J. Lance Lichtor

Posts by J. Lance Lichtor:

Endotracheal tube cuffs: why do they leak and how can they be fixed?

August 2, 2013 By J. Lance Lichtor in Patient Safety

Endotracheal tube cuffs can leak. Why they leak and how the leak can be fixed is a task that can challenge the anesthesiologist or ICU physician. In the manuscript “Endotracheal Tube Cuff Leaks: Causes, Consequences, and Management,” Drs. Mohammad El-Orbany, Department of Anesthesiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and M. Ramez Salem, Department of […]

Intravenous lidocaine minimally reduces MAC of sevoflurane

July 31, 2013 By J. Lance Lichtor in Ambulatory Anesthesiology

We know that lidocaine is a local anesthetic. In some animal and human studies, it has been shown to reduce general anesthetic properties. Can lidocaine decrease the minimum alveolar concentration of anesthetic that prevents movement in 50% of subjects in response to a noxious stimulus (MAC) of sevoflurane? In order to determine the answer to […]

Warming patients is important but not risk-free

July 29, 2013 By J. Lance Lichtor in Patient Safety

The evidence to show the importance of keeping a patient warm during surgery is strong. For example, the risk of surgical site infection increases when patients are cold. In patients undergoing bowel surgery, infection risk is increased as much as three times when temperature drops 2°C. Forced air warming is the most common method used […]

Despite Fujii’s unprecedented fabrication, ramosatron might actually be a better drug than ondansetron

July 26, 2013 By J. Lance Lichtor in Ambulatory Anesthesiology

When investigating the work of Dr. Yoshitaka Fujii, Toho University noted that 8/9 studies did not have appropriate ethics committee approval. A subsequent analysis by the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists found that 172/212 studies were fabricated. Earlier this year in an editorial published in Anesthesia & Analgesia, Drs. Ashraf S. Habib and Tong J. Gan […]

An unusual complication of central venous cannulation: intrathecal cannulation

July 19, 2013 By J. Lance Lichtor in Patient Safety

An earlier post for AA2day described cases of guidewires inadvertently left in patients. In a case report titled “Inadvertent Intrathecal Placement of a Pulmonary Artery Catheter Introducer,” which was published in this month’s issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, Dr. Marcel Vercauteren, Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium, and co-authors describe a patient who, […]

Use of ultrasound for treatment of patients with chronic pain

July 17, 2013 By J. Lance Lichtor in Pain Medicine

Anesthesiologists use ultrasound in a variety of areas. Needle placement is probably the most common reason to use ultrasound and in this month’s issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, Dr. Anuj Bhatia, Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management, Toronto Western Hospital (University Health Network), Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and co-authors review the use of ultrasound for needle […]