ANESTHESIA PATIENT QUESTIONS BLOG
IS YOUR GRANDMOTHER TOO OLD FOR SURGERY?
This column is for my non-medical layperson readers. Your 85-year-old grandmother had two gallstone attacks in the past 6 months. Is she too old…
Tag: anesthesiologists
CLINICAL CASES FOR ANESTHESIA PROFESSIONALS
LANDING THE ANESTHESIA PLANE: WHEN SHOULD YOU EXTUBATE THE TRACHEA?
This column is for my readers who are anesthesia professionals. When should you extubate the trachea? Clinical Case for Discussion: You’re anesthetizing a 60-year-old woman…
ANESTHESIA PATIENT QUESTIONS BLOG
WHY DOES ANYONE DECIDE THEY WANT TO BECOME AN ANESTHESIOLOGIST?
A question anesthesiologists are commonly asked is, “Why did you want to become an anesthesiologist?" Let’s assume a young man or woman has the…
CLINICAL CASES FOR ANESTHESIA PROFESSIONALS
USEFUL PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA EQUATIONS
You are driving to the hospital, en route to doing a pediatric anesthetic on a 2-year-old that will require an endotracheal tube. You are…
CLINICAL CASES FOR ANESTHESIA PROFESSIONALS
SEVEN DEADLY DRUGS IN AN ANESTHESIOLOGIST’S DRAWER
As anesthesiologists we are the only physicians who routinely prescribe and administer injectable medications ourselves. Most physicians write orders for medications. Registered nurses then…
ANESTHESIA PATIENT QUESTIONS BLOG
WILL YOU HAVE AN ANESTHESIOLOGIST FOR YOUR WISDOM TEETH EXTRACTION SURGERY?
In the United States, will you have an anesthesiologist for your wisdom teeth extraction surgery? If you are a healthy patient, the answer is:…
ANESTHESIA PATIENT QUESTIONS BLOG
CAN YOU CHOOSE YOUR ANESTHESIOLOGIST?
You choose the car you drive, the apartment you rent, the smart phone in your pocket, and the flavor of ice cream among 31…
ANESTHESIA PATIENT QUESTIONS BLOG
DOES REPEATED GENERAL ANESTHESIA HARM THE BRAINS OF INFANTS AND YOUNG CHILDREN?
Recent scholarly publications have raised the question whether repeated exposure to general anesthesia is harmful to the developing brain in infants and young children. …
CLINICAL CASES FOR ANESTHESIA PROFESSIONALS
THE TOP TEN MOST USEFUL ADVANCES AND THE FIVE MOST OVERRATED ADVANCES AFFECTING ANESTHESIA IN THE PAST 25 YEARS
In 1986 the American Society of Anesthesiologists adopted pulse oximetry and end-tidal CO2 monitoring as standards of care. These two monitors were our specialty’s…
CLINICAL CASES FOR ANESTHESIA PROFESSIONALS
AWARENESS UNDER GENERAL ANESTHESIA
How common is awareness under general anesthesia? In 2007, Hollywood released the movie Awake, in which the protagonist, played by Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker…
Creative Writing in Anesthesia
ON PEDIATRIC ANESTHESIA: THE METRONOME
The Russell Museum of Medical History and Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital presented an audio recording of The Metronome at Perspectives on Anesthesia, at Boston City…
CLINICAL CASES FOR ANESTHESIA PROFESSIONALS
ROBOT ANESTHESIA
Will robots replace anesthesiologists? I am the Medical Director of a surgery center in California that does 5,000 gastroenterology endoscopies per year. In 2013…