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Eric Jacobsohn

Publications and source records attributed to Eric Jacobsohn.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Poor inter-rater reliability on mock anesthesia oral examinations.

PURPOSE: Inter-rater reliability (IRR) and communication skills are both important factors that have been shown to affect oral examination scores. This study was designed to test: 1) IRR of a group of American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) graders who graded in true isolation; 2) the effect of teaching residents examination techniques. METHODS: This was a randomized, pretest-posttest trial. Twenty-five residents did an initial oral examination (E1) resembling the ABA examination. They were then randomized into two groups, a routine education group, and an intervention group that was taught oral examination skills. Six weeks later they did another oral examination (E2). The videotaped examinations were subsequently scored by six experienced RCPSC and ABA graders. RESULTS: There was very poor IRR on E1 (weighted Kappa = 0.166, intraclass correlation coefficient 0.243), which improved only slightly on E2 (weighted Kappa = 0.275, P = NS; intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.405, P < 0.01). Pass rate for graderpairs increased from E1 to E2 (15% vs 43%, P = 0.01). The improved pass rate on E2 occurred in both the routine education group and in the intervention group. There was no significant difference between RCPSC and ABA graders. Teaching examination skills per se did not improve performance, but this conclusion may be limited by the poor IRR. Practice orals do appear to improve performance on future examinations. CONCLUSIONS: Inter-rater reliability may be poor when graders score an oral examination in true isolation. Teaching candidates an oral examination communication and presentation technique did not appear to improve performance. Oral examination practice may be of value in training for future examinations.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed2006

Case report: inferior vena-cava right atrial anastomotic stenosis after bicaval orthotopic heart transplantation.

PURPOSE: This case report describes the occurrence of acute postoperative liver and renal failure after bicaval orthotopic heart transplantation (OHT) due to stenosis of the inferior vena cava (IVC)-right atrial (RA) anastomosis. We also discuss the role of measuring femoral venous pressure and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in establishing the diagnosis. CLINICAL FEATURES: A 42-yr-old female patient with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy underwent an OHT, using the bicaval anastomotic technique. During the first 12 hr postoperatively she developed unexplained kidney and liver failure. Her left and right ventricular functions were excellent and the right and left sided filling pressures were normal. The femoral pressure was elevated while the RA pressure was normal. An emergent TEE showed colour-flow and Doppler characteristics consistent with IVC-RA anastomotic stenosis. Emergent surgical re-exploration was undertaken; a hemostatic suture was found at the RA cannulation site that had caused the constriction of the IVC-RA anastomosis. CONCLUSIONS: Acute liver and renal failure after OHT can have multiple causes including ischemia due to a low flow state. This case demonstrates the importance of doing a detailed intraoperative TEE after OHT, and the importance of repeating the intraoperative examination after any hemostatic sutures are placed. Femoral venous pressure monitoring can be a useful diagnostic tool in detecting IVC-RA stenosis.

Acute Kidney Injury↗
PubMed2006

Intrapatient reproducibility of the BISxp monitor.

BACKGROUND: The Bispectral Index (BIS) reportedly reflects anesthetic depth. It is recommended that anesthetic agents should be titrated to maintain the BIS between 40 and 60 arbitrary BIS units during anesthesia. For anesthesia providers to follow this recommendation, the monitor should be predictably affected by different anesthetic agents and have good interpatient and intrapatient reproducibility. The authors hypothesized that when two BISxp devices (Aspect Medical Systems, Newton, MA) are placed concurrently on the same patient, their readings are concordant throughout the anesthetic period. METHODS: Simultaneous BIS recordings from two BISxp monitors were obtained during anesthesia at 5-s intervals from 12 participants. RESULTS: In total 22,860 concurrent paired BIS readings were obtained. For 10.7% of the time, there were sustained periods of 30 s or greater where the readings suggested a different depth of anesthesia. For 6% of the time, there were sustained periods of 30 s or greater where the readings differed by 10 or more arbitrary BIS units. The regression coefficient (R) for the two devices was 0.65 (range, 0.35-0.92). There was zero bias between the devices, and the 95% limits of agreement ranged between -18 and +17. CONCLUSION: A conflicting anesthetic management was suggested by the simultaneous BIS readings 10.7% of the time. These results suggest that BISxp does not always provide a reproducible single number. Anesthesia providers should not rely exclusively on the BIS reading when assessing depth of anesthesia.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Low-dose intrathecal morphine does not delay early extubation after cardiac surgery.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to examine the efficacy of low-dose intrathecal morphine (ITM) on extubation times and pain control after cardiac surgery. METHODS: 43 patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, double-blind placebo controlled trial. Patients were given a pre-induction dose of ITM (6 microg x kg(-1) per ideal body weight in 5 mL normal saline, group ITM) or 5 mL of intrathecal normal saline (group ITS). Anesthesia was induced with thiopental (3 mg x kg(-1)), sufentanil, midazolam and rocuronium. The total allowable doses of sufentanil and midazolam for the entire case were limited to 0.5 microg x kg(-1) and 0.045 mg x kg(-1) respectively. Anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane before and during cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), and with propofol after CPB. In the postanesthesia care unit, patients received nurse-administered morphine followed by patient-controlled analgesia morphine. Serial visual analogue scale pain scores, morphine use, mini-mental state examinations and pulmonary function tests were measured for 48 hr. Patient satisfaction questionnaires were completed at the time of discharge. RESULTS: Mean times to extubation from the application of dressings were short and did not differ between groups (ITM = 41.4 +/- 33.0 min, ITS = 39.2 +/- 37.1 min). During the first 24 hr postoperatively, the ITM group had improved pain control and a lower iv morphine requirement than the control group, both at rest and during deep breathing. Both forced expiratory volume in one second and forced vital capacity were improved in the ITM group. There were no differences in spinal-related side effects or in the overall complication rates. Patient satisfaction was high in both groups. CONCLUSION: Low-dose ITM for cardiac surgery did not delay early extubation, but it improved postoperative analgesia and pulmonary function.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Use of the Patient State Index (PSI) to assist in the diagnosis of perioperative neurological injury and brain death.

We present a series of three postoperative cases that were admitted to a cardiothoracic intensive care unit (ICU) after major surgery. Due to the possible presence of residual postoperative neuromuscular blockade after surgery, a processed electroencephalograph (EEG) was applied prior to starting sedation. This was markedly abnormal in all three cases, and not in keeping with the residual anesthesia. The patients were immediately transported for a CT scan. In all three cases there was severe neurological injury incompatible with survival and end of life decisions were made. Although the utility of quantitative EEG technology, like the Bispectral index (BIS) or Patient State Analyzer (PSA), is becoming better defined in the operating room, the role in the ICU is less clear. We propose that the ICU use of the PSA 4000 may have affected our decision weighing the risk versus benefit of transporting a fresh postoperative case to the radiology suite, expedited the neurological diagnosis, and may have reduced overall ICU resource utilization.

Aged↗
PubMed2005

Reporting and classification of patient safety events in a cardiothoracic intensive care unit and cardiothoracic postoperative care unit.

OBJECTIVES: The objective was to evaluate a new mechanism for reporting and classifying patient safety events to increase reporting and identify patient safety priorities. METHODS: A voluntary patient safety event reporting system accessible by all health care workers was implemented in the Cardiothoracic Intensive Care and Post Anesthesia Care Units. Information collected included patient identifiers; date, time, and location of report and event; type and description of event; and severity score. Narrative descriptions of events were analyzed and coded to describe when in the care process the event occurred, what occurred, and a causal classification of why the event occurred. RESULTS: A total of 163 reports describing 157 events were received. These included 121 events reported from the intensive care unit (25.3 reported events per 1000 patient-days), a 3-fold increase compared with the preexisting on-line reporting system. A total of 113 reports (69%) came from nurses, 31 from physicians (19%), and 10 from other staff (6%). A majority of events (85, 54%) reached the patient but caused no harm. Multiple causes were identified for the majority of events. The most frequent causes were related to human factors (48%) and organizational factors (34%). CONCLUSIONS: Health care workers were willing to use the patient safety event reporting system, which yielded a broad range of patient safety data. Patient safety events are multifaceted and often have multiple causal factors. Application of a causal classification model for patient safety event coding in the intensive care and preoperative and postoperative care units is feasible and facilitates local communication of important event-related information.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Progress in postoperative ICU management.

The clinical case presented in this article illustrates how many of the more recent advances in the management of critically ill patients apply to current clinical practice. Simple cost-effective general measures (eg, optimal sterile precautions during procedures; hand washing; early goal-directed resuscitation with appropriate fluids, inotropes, and antibiotics; and surgical source control of infected foci) still should form the basis of clinical practice, however. There has been renewed interest in blood transfusion therapy and its associated risks. Lower tidal volume ventilation now is practiced almost universally in patients with ARDS, and several new selective pulmonary vasodilators have extended the armamentarium when taking care of these patients. High-frequency oscillatory ventilation and ECMO remain challenging options in patients with refractory hypoxemia. Appropriate patient selection is important when corticosteroid therapy is considered. Tight blood glucose control and monitoring improve outcome and should be part of ICU care of septic patients. The role of the PAC is controversial. Other techniques to measure cardiac output, hemodynamics, and perfusion are available and should be considered. Sedation and analgesia form an integral part of critical care. Because of its immediate and long-term risks, neuromuscular blockade should be used sparingly and only when all other options have been exhausted. Ongoing education regarding sedation protocols and the effect of sedation on outcome is needed among physicians and nurses caring for these patients.

Anesthesia, General↗
PubMed2005

Parasternal block and local anesthetic infiltration with levobupivacaine after cardiac surgery with desflurane: the effect on postoperative pain, pulmonary function, and tracheal extubation times.

Early tracheal extubation has become common after cardiac surgery. Anesthetic techniques designed to achieve this goal can make immediate postoperative analgesia challenging. We conducted this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study to investigate the effect of a parasternal block on postoperative analgesia, respiratory function, and extubation times. We enrolled 20 patients having cardiac surgery via median sternotomy; 17 patients completed the study. A de-sflurane-based, small-dose opioid anesthetic was used. Before sternal wire placement, the surgeons performed the parasternal block and local anesthetic infiltration of sternotomy and tube sites with either 54 mL of saline placebo or 54 mL of 0.25% levobupivacaine with 1:400,000 epinephrine. Effects on pain and respiratory function were studied over 24 h. Patients in the levobupivacaine group used significantly less morphine in the first 4 h after surgery (20.8 +/- 6.2 mg versus 33.2 +/- 10.9 mg in the placebo group; P=0.013); they also had better oxygenation at the time of extubation. Four of nine in the placebo group needed rescue pain medication, versus none of eight in the levobupivacaine group (P=0.08). Peak serum levobupivacaine concentrations were below potentially toxic levels in all patients (0.64 +/- 0.43 microg/mL; range, 0.24-1.64 microg/mL). Parasternal block and local anesthetic infiltration of the sternotomy wound and mediastinal tube sites with levobupivacaine can be a useful analgesic adjunct for patients who are expected to undergo early tracheal extubation after cardiac surgery.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2004

Inhaled prostacyclin is safe, effective, and affordable in patients with pulmonary hypertension, right heart dysfunction, and refractory hypoxemia after cardiothoracic surgery.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to describe our institutional experience in using inhaled prostacyclin as a selective pulmonary vasodilator in patients with pulmonary hypertension, refractory hypoxemia, and right heart dysfunction after cardiothoracic surgery. METHODS: Between February 2001 and March 2003, cardiothoracic surgical patients with pulmonary hypertension (mean pulmonary artery pressure >30 mm Hg or systolic pulmonary artery pressure >40 mm Hg), hypoxemia (PaO(2)/fraction of inspired oxygen <150 mm Hg), or right heart dysfunction (central venous pressure >16 mm Hg and cardiac index <2.2 L.min(-1).m(-2)) were prospectively administered inhaled prostacyclin at an initial concentration of 20,000 ng/mL and then weaned per protocol. Hemodynamic variables were measured before the initiation of inhaled prostacyclin, 30 to 60 minutes after initiation, and again 4 to 6 hours later. RESULTS: One hundred twenty-six patients were enrolled during the study period. At both time points, inhaled prostacyclin significantly decreased the mean pulmonary artery pressure without altering the mean arterial pressure. The average length of time on inhaled prostacyclin was 45.6 hours. There were no adverse events attributable to inhaled prostacyclin. The average cost for inhaled prostacyclin was 150 US dollars per day. Compared with nitric oxide, which costs 3000 US dollars per day, the potential cost savings over this period were 681,686 US dollars. CONCLUSIONS: Inhaled prostacyclin seems to be a safe and effective pulmonary vasodilator for cardiothoracic surgical patients with pulmonary hypertension, refractory hypoxemia, or right heart dysfunction. Overall, inhaled prostacyclin significantly decreases mean pulmonary artery pressures without altering the mean arterial pressure. Compared with nitric oxide, there is no special equipment required for administration or toxicity monitoring, and the cost savings are substantial.

Administration, Inhalation↗
PubMed2003

High spinal anesthesia for cardiac surgery: effects on beta-adrenergic receptor function, stress response, and hemodynamics.

BACKGROUND: This double-blind, randomized, controlled trial examined the effect of high-dose intrathecal bupivacaine in combination with general anesthesia on atrial beta-adrenergic receptor function, the stress response, and hemodynamics during coronary artery bypass graft surgery. METHODS: Thirty-eight patients were randomized to either control (n = 19) or intrathecal bupivacaine (ITB) groups (n = 19). Patients in the ITB group received 37.5 mg intrathecal hyperbaric bupivacaine before induction of general anesthesia. Control patients received an injection of local anesthetic into the skin and subcutaneous tissues (sham spinal). Comparisons were made between groups with respect to atrial receptor desensitization and down-regulation, in addition to circulating catecholamines and hemodynamics. RESULTS: In patients with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) times in excess of 1 h, the ITB group had significantly less atrial beta-receptor dysfunction, as measured by maximal isproteronol, 50% maximal isoproterenol, sodium fluoride-stimulated activity, and zinterol stimulation assays of adenylyl cyclase activity (P < or = 0.02) and beta-adrenergic receptor density (P = 0.02). Serum epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol concentrations were significantly lower in the ITB group, independent of CPB times (P < 0.0001, P < 0.001, and P < 0.05, respectively). ITB patients had a higher cardiac index and a lower pulmonary vascular resistance index in the post-CPB time period (P < 0.01 and P < 0.05, respectively). In the pre-CPB period, mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance index were significantly lower in the ITB group. CONCLUSIONS: High-dose intrathecal bupivacaine, when combined with general anesthesia, resulted in less beta-receptor dysfunction and a lower stress response during coronary artery bypass graft surgery.

Adenylyl Cyclases↗