"The improvement in optics has made them that much more user-
friendly," says Louis G. Stanfield, CRNA, PhD, DAAPM, who practices
at Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa. "The lighting, color and
detail are outstanding. They provide an excellent view and they don't
require a lot of manual force," even when used for challenging intuba-
tions and oversized patients.
If you're in the market for a video laryngoscope, Dr. Stanfield advis-
es, look for the largest possible screen, perhaps even a model that fea-
tures a separate monitor connected to the handle by fiber optic
cables. For portability's sake, some laryngoscopes integrate the
screen into the handle, which not only limits the size of the screen
and its resolution, he says, but also can tilt the screen out of your
sight while you're maneuvering the blade.
2. ultrasound imaging
"Anything that avoids general anesthesia increases throughput," says
Jay Horowitz, CRNA, president of Quality Anesthesia Care Corp. in
Sarasota, Fla. "We're trying to do as much as possible under regional.
Then patients end up pain-free, not nauseated, on their way out the
door. It's a win-win-win, good for everybody."
That's a big reason why ultrasound imaging technology has also
gained a loyal following among anesthesia providers. "Ultrasound for
regional is now almost a standard of care," says A.S. Lineberger III,
MD, of Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, Mich.
TAP blocks, femoral nerve blocks, continuous peripheral nerve
blocks and other regional anesthesia techniques can still be placed
with electrical stimulation and the patient's motor response, of
course, but ultrasound is by many accounts an addictive add-on. "This
has vastly improved the safety and accuracy of regional nerve blocks,"
says Dr. Friedman, since it provides users with a real-time view of
anatomy to locate and target nerves for precise delivery of the anes-
thetic agent, without assumptions of what's beneath the surface.
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | February 2015
