Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Use and Residual Gastric Content Before Anesthesia.

Importance: Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) use is rapidly increasing in the US, driven by its expanded approval for weight management in addition to hyperglycemia management in patients with type 2 diabetes. The perioperative safety of these medications, particularly with aspiration risk under anesthesia, is uncertain. Objective: To assess the association between GLP-1 RA use and prevalence of increased residual gastric content (RGC), a major risk factor for aspiration under anesthesia, using gastric ultrasonography. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study prospectively enrolled patients from a large, tertiary, university-affiliated hospital from June 6 through July 12, 2023. Participants followed preprocedural fasting guidelines before an elective procedure under anesthesia. Patients with altered gastric anatomy (eg, from previous gastric surgery), pregnancy, recent trauma (<1 month), or an inability to lie in the right lateral decubitus position for gastric ultrasonography were excluded. Exposure: Use of a once-weekly GLP-1 RA. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the presence of increased RGC, defined by the presence of solids, thick liquids, or more than 1.5 mL/kg of clear liquids on gastric ultrasonography. Analysis was adjusted for confounders using augmented inverse probability of treatment weighting, a propensity score-based technique. Secondarily, the association between the duration of drug interruption and the prevalence of increased RGC was explored. Results: Among the 124 participants (median age, 56 years [IQR, 46-65 years]; 75 [60%] female), the prevalence of increased RGC was 56% (35 of 62) in patients with GLP-1 RA use (exposure group) compared with 19% (12 of 62) in patients who were not taking a GLP-1 RA drug (control group). After adjustment for confounding, GLP-1 RA use was associated with a 30.5% (95% CI, 9.9%-51.2%) higher prevalence of increased RGC (adjusted prevalence ratio, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.23-4.97). There was no association between the duration of GLP-1 RA interruption and the prevalence of increased RGC (adjusted odds ratio, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.65-1.14). Conclusions and Relevance: Use of a GLP-1 RA was independently associated with increased RGC on preprocedural gastric ultrasonography. The findings suggest that the preprocedural fasting duration suggested by current guidelines may be inadequate in this group of patients at increased risk of aspiration under anesthesia.

Cannabis Use Disorder and Perioperative Complications.

Importance: Cannabis use is growing in the US and is increasingly perceived as harmless. However, the perioperative impact of cannabis use remains uncertain. Objective: To assess whether cannabis use disorder is associated with increased morbidity and mortality after major elective, inpatient, noncardiac surgery. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective, population-based, matched cohort study used data from the National Inpatient Sample for adult patients aged 18 to 65 years who underwent major elective inpatient surgery (including cholecystectomy, colectomy, inguinal hernia repair, femoral hernia repair, mastectomy, lumpectomy, hip arthroplasty, knee arthroplasty, hysterectomy, spinal fusion, and vertebral discectomy) from January 2016 to December 2019. Data were analyzed from February to August 2022. Exposure: Cannabis use disorder, as defined by the presence of specific International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) diagnostic codes. Main Outcome and Measures: The primary composite outcome was in-hospital mortality and 7 major perioperative complications (myocardial ischemia, acute kidney injury, stroke, respiratory failure, venous thromboembolism, hospital-acquired infection, and surgical procedure-related complications) based on ICD-10 discharge diagnosis codes. Propensity score matching was performed to create a 1:1 matched cohort that was well balanced with respect to covariates, which included patient comorbidities, sociodemographic factors, and procedure type. Results: Among 12 422 hospitalizations, a cohort of 6211 patients with cannabis use disorder (median age, 53 years [IQR, 44-59 years]; 3498 [56.32%] male) were matched with 6211 patients without cannabis use disorder for analysis. Cannabis use disorder was associated with an increased risk of perioperative morbidity and mortality compared with hospitalizations without cannabis use disorder in adjusted analysis (adjusted odds ratio, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.04-1.37; P = .01). The outcome occurred more frequently in the group with cannabis use disorder (480 [7.73%]) compared with the unexposed group (408 [6.57%]). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, cannabis use disorder was associated with a modest increased risk of perioperative morbidity and mortality after major elective, inpatient, noncardiac surgery. In the context of increasing cannabis use rates, our findings support preoperative screening for cannabis use disorder as a component of perioperative risk stratification. However, further research is needed to quantify the perioperative impact of cannabis use by route and dosage and to inform recommendations for preoperative cannabis cessation.

Impact of cesarean versus vaginal delivery on the risk of postpartum acute kidney injury: A retrospective database controlled study in 116,876 parturients.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: The rate of cesarean delivery is increasing globally but the risk of perioperative organ injury associated with cesarean delivery is not well defined. The objective of this study was to determine the risk of postpartum acute kidney injury, a peripartum complication defined by an acute decrease in kidney function, associated with cesarean delivery compared to vaginal delivery. SETTING: Population-based discharge database. PATIENTS: The Optum Clinformatics® Data Mart was queried for parturients that underwent cesarean or vaginal delivery between January 2016 to January 2018. Using a propensity score model based on 27 antepartum characteristics, we generated a final matched cohort of 116,876 parturients. INTERVENTION/EXPOSURE: Cesarean delivery as the mode of delivery. MEASUREMENTS: The risk of acute kidney injury associated with each delivery mode and the effect of acute kidney injury on the length of hospital stay for parturients. MAIN RESULTS: The matched cohort consisted of 116,876 deliveries, with 58,438 cases in each group. In the cesarean delivery group, the incidence of postpartum acute kidney injury was 24.5 vs. 7.9 per 10,000 deliveries in the vaginal delivery group (adjusted odds ratio = 3; 95% CI, 2.13-4.22; P < .001). The median of the length of hospital stay [interquartile range] was longer by 50% in parturients who developed postpartum acute kidney injury after vaginal delivery (3 [2-4] days vs. those who did not, 2 [2, 3] days; P < .001) and by 67% after cesarean delivery (5 [4-7] days vs. 3 [3, 4] days; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Cesarean delivery is associated with a significantly increased risk of postpartum acute kidney injury as compared to vaginal delivery. The development of postpartum acute kidney injury is associated with prolonged length of hospital stay.

Inpatient Pediatric Foreign Body Ingestion: National Estimates and Resource Utilization.

OBJECTIVE: We generated national estimates of patient and hospitalization characteristics for pediatric inpatient admissions for foreign body ingestion (FBI) and compared these to admissions for other reasons. We further identified characteristics that were independently associated with length of stay (LOS). Finally, we hypothesized that endoscopy within 24 hours of admission was independently associated with a shorter LOS in patients admitted for FBI. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we used data from the Kids' Inpatient Database for 2016. Admissions for FBI were identified and national estimates of patient and hospitalization characteristics were generated. Patients admitted for FBI were compared to patients admitted for other causes. Data were analyzed for independent associations with LOS. Subgroup analysis was performed to determine whether early endoscopy was associated with a shorter LOS. RESULTS: A total of 2464 admissions for FBI were identified in the database. The median (interquartile range) patient age was 4 (1-11) years with a slight male predominance. Most patients (82.6%) had an endoscopy performed during admission. Independent factors associated with increased LOS included: airway procedures, intra-abdominal surgery, psychiatric diagnosis, esophageal disorder, and developmental delay. Among patients who required endoscopy, 56.7% were performed early (within 24 hours). Early endoscopy was independently associated with a 35% shorter LOS (incidence rate ratio = 0.65, 95% confidence interval 0.54-0.80; P=0.009). CONCLUSIONS: Inpatient admissions for FBI frequently require endoscopy and have a short LOS. In patients who require endoscopy during the admission, early endoscopy (within 24 hours of admission) may be associated with a shorter LOS.

Effects of State Law Limiting Postoperative Opioid Prescription in Patients After Cesarean Delivery.

BACKGROUND: The impact of the Florida State law House Bill 21 (HB 21) restricting the duration of opioid prescriptions for acute pain in patients after cesarean delivery is unknown. Our objective was to assess the association of the passage of Florida State law HB 21 with trends in discharge opioid prescription practices following cesarean delivery, necessity for additional opioid prescriptions, and emergency department visits at a large tertiary care center. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study conducted at a large, public hospital. The 2 cohorts represented the period before and after implementation of the law. Using a confounder-adjusted segmented regression analysis of an interrupted time series, we evaluated the association between HB 21 and trends in the proportions of patients receiving opioids on discharge, duration of opioid prescriptions, total opioid dose prescribed, and daily opioid dose prescribed. We also compared the need for additional opioid prescriptions within 30 days of discharge and the prevalence of emergency department visits within 7 days after discharge. RESULTS: Eight months after implementation of HB 21, the mean duration of opioid prescriptions decreased by 2.9 days (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.2-0.5) and the mean total opioid dose decreased by 20.1 morphine milligram equivalents (MME; 95% CI, 4-36.3). However, there was no change in the proportion of patients receiving discharge opioids (95% CI of difference, -0.1 to 0.16) or in the mean daily opioid dose (mean difference, 5.3 MME; 95% CI, -13 to 2.4). After implementation of the law, there were no changes in the proportion of patients who required additional opioid prescriptions (2.1% vs 2.3%; 95% CI of difference, -1.2 to 1.5) or in the prevalence of emergency department visits (2.4% vs 2.2%; 95% CI of difference, -1.6 to 1.1). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of Florida Law HB 21 was associated with a lower total prescribed opioid dose and a shorter duration of therapy at the time of hospital discharge following cesarean delivery. These reductions were not associated with the need for additional opioid prescriptions or emergency department visits.

Development and Validation of an Algorithm for the Identification of Audible Medical Alarms.

Audible medical alarms are ubiquitous in acute healthcare environments, but caregivers cannot reliably identify them. Furthermore, background noise and psychoacoustic factors can interfere with alarm recognition and contribute to alarm fatigue. We developed and validated an acoustic digital signal processing algorithm for the automatic identification of audible medical alarms. The algorithm uses the short-time Fourier transform to decompose audio signals and extract the alarm sounds' fundamental frequencies, harmonics, and periodicity. This information is then used to classify and recognize these sounds. The identification algorithm demonstrates robust performance (F1 score of 93% to 100%) and 100% negative predictive value in identifying single or multiple medical audible alarms under both quiet and noisy conditions. The algorithm we developed represents a robust approach for the identification of audible medical alarms that perform with high accuracy in noisy environments. It can be used to identify and classify alarms in medical settings for research and clinical purposes.

The Lost Airway.

Management of the unanticipated difficult airway is one of the most relevant and challenging crisis management scenarios encountered in clinical anesthesia practice. Several guidelines and approaches have been developed to assist clinicians in navigating this high-acuity scenario. In the most serious cases, the clinician may encounter a failed airway that results from failure to ventilate an anesthetized patient via facemask or supraglottic airway or intubate the patient with an endotracheal tube. This dreaded cannot intubate, cannot oxygenate situation necessitates emergency invasive access. This article reviews the incidence, management, and complications of the failed airway and training issues related to its management.

Hypertensive crisis during spinal anesthesia due to undiagnosed pheochromocytoma.

Undiagnosed pheochromocytoma poses significant intraoperative challenges to the anesthesiologist. These tumors generally cause profound hypotension after spinal anesthesia. We present an unusual case of a hypertensive crisis occurring in a patient under spinal anesthesia. Due to intraoperative hemodynamic instability, the case was converted to general anesthesia with a volatile anesthetic. Postoperative workup was consistent with a pheochromocytoma. Pheochromocytomas are rare, but given their significant intraoperative morbidity and mortality, they should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexpected intraoperative hemodynamic changes.

Opioid prescriptions for acute pain after outpatient surgery at a large public university-affiliated hospital: Impact of state legislation in Florida.

BACKGROUND: In response to the growing opioid crisis, Florida recently implemented a law restricting the duration of opioid prescriptions for acute pain. Little is known about the impact of such legislation on opioid prescription practices at the time of discharge after surgery. The objective of this study was to determine whether Florida's new legislation changed opioid prescription practices for analgesia after surgery. METHODS: Adults 18 years of age and older undergoing cholecystectomy, appendectomy, hernia repair, hysterectomy, mastectomy, or lymph node dissection were included in this retrospective cohort study at a large public university-affiliated hospital. We analyzed opioid prescriptions on discharge after these common outpatient surgical procedures between June 1, 2017, and December 31, 2018. Florida House Bill 21 was passed on March 2, 2018, and subsequent implementation of this law took place on July 1, 2018. The law restricts the duration of opioid prescriptions for acute pain to 3 days, which can be extended up to a maximum of 7 days with additional documentation. The outcomes studied included the following: the proportion of patients receiving opioid prescriptions on discharge, total opioid dose prescribed, daily opioid dose prescribed, and the proportion of patients receiving more than a 3-day supply of opioids. We colledted data on emergency department cumulative visits within 7 and 30 days after discharge. Drug doses were converted to morphine milligram equivalents and calculated for each selected procedure. RESULTS: A total of 1,467 surgical encounters were included. The cohort was predominantly female (963 [65.6%]) with a mean (SD) age of 49.6 (14.4) years. At 6 months after implementation of HB 21, the proportion of patients receiving opioid prescriptions decreased by 21% (95% CI 16.8% to 25.3%, P < .001), mean total opioid dose prescribed decreased by 64.2 morphine milligram equivalents (95% CI 54.7 to 73.7, P < .001) from a baseline mean (SD) of 172.5 (78.9) morphine milligram equivalents. The mean daily opioid dose prescribed increased by 3.5 morphine milligram equivalents (95% CI 1.8 to 5.1, P < .001) from a baseline mean (SD) of 30.5 (9.4) morphine milligram equivalents. The proportion of patients receiving opioid prescriptions for longer than a 3-day supply decreased by 68% (95% CI 63.4% to 72.7%, P < .001). We observed no change in the number of postoperative emergency department visits before and after implementation of the law. CONCLUSION: Opioid prescriptions for patients undergoing common outpatient surgical procedures at a large public university-affiliated hospital in Florida were substantially reduced within 6 months after implementation of state legislation limiting the duration of opioid prescriptions. This reduction was not associated with an increase in the number of postoperative emergency department visits. The legislation should significantly decrease the amount of unused opioid pills potentially available for diversion and abuse. Secondary effects from the enactment of this law remain to be evaluated.

Determination of Geolocations for Anesthesia Specialty Coverage and Standby Call Allowing Return to the Hospital Within a Specified Amount of Time.

BACKGROUND: For emergent procedures, in-house teams are required for immediate patient care. However, for many procedures, there is time to bring in a call team from home without increasing patient morbidity. Anesthesia providers taking subspecialty or backup call from home are required to return to the hospital within a designated number of minutes. Driving times to the hospital during the hours of call need to be considered when deciding where to live or to visit during such calls. Distance alone is an insufficient criterion because of variable traffic congestion and differences in highway access. We desired to develop a simple, inexpensive method to determine postal codes surrounding hospitals allowing a timely return during the hours of standby call. METHODS: Pessimistic travel times and driving distances were calculated using the Google distance matrix application programming interface for all N = 136 postal codes within 60 great circle ("straight line") miles of the University of Miami Hospital (Miami, FL) during all 108 weekly standby call hours. A postal code was acceptable if the estimated longest driving time to return to the hospital was ≤60 minutes (the anesthesia department's service commitment to start an urgent case during standby call). Linear regression (with intercept = 0) minimizing the mean absolute percentage difference between the distances (great circle and driving) and the pessimistic driving times to return to the hospital was performed among all 136 postal codes. Implementation software written in Python is provided. RESULTS: Postal codes allowing return to the studied hospital within the specified interval were identified. The linear regression showed that driving distances correlated poorly with the longest driving time to return to the hospital among the 108 weekly call hours (mean absolute percentage error = 25.1% ± 1.7% standard error [SE]; N = 136 postal codes). Great circle distances also correlated poorly (mean absolute percentage error = 28.3% ± 1.9% SE; N = 136). Generalizability of the method was determined by successful application to a different hospital in a rural state (University of Iowa Hospital). CONCLUSIONS: The described method allows identification of postal codes surrounding a hospital in which personnel taking standby call could be located and be able to return to the hospital during call hours on every day of the week within any specified amount of time. For areas at the perimeter of the acceptability, online distance mapping applications can be used to check driving times during the hours of standby call.

Airway Management of Near-Complete Tracheal Transection by Through-the-Wound Intubation: A Case Report.

We present an approach to airway management in a patient with machete injuries culminating in near-complete cricotracheal transection, in addition to a gunshot wound to the neck. Initial airway was established by direct intubation through the cricotracheal wound. Once the airway was secured, a bronchoscopy-guided orotracheal intubation was performed with simultaneous retraction of the cricotracheal airway to optimize the surgical field. This case offers insight into a rarely performed approach to airway management. Furthermore, our case report demonstrates that, in select airway injuries, performing through-the-wound intubation engenders a multitude of benefits.