[HSF] Recall?

[Tea Acuff]

Don't forget that awake anesthesia is not ispo facto a complication. It can be a planned technique, eg awake carotid TEA or the occasional report of accupuncture for CAB. Anesthesia like heart surgery itself is a tool not a panacea. Again I criticise the medical profession for improper "universalization" of our limited perspectives or capacities however strong the "p" values. In the 1800s patients would haved loved to be vaguely "aware" of their operation.
 
I would agree with Bob that the most important thing at this point is to acknowledge the validity of the patient's perspective, crazy or not. You can documentument it at the same time as you try to understand it. 

tea



 


----- Original Message ----
From: Prasanna Simha M <prasannasimha at gmail.com>
To: OpenHeart-L at lists.hsforum.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 3:38:37 AM
Subject: Re: [HSF] Recall?


Problem is that this is related to litigation and trumped up charges that
makes people defensive. If you have TRALI with a blood transfusion then it
is accepted as a part of blood transfusion risks but if you are aware during
surgery and in a lawyer happy environment get ready for a large lawsuit.
Currently my wifes malpractice insurance as an anesthesiologist is higher
than that for cardiac surgery (mine) !! That is the unfortunate reality. You
should have seen the TV article on awareness during surgery - melodramatic
to the core.Unfortunately this makes us get concerned over nonissues. Funny
thing is that patients with awake cardiac surgery don't seem to have post
traumatic distress /stress syndrome !!
Prasanna

On 10/16/07, Ani Anyanwu <anianyanwu at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Surely an overkill for something that happens in 1 every 10,000 or so
> cases and is associated with minimal mortality and morbidity?
>
> Maybe if anestesiologists and ourselves put such energy into addressing
> events that occur much more frequently and have much more associated risk
> (such as blood transfusion,  low cardiac output, renal failure, vein
> grafting, avoidable mitral valve replacement, sepsis etc) there would be
> much more yield in terms of benefit to the patients and to the healthcare
> system overall. Amazes me the elaborate protocols hospitals have for those
> things that really matter less to the patient and surgeon whilst ignoring
> the things that do matter (surely surviving and surviving without major
> morbidity is far more important to most of us?).
>
> I would say we focus on the real deal - certainly awareness during
> anesthesia is anything but that.
>
> Ani
>
>
>
>
> > To: OpenHeart-L at lists.hsforum.com> Subject: Re: [HSF] Recall?> Date:
> Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:15:19 -0400> From: mdava
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