Introduction In 1955 Bedford published an article in The Lancet suggesting that patients older than 50 years should exercise discretion when choosing to undergo elective surgery because they are at…
Introduction Perioperative beta-blockade (PBB) has been advocated for the reduction of cardiac risk for noncardiac surgery. The initial interest was based on nearly 50 years of research in the cardiology…
Introduction Malignant hyperthermia crisis (MHC) is a potentially lethal inherited syndrome triggered by exposure to anesthetic agents. The anesthesia community is best prepared to deal with MHC and patients who…
Introduction The obesity epidemic affects a very significant proportion of the adult population in the United States and throughout developed nations. The body mass index (BMI) is the most widely…
Introduction Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major public health issue. VTE is thus one of the main causes of mortality. It is also associated with considerable morbidity because nonfatal pulmonary…
Introduction More than 400,000 people have cardiac arrests in the United States each year, and approximately half of these occur in the hospital. Resuscitation attempts are unsuccessful in the majority…
Introduction Alpha-2 receptor agonists have many desirable effects such as minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) reduction, analgesia, anxiolysis, sedation, and sympatholysis. Adding to this list the possibility of perioperative myocardial protection…
Introduction More than 40 years ago during the Vietnam War, ketamine, a nonbarbiturate phencyclidine derivative, was considered an ideal “battlefield anesthetic” because it does not alter hemodynamics and has sedative,…
Introduction No anesthetic agent has been administered more often than nitrous oxide. Since its first demonstration in 1845, nitrous oxide has been administered to billions of patients for general anesthesia,…
Acute Kidney Injury Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a clinical syndrome that reflects the clinical manifestation of isolated or multiple insults to the kidney. The degree of renal damage ranges…
