Anesthesia

General anesthesia is more akin to going into a "reversible coma" than going to sleep, a Boston anesthesiologist argues in the Dec. 30, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, according to a Boston Globe report.

Here are the 10 most-read news stories relating to anesthesia in 2010 on www.BeckersASC.com.

Preoperative cerebral oxygen saturation could accurately assess risk for adverse outcome in cardiac surgery patients, according to a study published in the Jan. 2011 issue of Anesthesiology.

Thomas Wherry, MD, medical director for Health Inventures and principal for Total Anesthesia Solutions, discusses four best practices for managing a difficult airway.

The American Society of Anesthesiologists, along with the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the American Academy of Anesthesiologist Assistants and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, has sent a joint letter to The Joint Commission, urging action on a number of…

An Oct. 2010 report from the Institute of Medicine urges policymakers to remove barriers that prevent nurses from practicing to the full extent of their training.

Tom George, an anesthesiologist who served for a decade in the Michigan Legislature before an unsuccessful run as the 2010 Republican gubernatorial candidate, will return to full-time medicine in 2011, according to a report from the Kalamazoo Gazette.

Anesthesiologist Scott D. Augustine, MD, has told hospitals to stop using a device he invented during certain operations, suggesting it may pose a danger to patients, according to a New York Times report.

Fifty-one percent of academic anesthesiology chairs exhibit a high incidence or risk of burnout, according to a study published in the Dec. 2010 issue of Anesthesiology.

Current guidelines may be inadequate to prepare newer generation anesthesia workstations, which require more time for purging anesthetic gases, autoclaving or replacement of parts, as well as modifications to the gas delivery system, according to a study published in the…