Anesthetics News and Research

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CU research suggests safe, lower-cost way to treat upper gastrointestinal tract problems in children

Physicians at the University of Colorado School of Medicine on the Anschutz Medical Campus have published research that suggests a safe and lower-cost way to diagnose and treat problems in the upper gastrointestinal tract of children.

16 Jul 2015

Innovation in anaesthesia: an interview with Matti Lehtonen, GE Healthcare

The spectrum of patients seen today, from pre-term infants to the morbidly obese to the longer living elderly, is wider than ever before and increasingly more challenging with patients often presenting with multiple co-morbidities. This puts a huge strain on healthcare providers who are facing increasing challenges such as cost pressure and staff shortages.

14 Jul 2015

MIT researchers reveal key brainwave changes among patients receiving nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide, commonly known as "laughing gas," has been used in anesthesiology practice since the 1800s, but the way it works to create altered states is not well understood. In a study published this week in Clinical Neurophysiology, MIT researchers reveal some key brainwave changes among patients receiving the drug.

7 Jul 2015

Young children who receive surgical anesthesia have diminished brain function

Children who received general anesthesia for surgery before age 4 had diminished language comprehension, lower IQ and decreased gray matter density in posterior regions of their brain, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

8 Jun 2015

New compound offers longer lasting painkilling effects

Medications have long been used to treat pain caused by injury or chronic conditions. Unfortunately, most are short-term fixes or cause side effects that limit their use. Researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered a new compound that offers longer lasting painkilling effects, and shows promise as an alternative to current anesthetics.

7 May 2015

Anesthetics interfere with certain proteins in excitatory neurons that transmit signals

Anesthetics have been used in surgical procedures for more than 150 years, but the mechanisms by which inhaled anesthesia actually work are poorly understood. Now, researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have discovered that anesthetics bind to and interfere with certain proteins in excitatory neurons, which are necessary for these neurons to transmit signals involved in anesthesia and the perception of pain.

18 Mar 2015

Investigators caution parents, health care providers about use of general anesthetics in children

A group of anesthesiologists and toxicologists today issued a caution to parents and health care professionals about the use of general anesthetics in children.

27 Feb 2015

Penn researchers make breakthrough on novel anesthetics

Penn Medicine researchers, in a continuation of their groundbreaking work to better understand how anesthesia works in the body, have found the first new class of novel anesthetics since the 1970s. Their findings, published in February issue of Anesthesiology, detail the processes through which the group uncovered these compounds.

21 Jan 2015

Despite forced-air warming, hypothermia affects patients undergoing surgery

Body temperature decreases during the first hour of surgery, even when patients are actively warmed with forced air, reports a new study published in the February issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists.

21 Jan 2015

Study shows how anesthesia affects cells in central nervous system

Anesthesia, long considered a blessing to patients and surgeons, has been a mystery for much of its 160-plus-year history in the operating room.

14 Nov 2014

Anesthetics can cause long-term memory loss, reveal University of Toronto researchers

Researchers at the University of Toronto's Faculty of Medicine have shown why anesthetics can cause long-term memory loss, a discovery that can have serious implications for post-operative patients.

4 Nov 2014

Epidural and spinal anesthesia safe for relieving pain during childbirth

Women seeking pain relief during childbirth should be comforted to know that epidural and spinal anesthesia are extremely safe, suggests a study of more than 80,000 women that reviewed anesthesia complications during obstetrical care.

16 Oct 2014

Caltech researcher explores link between variable heart rate, health and fitness

Although the heart beats out a very familiar "lub-dub" pattern that speeds up or slows down as our activity increases or decreases, the pattern itself isn't as regular as you might think. In fact, the amount of time between heartbeats can vary even at a "constant" heart rate-and that variability, doctors have found, is a good thing.

23 Sep 2014

Review of clinical trials based on administering antidepressants for chronic postsurgical pain

After a systematic review of clinical trials based on administering antidepressants for acute and chronic postsurgical pain, researchers have concluded that more trials are needed to determine whether these drugs should be prescribed for postsurgical pain on a regular basis.

30 Aug 2014

Doctors test device designed to 'turn off' cluster headaches

For those suffering excruciating pain from cluster headaches, relief may soon be available from an investigational device being studied in a national multicenter clinical trial. Recently, doctors at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center performed the first surgery in the United States to insert a neurostimulator to provide relief from cluster headaches, which are more painful than migraines.

19 Aug 2014

FDA approves Ryanodex for treatment of malignant hyperthermia linked with anesthesia

Eagle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Ryanodex® (dantrolene sodium) for injectable suspension indicated for the treatment of malignant hyperthermia (MH), along with the appropriate supportive measures.

24 Jul 2014

Stimulating specific brain pathway may induce active emergence from anesthesia

Researchers may be one step closer to better understanding how anesthesia works. A study in the August issue of Anesthesiology, the official medical journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists- (ASA-), found stimulating a major dopamine-producing region in the brain, the ventral tegmental area (VTA), caused rats to wake from general anesthesia, suggesting that this region plays a key role in restoring consciousness after general anesthesia.

23 Jul 2014

MedicAlert Foundation announces free medical IDs for individuals living with Malignant Hyperthermia

MedicAlert Foundation is pleased to announce that individuals living with Malignant Hyperthermia (MH) are now eligible to receive free medical IDs and live 24/7 emergency response services as the result of a grant obtained through the Sandi Ida Glickstein Fund at the Malignant Hyperthermia Association of the United States.

28 Jun 2014

Geoff Keller Group of MHAUS hosts fundraising event to promote MH awareness

The Geoffrey Keller Memorial Open Water Swim held in honor of the late son of Curt and Kathy Keller to raise funds to research better ways of managing Malignant Hyperthermia during surgery, to improve methods of detecting MH, and for MH awareness.

5 Jun 2014

Storing dantrolene can save 33 lives per year, say MH experts

MH experts say Storing dantrolene would save 33 lives per year at an incremental cost effectiveness ratio of nearly $200,000 (in 2010 dollars) per life saved, indicating that storing dantrolene at ambulatory surgical centers is very cost effective say, Malignant Hyperthermia Experts: Taiwo Aderibigbe, BS; Barbara H. Lang, BS; Henry Rosenberg, MD; Guohua Li, MD, PhD, Columbia University, New York who authored the article "Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Stocking Dantrolene in Ambulatory Surgery Centers" that was recently published in the latest official journal of the American Society of Anesthesiologists, Anesthesiology.