Outpatient Surgery Magazine - Subscribers

Back To Work - June 2020 - Outpatient Surgery Magazine

Outpatient Surgery Magazine, providing current information on Surgical Services, Surgical Facility Administration, Outpatient Surgery News and Trends, OR Excellence and more.

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1. Ultrasound While the capabilities of ultrasound-guided technology have grown by leaps and bounds in recent years, the physical size of the equipment has been shrinking. The market is now filled with smaller ultrasound machines ranging from handheld units to devices with tablet-sized viewing screens. Smaller equipment makes for easy portability into pro- cedure rooms and ORs. What's more, manufacturers are equipping these smaller units with the ability to add features through smartphone or tablet applications that bolster functionality and keep them from becoming quickly outdated. Advancements in the quality of the imaging also make it easier for anesthesia providers to zero in on nerve bundles, allowing them to place more accurate blocks and visualize critical structures around the nerve to minimize complications such as inadver- tent intravascular injections. Ultrasound technology that lets anesthesia providers administer tar- geted nerve blocks has many additional and unequaled diagnostic capabilities for facilities. It's a big reason I'm such a firm believer in instant access to ultrasound in the pre-, intra- and post-op settings. For instance, using ultrasound in the OR can help diagnose a patient's hypotension or sudden rapid heartbeat, which will in turn help the provider apply the correct treatment option and reduce any potential complications. From being able to assess gastric contents (is that patient really NPO?) and pre-op cardiac function to determining intractable post-op pain due to intra-abdominal fluid extravasation after a hip arthroscopy, these machines can do a lot more than simply guide nerve block placement. 2. Better blocks Talk of ultrasound-guided nerve blocks tends to focus on specialties like ortho or podiatry — cases that mainly involve the extremities. 7 8 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 2 0

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