwise. Failure to detect an MH crisis can lead to kidney failure, profound acidosis, coagulopathies, rhabdomyolysis, cardiac dysrhythmias, cardiovascular collapse, and death (Seifert et al., 2015). It is the …


Aortic Stenosis Poster, Katonya Lawson Jul 2019

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 …


Local Anesthesia Toxicity, Nicole Mccleery Jul 2017

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 …


Malignant Hyperthermia, Aaron Roth Jul 2016

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 …


Turning Up The Heat On Malignant Hyperthermia, Katie Carroll Jul 2015

Turning Up The Heat On Malignant Hyperthermia, Katie Carroll

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Surgeries are common, everyday procedures within the walls of America’s hospitals. According to Orser, Mazer, and Baker (2008), more than forty million patients in North America are given anesthetics annually. One of the major complications of anesthesia is malignant hyperthermia: a hyper-metabolic state that affects skeletal muscles. If left uncontrolled, malignant hyperthermia can cause multiple reactions within the body leading to metabolic and respiratory acidosis, cardiac dysrhythmias, kidney failure, coagulopathy, neurologic injury, and ultimately death (Seifert, Wahr, Pace, Cochrane, & Bagnola 2014). The incidence of this condition is estimated to be 1:15,000 in children and 1:20,000-50,000 in adults (Redmond, 2001). …


Malignant Hyperthermia, Chase Contri Oct 2014

Malignant Hyperthermia, Chase Contri

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Although very rare, occurring one out of every 100,000 anesthesia cases, malignant hyperthermia is a hypermetabolic disorder that anesthesia providers screen and interrogate patients prior to every case they are administering anesthesia. Many research studies about anesthesia induced malignant hyperthermia have explored new methods of testing for the genetic susceptibility for malignant hyperthermia and into hospital based protocols when a patient starts to show the signs and symptoms of the metabolic disorder. This new knowledge and understanding has decreased patient mortality of anesthesia induced malignant hyperthermia from eighty percent to five percent over the past three decades (Rosenberg et al, …


Malignant Hyperthermia, Devin Poncsak Oct 2014

Malignant Hyperthermia, Devin Poncsak

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

A crisis of malignant hyperthermia is a medical emergency, and must be treated immediately with a coordinated, multidisciplinary team response in order to give the patient the highest chance for a successful recovery (Dirksen, Van Wicklin, Mashman, Neiderer, & Merritt, 2013). Malignant hyperthermia is defined by Bandschapp & Girard (2012), as “a disturbance of the skeletal muscle calcium homeostasis, triggered by volatile anaesthetics and depolarizing muscle relaxants.” Once a vulnerable patient is exposed to one of these triggering agents, a pathologic hypermetabolic response ensues, and the patient has a rapid increase in oxygen consumption and expired carbon dioxide, hyperthermia, acidosis, …


Pseudocholinesterase Deficiency, Ross Gerken Oct 2014

Pseudocholinesterase Deficiency, Ross Gerken

Nursing Student Class Projects (Formerly MSN)

Pseudocholinesterase deficiency is a rare genetic or acquired variation in the metabolism of choline esters such as the neuromuscular blockers succinylcholine, mivacurium, and ester local anesthetics. Pseudocholinesterase deficiency genetically is transmitted in an autosomal recessive pattern with the frequency of apnea from a genetic abnormality of pseudocholinesterase between 1:480 and 1:3200 people (Ok et al., 2013). An extended period of neuromuscular blockade results from these medications than what is clinically expected. The signs and symptoms which occur are apnea and paralysis hours longer. This condition is rare but must be known and understood by the clinician in order to provide …