Anesthesia Clinical Trials

To identify the benefits from regional anesthesia use as pain management in the pediatric population by delineating the differences in efficacy of continuous nerve blockade versus single-shot techniques after pediatric orthopaedic limb procedures. By doing this, the investigators can determine if specific anesthetic techniques should become a standard of care in pain management for the pediatric population and supersede the need for opioid medication. Read Less

The investigators will be studying the sedative drug dexmedetomidine using hybrid PET/fMRI/EEG imaging to better understand the neuropharmacology of anesthesia/artificially induced sleep. Read Less

To determine whether the addition of erector spinae plane (ESP) catheters to existing multimodal analgesic regimen with intrathecal morphine provides superior postoperative analgesia in patients undergoing hepatic resection compared with patients not receiving ESP catheters. Read Less

Neuroimaging data will be collected for patients that are given low doses of dexmedetomidine in order to understand its analgesic effects. Read Less

The concept of "enhanced recovery" was introduced by European anesthesiologists and surgeons who challenged traditional clinical practices involved in peri-operative care in 1990s. The goal of enhanced recovery programs (ERP) is to maintain normal physiology thereby decreasing complications. It focuses on peri-operative optimization of patient care. It was originally created for open colorectal surgeries but now has shown benefit in various surgical specialities including thoracic surgery, vascular surgery, hepatobiliary as well as gynecological surgery. The successful implementation of structured ERAS program requires an ERAS protocol, audit system and a multidisciplinary team. The investigators will evaluate the effect of compliance with the protocol and outcomes such as length of stay, readmissions, morbidity and mortality. Read Less

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the fastest growing neurodevelopmental disorder in the world. Approximately 1% of the population worldwide is affected by this disorder. Children with ASD exhibit some very stereo-typical behaviors. Their daily functionality depends on very rigid and predictable schedules and routines. Any changes in their schedules can often trigger negative emotional outbursts. The need to come to the hospital for procedures can be one such trigger. The purpose of this study is to examine the post anesthesia behavior outcomes of children with ASD. Read Less

The investigators propose a single-site, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical trial of lavender aromatherapy versus placebo for patient satisfaction in adult women having a surgical abortion before 10 weeks and 0 days gestation. The investigators will evaluate whether lavender aromatherapy is an effective adjunct therapy for patient satisfaction during first trimester surgical abortion. The investigators will measure satisfaction using the Iowa Satisfaction with Anesthesia Scale (ISAS). The investigators hypothesize that women receiving lavender aromatherapy will report higher satisfaction scores compared to women receiving placebo. Prior studies have investigated the use of aromatherapy in laboring patients, in menstruating women, and in general post-operative populations. No investigations have focused on the use of lavender aromatherapy as an adjunct therapy to paracervical block and/or oral narcotics and anxiolytics in outpatient surgical abortion. Our study is novel in investigating patient satisfaction with first trimester surgical abortion using lavender aromatherapy. The contribution of this proposed research to the literature is significant because current affordable anesthetic adjuncts to opioids and benzodiazepines are limited. Read Less