10 Hot, New Anesthesia Products
Highlights from the exhibit hall at the
American Society of Anesthesiologists.
Jaime Baratta, MD | Philadelphia, Pa.
T
he American Society of Anesthesiologists scaled the hills
of San Francisco this year for its annual meeting, and the
new products on display in the exhibit hall were a testa-
ment to innovation and ingenuity. Here are some that are
likely to interest your anesthesia providers.
B. Braun |
Clorotekal Spinal Anesthetic
Time is money, so B. Braun's new spinal anesthetic,
which just hit the market this fall, could be a game-
changer, especially for outpatient facilities, which are
always looking to get patients in and out of surgery as
fast as safely possible.
Clorotekal (chloroprocaine hydrochloride) wears off in
40 to 45 minutes, instead of the usual hour-plus you'd typ-
ically get with bupivacaine. That should translate to a
shorter time in the PACU and a shorter recovery time. In
fact, one study found that patients given Clorotekal were
ready to be discharged about 80 minutes sooner (150 vs.
230 minutes) than the bupivacaine group. Clorotekal also
has a quicker onset time and has been associated with a
lower urinary retention rate than other anesthetics.
My only concern: You want to be very sure that whatev-
er surgery you're doing is going to be quicker than the 40
minutes the anesthetic is predicted to last. Obviously, it's
inconvenient to have to convert to another anesthetic
after surgery is underway.
