Physician anesthesiologist at Stanford at Associated Anesthesiologists Medical Group
Richard Novak, MD is a Stanford physician board certified in anesthesiology and internal medicine.Dr. Novak is an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University, the Medical Director at Waverley Surgery Center in Palo Alto, California, and a member of the Associated Anesthesiologists Medical Group in Palo Alto, California.
emailrjnov@yahoo.com

You’re scheduled to anesthetize an NFL quarterback for a shoulder arthroscopy and rotator cuff repair. The patient earns $20 million dollars per year for throwing footballs. Would you feel comfortable inserting a needle into his neck to do a regional anesthetic? Would you feel comfortable doing an interscalene block on an NFL quarterback as part of his anesthetic?

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Regional anesthesia is a growing frontier in modern clinical anesthesia, in part because of the availability of ultrasonic imaging to help us direct needle placement. The subspecialty of regional anesthesia has blossomed. Listening to some of its disciples, it would seem that nearly every orthopedic surgery procedure can benefit from an ultrasonic regional block for intraoperative and postoperative pain control.

Anesthesiology News (Hardman D, July 2015, 41:7) recently reviewed the topic of nerve injury after peripheral nerve block. Data shows that the risk for permanent or severe nerve injury after peripheral nerve blocks is low. Per the article, the prevalence of permanent injury rates as defined by a neurologic abnormality present at or beyond 12 months after the procedure, ranges from 0.029% to 0.2%.

Low, but not zero.

There is a high incidence of temporary postoperative neurologic symptoms after arthroscopic shoulder surgery, whether the patient received a regional block or not. The incidence of temporary neurologic symptoms during the first week ranged as high as 16% to 30%. Most of these involved minor sensory symptoms such as paresthesias and dysesthesias.

An incidence of 16% to 30% is a remarkably high number.

Data from a clinical registry at the Mayo Clinic for total shoulder arthroplasty from 1993 to 2007 demonstrated a peripheral nerve injury rate of 3.7% following general anesthesia in contrast to a peripheral nerve injury rate of 1.7% in patients who received an interscalene block (Sviggum HP, et al. Perioperative nerve injury after total shoulder arthroplasty: assessment of risk after regional anesthesia. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2012;37:490-494). It’s striking that the patients with general anesthesia had MORE peripheral nerve injuries than patients who had an interscalene block.

Over 97% of the patients who developed peripheral nerve injury recovered completely or partially at 2.5 years after the procedure. Seventy-one percent experienced full recovery, which means that 29% did not experience full recovery.

Given this information, would you give the NFL quarterback a general anesthetic or would you include an interscalene block?

I submit that no anesthesia provider would feel comfortable inserting a needle in the neck of this $20 million-dollar-a-year man. No anesthesia provider would feel comfortable doing an interscalene block for his shoulder arthroscopy. Why not? Even though the above data show that peripheral nerve injury can occur following shoulder arthroscopy with either general or interscalene anesthesia, the anesthesiologist will likely be sued only if he or she performs the interscalene anesthesia.

A plaintiff lawyer will be quick to link the needle in the patient’s neck to the nerve damage, if the damages are the NFL player’s inability to earn his $20 million per year, and the anesthesiologist will be sued. If there is peripheral nerve injury following a general anesthetic, expect the surgeon to be sued.

It’s that simple. With peripheral nerve injury following general anesthesia, the surgeon will incur the medical malpractice risk because shoulder arthroscopy has its own risks for nerve injury. Risks include: 1) traction on the brachial plexus due to positioning during surgery, 2) irrigating fluid extravasation causing tissue edema compressing the brachial plexus and peripheral nerves, or 3) arthroscopic portals damaging nerves.

Ultrasound-guided blocks have many advantages, but there is no sufficient evidence demonstrating a lower neurologic complication rate with this technique.(Liu SS, et al. A prospective, randomized controlled trial comparing ultrasound versus nerve stimulator guidance for interscalene block for ambulatory shoulder surgery for postoperative neurological symptoms. Anesth Analg. 2009;109:265-271).

The explosion of regional anesthesia is relatively recent, and the medical malpractice fallout of this explosion is yet to be understood. We may find a trail of anesthesia closed claims related to nerve injuries that lasted over one year, especially if the patient did not receive explicit informed consent that permanent nerve damage was a risk of the nerve block.

If the risk of a limb-harming peripheral nerve injury is prohibitive for an NFL player, why is the risk acceptable for the rest of our patients? Is it because an accountant or a fireman who is a recreational tennis player or golfer is less likely to sue the anesthesiologist if a peripheral nerve injury occurs?

A 2007 survey of academic regional anesthesiologists indicated that nearly 40% of respondents did not disclose the risks of long-term and disabling neurologic injury prior to performing peripheral nerve blocks.( Brull R, et al. Disclosure of risks associated with regional anesthesia: a survey of academic regional anesthesiologists. Reg Anesth Pain Med. 2007;32:7-11)

It’s more difficult to sell an “optional” peripheral nerve block if you disclose to the patient the risks for long-term nerve damage. However, if you do not disclose the risks of long-term nerve damage, you will be vulnerable to a lawsuit should nerve damage occur.

We’ll need to review the anesthesia closed claims data for peripheral nerve injuries in five or ten years time to see how many successful lawsuits were generated by the current crescendo in the performance peripheral nerve blocks. Until that time, I recommend honest and complete informed consent to all your patients regarding the non-zero risks of permanent nerve damage related to peripheral nerve blocks.

 

The most popular posts for laypeople on The Anesthesia Consultant include:

How Long Will It Take To Wake Up From General Anesthesia?

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Published in September 2017:  The second edition of THE DOCTOR AND MR. DYLAN, Dr. Novak’s debut novel, a medical-legal mystery which blends the science and practice of anesthesiology with unforgettable characters, a page-turning plot, and the legacy of Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan.

KIRKUS REVIEW

In this debut thriller, tragedies strike an anesthesiologist as he tries to start a new life with his son.

Dr. Nico Antone, an anesthesiologist at Stanford University, is married to Alexandra, a high-powered real estate agent obsessed with money. Their son, Johnny, an 11th-grader with immense potential, struggles to get the grades he’ll need to attend an Ivy League college. After a screaming match with Alexandra, Nico moves himself and Johnny from Palo Alto, California, to his frozen childhood home of Hibbing, Minnesota. The move should help Johnny improve his grades and thus seem more attractive to universities, but Nico loves the freedom from his wife, too. Hibbing also happens to be the hometown of music icon Bob Dylan. Joining the hospital staff, Nico runs afoul of a grouchy nurse anesthetist calling himself Bobby Dylan, who plays Dylan songs twice a week in a bar called Heaven’s Door. As Nico and Johnny settle in, their lives turn around; they even start dating the gorgeous mother/daughter pair of Lena and Echo Johnson. However, when Johnny accidentally impregnates Echo, the lives of the Hibbing transplants start to implode. In true page-turner fashion, first-time novelist Novak gets started by killing soulless Alexandra, which accelerates the downfall of his underdog protagonist now accused of murder. Dialogue is pitch-perfect, and the insults hurled between Nico and his wife are as hilarious as they are hurtful: “Are you my husband, Nico? Or my dependent?” The author’s medical expertise proves central to the plot, and there are a few grisly moments, as when “dark blood percolated” from a patient’s nostrils “like coffee grounds.” Bob Dylan details add quirkiness to what might otherwise be a chilly revenge tale; we’re told, for instance, that Dylan taught “every singer with a less-than-perfect voice…how to sneer and twist off syllables.” Courtroom scenes toward the end crackle with energy, though one scene involving a snowmobile ties up a certain plot thread too neatly. By the end, Nico has rolled with a great many punches.

Nuanced characterization and crafty details help this debut soar.

Click on the image below to reach the Amazon link to The Doctor and Mr. Dylan:

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Learn more about Rick Novak’s fiction writing at ricknovak.com by clicking on the picture below:  

DSC04882_edited

 

 

WOULD YOU GIVE AN NFL QUARTERBACK A PERIPHERAL NERVE BLOCK?

NEEDLE PHOBIA BEFORE GENERAL ANESTHESIA

Physician anesthesiologist at Stanford at Associated Anesthesiologists Medical Group
Richard Novak, MD is a Stanford physician board certified in anesthesiology and internal medicine.Dr. Novak is an Adjunct Clinical Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine at Stanford University, the Medical Director at Waverley Surgery Center in Palo Alto, California, and a member of the Associated Anesthesiologists Medical Group in Palo Alto, California.
emailrjnov@yahoo.com

Clinical Case for Discussion:  A needle-phobic 16-year-old male is scheduled for a shoulder arthroscopy at a freestanding surgery center.  He is tearful and refuses any needles while he is awake.  He is 5 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 220 pounds, and has a Body Mass Index of 39.

What would you do?

 

Discussion:  You bring the patient into the operating room and apply the standard monitors.  You begin an inhalation induction with 70% inspired nitrous oxide and sevoflurane.  You increase the concentration of sevoflurane gradually after each breath.  After 2 minutes, at 4% inspired sevoflurane, the patient begins to cough, buck, and have stridor, and the oxygen saturation plummets below 60%.  You see no site to place an I.V., and the nurse and surgeon are no help.  You are not able to improve the airway with jaw thrust, mask ventilation, continuous positive airway pressure, or an oral airway.  You place an laryngeal mask airway (LMA), but the patient continues to have stridor and a weak cough.  No ventilation is possible.  You give intramuscular succinylcholine at 4 mg/kg, but while you are waiting for the drug to take effect,  the patient’s ECG changes to ventricular fibrillation.  You scream for the defibrillator, and do direct laryngoscopy to attempt placement of an endotracheal tube in the now-flaccid patient.  Your heart rate is 180 beats–per-minute, and you are praying for the patient’s heartbeat to return.  You can’t believe that this boy walked into the surgery center as healthy as can be, and that within minutes you have brought on the circumstances of cardiac and respiratory arrest.

In a parallel universe, you anticipate all the above issues, and prepare yourself.  You are aware that his BMI = 39 places him at increased risk for an inhalational induction.  You explain to the patient and his parents that there are risks for an overweight patient being anesthetized without an I.V., and lobby hard for him to permit you to attempt an awake I.V. placement.  You offer him oral midazolam as an anti-anxiety premedication, and topical EMLA to numb the I.V. site.  Alas, he is crying and still refuses any needle. You place an automated blood pressure cuff on his upper arm, and note that veins are visible on his hand when you inflate the cuff in Stat mode on that extremity.  His airway appears normal.  You describe to the parents that there is a risk that their son might have dangerous low oxygen levels during the mask induction of anesthesia.  They agree to accept this risk, and you document the same in the medical records.  You make a plan to proceed with inhalation induction, using the automated cuff to maximize the size of the veins on his hand.

(Note:  If you do not have confidence in proceeding, you may delay the patient until another anesthesiologist is present to assist you, or cancel the case.  Also note that if the anesthetic is done in a hospital rather than a freestanding surgery center, the identical clinical issues will be present, and the anesthetic plan will be similar except for the presence of additional backup anesthesia personnel.)

You enter the operating room and apply the standard monitors.  You place a mask strap behind the patient’s head to help hold the anesthesia mask over his airway, and have him breathe 100% oxygen with high flows of 10 liters/minute for two full minutes prior to beginning induction.  Next you add 8% sevoflurane to the gas mixture, and ask the patient to take deep vital capacity breaths your anesthetic circle system.  This technique is known as Vital Capacity Rapid Inhalation Induction.  For safety reasons, I prefer sevoflurane induction with 100% oxygen instead of using nitrous oxide, which limits the delivered oxygen concentration.

As soon as the patient is anesthetized deeply enough, (seeing the eyes conjugate in the midline is a useful monitoring sign), you activate the blood pressure cuff on his upper arm in the Stat mode, and you move to his lower arm to start the I.V.  You leave the patient breathing on his own with the straps holding the mask over his face, and use both of your hands to place a 20-gauge I.V. catheter.  Once the intravenous catheter is placed, you continue the anesthetic using intravenous and inhalation drugs, with either an LMA or endotracheal tube for airway management.

Ambulatory anesthesia in freestanding facilities is a gravy train of healthy patients and straightforward cases, right?  Not all the time.

In the hospital, when you anesthetize elderly, sick patients for complex surgeries, you have a multitude of advanced technologies at your disposal.  You have invasive monitoring, transesophageal echocardiogram machines, laboratories, blood banks, and intensive care unit backup, as well as dozens of other anesthesia providers available within seconds to assist you if you get into trouble.  In addition, it’s understood by the patient and family that there are significant risks if the patient is old, sick, or if the surgery is complex.

In anesthetics for healthy outpatient surgery, the patient and the family expect the rate of adverse outcomes to be … zero.  Despite your informed consent that rare problems could occur, there will be anguish and anger if problems indeed do occur.

Treat needle phobia with respect.  It can be a life-threatening problem in the hands of an inexperienced anesthesia provider.

 

The most popular posts for laypeople on The Anesthesia Consultant include:

How Long Will It Take To Wake Up From General Anesthesia?

Why Did Take Me So Long To Wake From General Anesthesia?

Will I Have a Breathing Tube During Anesthesia?

What Are the Common Anesthesia Medications?

How Safe is Anesthesia in the 21st Century?

Will I Be Nauseated After General Anesthesia?

What Are the Anesthesia Risks For Children?

 

The most popular posts for anesthesia professionals on The Anesthesia Consultant  include:

10 Trends for the Future of Anesthesia

Should You Cancel Anesthesia for a Potassium Level of 3.6?

12 Important Things to Know as You Near the End of Your Anesthesia Training

Should You Cancel Surgery For a Blood Pressure = 178/108?

Advice For Passing the Anesthesia Oral Board Exams

What Personal Characteristics are Necessary to Become a Successful Anesthesiologist?

 

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*
*
*

Published in September 2017:  The second edition of THE DOCTOR AND MR. DYLAN, Dr. Novak’s debut novel, a medical-legal mystery which blends the science and practice of anesthesiology with unforgettable characters, a page-turning plot, and the legacy of Nobel Prize winner Bob Dylan.

KIRKUS REVIEW

In this debut thriller, tragedies strike an anesthesiologist as he tries to start a new life with his son.

Dr. Nico Antone, an anesthesiologist at Stanford University, is married to Alexandra, a high-powered real estate agent obsessed with money. Their son, Johnny, an 11th-grader with immense potential, struggles to get the grades he’ll need to attend an Ivy League college. After a screaming match with Alexandra, Nico moves himself and Johnny from Palo Alto, California, to his frozen childhood home of Hibbing, Minnesota. The move should help Johnny improve his grades and thus seem more attractive to universities, but Nico loves the freedom from his wife, too. Hibbing also happens to be the hometown of music icon Bob Dylan. Joining the hospital staff, Nico runs afoul of a grouchy nurse anesthetist calling himself Bobby Dylan, who plays Dylan songs twice a week in a bar called Heaven’s Door. As Nico and Johnny settle in, their lives turn around; they even start dating the gorgeous mother/daughter pair of Lena and Echo Johnson. However, when Johnny accidentally impregnates Echo, the lives of the Hibbing transplants start to implode. In true page-turner fashion, first-time novelist Novak gets started by killing soulless Alexandra, which accelerates the downfall of his underdog protagonist now accused of murder. Dialogue is pitch-perfect, and the insults hurled between Nico and his wife are as hilarious as they are hurtful: “Are you my husband, Nico? Or my dependent?” The author’s medical expertise proves central to the plot, and there are a few grisly moments, as when “dark blood percolated” from a patient’s nostrils “like coffee grounds.” Bob Dylan details add quirkiness to what might otherwise be a chilly revenge tale; we’re told, for instance, that Dylan taught “every singer with a less-than-perfect voice…how to sneer and twist off syllables.” Courtroom scenes toward the end crackle with energy, though one scene involving a snowmobile ties up a certain plot thread too neatly. By the end, Nico has rolled with a great many punches.

Nuanced characterization and crafty details help this debut soar.

Click on the image below to reach the Amazon link to The Doctor and Mr. Dylan:

41wlRoWITkL

Learn more about Rick Novak’s fiction writing at ricknovak.com by clicking on the picture below:  

DSC04882_edited