Since the COVID-19 pandemic, anesthesia professionals have understandably viewed emerging infectious diseases primarily through the lens of airborne transmission. COVID-19, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS),…

For decades, the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation (APSF) Stoelting Conference has been a beacon for patient safety, convening a multidisciplinary community to discuss the latest in best practices, review significant technological advances, focus rigorous research on perioperative clinical…

Unrecognized cognitive impairment affects an estimated 37–50% of older surgical patients and is a major risk factor for perioperative neurocognitive disorders. These disorders affect up to 50% of older surgical patients and contribute to prolonged hospitalization, increased mortality, accelerated cognitive decline, and billions in…

Every day, anesthesia professionals reach into the anesthesia cart assuming that a familiar, reliable endotracheal tube (ETT) will be available and function as expected. This assumption is becoming increasingly questionable as recent years have been marked by supply chain instability, product recalls, material reformulations, and…

Alpha-gal Syndrome (AGS) is an IgE-mediated allergy to galactose-α-1,3-galactose (“alpha-gal”), a carbohydrate present in non-primate mammalian tissues. AGS commonly presents as a new onset allergy to red meat after a Lone Star tick (Amblyomma amercanum) bite. It was discovered in…

Smart infusion pumps have many features that promote medication safety, but none of these are applicable if usability problems outweigh functionality. In June 2024, the Baxter Novum syringe pump was introduced at our institution, and usability issues led to…

Perioperative corneal abrasion (PCA) is the most common ocular complication associated with nonocular surgery under anesthesia. While distressing to patients, the vast majority of PCAs are superficial epithelial injuries that predictably heal within…