Global climate change and the role of anesthesiologist

Background: Environmental issues and health problems related to global climate change are becoming increasingly serious. An effective eco-friendly strategy is required to reduce medical waste and greenhouse gas emissions caused by anesthesia in hospitals.Current Concepts: Inhalation anesthetics are very strong greenhouse gases in the order of desflurane, isoflurane, nitrous oxide, and sevoflurane. Anesthetics with high global warming potential and long atmospheric lifetimes should be used with caution. Only the minimum required dose of an anesthetic drug with a low persistence bioaccumulation toxicity index is recommended for use. Disposable anesthesia products are known to have a low purchase price and low risk of cross-contamination; however, this may not be the case. By using eco-friendly anesthetic supplies, recycling and reuse, we can avoid wasting money and resources.Discussion and Conclusion: Greenhouse gas emissions from the use of anesthetics are excluded from United Nations regulations due to their necessity. However, while guaranteeing patient safety, anesthesiologists must fulfill their professional ethical obligations by striving to reduce medical waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Comparison of infiltration (INF) and inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) injection techniques in bilateral therapeutic removal of mandibular premolars

Background. The present study aimed to evaluate and compare the anesthetic effect of infiltration (INF) and inferior alveolar nerve block (IANB) techniques for bilateral therapeutic extraction of mandibular premolars. Methods. One hundred patients requiring bilateral therapeutic removal of mandibular premolars were included in the study. For the extraction of the mandibular right premolar tooth, INF was used, and after one week, the mandibular left premolar tooth was extracted using the IANB. The effect of anesthesia between the two techniques was compared and evaluated by ANOVA using SPSS. Results. INF was successful in 78% of cases, whereas IANB was successful only in 22% of cases. Furthermore, INF had a significantly better anesthetic effect than IANB (P<0.05). During pain assessment during the anesthetic drug injection and the procedure, two patients in the INF and five patients in the IANB group reported minimal pain during extraction (P>0.05). The onset of the anesthetic effect was faster in the INF group, while the duration of the effect was longer in the IANB group. Conclusion. INF was a more efficacious local anesthetic technique with high success rate than the IANB technique.

Assessment of Medication Errors Among Anesthesia Clinicians in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study

ABSTRACT Introduction Anesthetic drugs are prepared and administrated without referral to the pharmacy or other medical departments. We aimed to assess the occurrence of anesthetic drug errors in Saudi Arabia. We also determined the contributing factors, reporting strategies, and clinicians' opinions of the preventive measures. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional web-based survey study using a validated tool. A total of 300 anesthesia clinicians completed the survey (146 anesthesiologists and 154 anesthesia technology specialists). We measured descriptive statistics to describe the demographic characteristics and performed inferential statistics to examine associations and differences. Results Sixty-nine percent of respondents had experienced an anesthetic drug error at least once in their career. The two primary factors that caused drug errors were haste (60.3%) and heavy workload (60.3%). On syringe labeling, 56.3% withdrew the drug then labeled the syringe, and 43.7% labeled the syringe then withdrew the drug. The chi-square test revealed that clinicians who labeled the syringe first then withdrew the drug made errors more frequently (p = 0.036). The test also showed that clinicians with less experience had committed more errors (p = 0.015). On reporting drug errors, 77.7% of respondents identified the fear of medicolegal issues as the most common barrier to reporting errors. Respondents believed that double-checking the medication and color-coded syringe labels were the most effective strategies to reduce errors (82% and 64%, respectively). The Mann-Whiney U test revealed significant differences between the two specialties about their opinions of the preventive measures. Conclusions There was a high occurrence rate of anesthetic drug errors in Saudi Arabia. Policymakers need to unify the syringe-labeling practice, and future research needs to focus on what makes a nonpunitive culture to encourage reporting errors.

The Role of General Anesthetic Drug Selection in Cancer Outcome

Cancer remains to be the leading cause of death globally. Surgery is a mainstay treatment for solid tumors. Thus, it is critical to optimize perioperative care. Anesthesia is a requisite component for surgical tumor resection, and general anesthesia is given in the vast majority of tumor resection cases. Because anesthetics are growingly recognized as immunomodulators, it is critical to optimize anesthetic regimens for cancer surgery if the selection can affect outcomes. Here, we reviewed the role of volatile and intravenous anesthesia used for cancer surgery in cancer recurrence.

A Narrative Overview of Current Anesthetic Drugs in Electroconvulsive Therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a definitive treatment for patients with psychiatric disorders that are severe, acute, or refractory to pharmacologic therapy. Providing anesthesia for ECT is challenging, as the effect of drugs on hemodynamics, seizure duration, comfort, and recovery must be considered. We highlight and aim to review the common anesthetics used in ECT and related evidence. While drugs such as methohexital, succinylcholine, and etomidate have been used in the past, other drugs such as dexmedetomidine, ketamine, and remifentanil may provide a more balanced anesthetic with a greater safety profile in select populations. Overall, it is essential to consider the patient’s co-morbidities and associated risks when deciding on an anesthetic drug.

CEREBRALANEURYSM SURGERY IN A PATIENT WITH CHRONIC RENAL FAILURE: PERIOPERATIVE CONCERNS AND CONFLICTS

Chronic renal failure (CRF) and associated multi-system abnormalities can adversely impact the outcome in patients undergoing high-risk aneurysm surgeries by causing hemodynamic instability, uid-electrolyte imbalance, bleeding and coagulation abnormalities, decreased anesthetic drug excretion, and dialysis-related complications. Conicts between the standard perioperative practices in aneurysm surgery and those in CRF further contribute to the management challenges. These include, using low anesthetic drug doses but achieving good brain relaxation, using a restrictive uid therapy but preventing postoperative vasospasm, and avoiding diuretics causing nephrotoxicity but reducing intracranial pressure. Ayoung male with dialysis-dependent CRF and hypertension underwent emergency craniotomy and clipping of a cerebral aneurysm. He was managed with a modied protocol of reduced heparin hemodialysis, BIS-guided use of minimum anesthetic drugs, goal-directed optimum uid therapy, maintaining hemodynamic stability, and management of post-aneurysm clipping vasospasm with hypertension. His perioperative management and related conicts are discussed