Editor's Note Reducing OR time availability at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital, Pittsburgh, by 15% helped address a 30% staffing shortage caused by COVID-19, according to a study presented January 29 at the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ ADVANCE 2022, the Anesthesiology Business Event in Dallas. A five-phase approach was used, which included:…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on January 26 updated the Class I recall of certain Trilogy Evo ventilators and repair kits for Trilogy Evo muffler assembly, which are manufactured by Philips Respironics. According to the update, the FDA has asked the company to have an independent laboratory…

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Editor's Note Artificial intelligence (AI)-based scheduling significantly improved physician engagement and reduced burnout, in this study presented by Ochsner Health researchers, January 28, at the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ ADVANCE 2022, the Anesthesiology Business Event, in Dallas. The AI-based scheduling software, which created fair and flexible schedules that supported work-life…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), on September 23, identified the recall by Armstrong Medical of certain lots of its Amsorb Plus Prefilled G-Can 1.0L canisters as Class I, the most serious. Amsorb Plus is a chemical substance used in anesthesia machines to absorb carbon dioxide the patient…

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Perioperative services leaders have their hands full with a range of pressing issues, from the return of elective case cancellations to new struggles with staff turnover. However, an even bigger problem is flying under the radar for many hospitals—impending changes in the market for anesthesiology services. Several factors are coming…

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Editor's Note The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) on August 4 updated their guidance for perioperative testing for COVID-19 to say that all patients having anesthetics or surgical procedures with the potential to generate aerosols should have preoperative testing for COVID-19, regardless of their…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers with the University of Birmingham, England-led COVIDSurg-GlobalSurg Collaboratives (global partnerships of more than 15,000 surgeons) finds that patients who isolate before their surgical procedures to protect themselves from COVID-19 have a higher risk of postoperative pulmonary complications than those who don’t isolate. Researchers analyzed…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from the UK finds that insertion and removal of supraglottic airway devices for general anesthesia do not generate aerosols and should not be designated as aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). Working in an ultraclean environment, the researchers used a highly sensitive aerosol detector to measure…

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Editor's Note This study by researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Health, Dallas, finds that children with nonsevere COVID-19 had higher rates of respiratory complications during and after general anesthesia than controls, but severe morbidity was rare and there were no deaths. A total of 99 patients…

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Cancellations of some surgical procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic and case rescheduling have been a major focus for perioperative leaders. But changes are also occurring in anesthesia practices. For many surgical procedures, the use of regional anesthesia or nerve blocks, coupled with light sedation, is reported to double if the…

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