Department of Anesthesiology

January 8, 2021

Large study finds higher burden of acute brain dysfunction for COVID-19 ICU patients

COVID-19 patients admitted to intensive care in the early months of the pandemic were subject to a significantly higher burden of delirium and coma than is typically found in patients with acute respiratory failure. Choice of sedative medications and curbs on family visitation played a role in increasing acute brain dysfunction for these patients.

By Paul Govern
January 7, 2021

VA adopts enhanced recovery for total knee, total hip patients

For patients receiving total knee or total hip replacements at the Nashville VA Medical Center, the use of opioids for inpatient pain management and the total time patients spent in the hospital were both greatly reduced following the January 2016 adoption of sweeping quality improvement measures.

By Paul Govern
December 14, 2020

Polymer protection for heart muscle

Vanderbilt researchers demonstrate that the polymer P188 has promise as a therapy to prevent reperfusion injury — the cellular damage that occurs when blood flow returns after an ischemic event like a heart attack.

By Leigh MacMillan
The Liver Transplant Anesthesia team includes, from left, Clayne Benson, MD, Kevin Furman, MD, Philip Leisy, MD, and Kara Siegrist, MD.
December 10, 2020

New approach helps conserve blood products for liver transplant patients

Liver transplants have traditionally required a high volume of transfusions of blood products, which comes with several downsides. The products are costly to patients — as high as $15,000 on top of the expense of a transplant. And they are sometimes not well accepted in patients because they degrade over time and are derived from multiple patients.

By Matt Batcheldor
October 29, 2020

Histamine circuits in brain reward center

Histamine — commonly associated with allergies — also has a signaling role in the brain’s reward center and may offer a novel target for treating addiction.

By Leigh MacMillan
October 22, 2020

NIAAA director Koob set for Nov. 5 virtual Discovery Lecture

The Discovery Lecture Series launches this fall with a webinar format, the first featuring George Koob, PhD, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

By Leigh MacMillan
August 24, 2020

Event continues VUMC tradition of providing free hand surgeries

For the fourth straight year, VUMC surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and support staff provided free surgeries for underinsured individuals with chronic upper extremity conditions such as carpel tunnel syndrome and cysts.
By Jill Clendening
August 24, 2020

Land of plenty (of opioids)

Surgical patients are being given more opioids than they need for postsurgical pain management, raising the risk of addiction.
By Paul Govern
August 5, 2020

Study finds aerobic exercise spurs endorphins, relieves low back pain

Six weeks of aerobic exercise can lead to sustained increases in endogenous opioid function and significant relief for chronic low back pain, according to a randomized controlled trial by Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Stephen Bruehl, PhD, and colleagues, reported in Pain.
By Paul Govern
July 20, 2020

Post-surgical bleeding associated with more deaths when compared to blood clots after surgery

Post-surgical bleeding is associated with more deaths than blood clots from surgery, according to a Vanderbilt University Medical Center study published in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia.
By Craig Boerner
June 9, 2020

VUMC Obstetric Anesthesiology named a Center of Excellence by the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology

Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Division of Obstetric Anesthesiology has been designated as a Center of Excellence (COE) by the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP).
By VUMC News and Communications
June 9, 2020

New physician spotlight: Edward Yaghmour

By Doug Campbell
June 8, 2020

When rankings are unfounded

There are many good reasons to survey anesthesiology patient satisfaction but ranking individual clinicians isn’t one of them, the authors of a new study conclude.
By Paul Govern
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