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O U T P AT 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 | M AY 2 0 1 5
A N E S T H E S I A A L E R T
• MHAUS recommends core temperature monitoring. The
Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States (MHAUS)
recommends that you monitor core temperatures for all patients
under general anesthesia for more than 30 minutes. Appropriate monitoring sites,
they say, are the esophagus, nasopharynx, tympanic membrane (with the probe in
contact with the membrane), bladder and pulmonary artery. Citing a 2014 study
(osmag.net/dv6KUD), MHAUS says the risk of death from an MH event was signifi-
cantly higher with patients for whom a skin temperature probe was used than it was
for patients whose core temperatures were monitored.
• Is your anesthesia team underperforming? Does your anesthesia team provid
exceptional clinical services to patients, but fail to achieve satisfaction among physi-
cians, nurses, or patients, or prove unable to meet your facilities' financial goals?
Download "Five Warning Signs of an Underperforming Anesthesia Team"
(osmag.net/S2kyZY) from Somnia Anesthesia, a national anesthesia practice man-
agement company.
• Post-op cognition in elderly. Can 8 mg of IV dexamethasone dramatically
decrease the incidence of post-operative cognitive
dysfunction (POCD) in older patients undergoing anesthesia? The answer appears
to be yes. Researchers in Brazil studied 170 patients between the ages of 60 and
87 and found that those given the steroid before undergoing both deep and
superficial anesthesia were much less likely to display POCD at various time inter-
vals that followed. On the third day after surgery, when the initial testing was
done, 68.2% of those in the group who'd had deep anesthesia and 27.2% of
those in the group who'd had superficial anesthesia showed cognitive dysfunc-
tion. Among those given dexamethasone, the corresponding numbers were
25.2% and 15.3%. Patients were also tested on Days 7, 21, 90 and 180 after sur-
Anesthesia Notebook
