Interruptions occur frequently in the operating room with both positive and negative consequences. Interruptions can distract anesthesiologists from safety-critical tasks, such as the pretransfusion blood check. In a simulated operating room, 12 anesthesiologists requested blood as part of a "bleeding patient" scenario. They were distracted while their assistant accepted delivery of the product...

Background The goal of the current study was to determine if the daily work patterns of anesthesiologists meet the recommended daily levels of activity. Methods Attending and resident anesthesiologists at a tertiary academic center were invited to participate. The subjects wore a pedometer during five regular clinical days at work and recorded the number of steps walked. The participants also...

BACKGROUND Although alcohol use disorders (AUDs) have enormous public health consequences, the rate of diagnosis of AUDs remains unsatisfactorily low. The primary aim of this study was to compare the detection of AUDs by anesthesiologists in a large preoperative assessment clinic to that by computerized self-assessment of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test. Secondary outcome measures ...

SOCCA members are well aware of the opportunities and challenges associated with the practice of critical care medicine – as well as the value of combined anesthesiology and critical care medicine training to critically ill patients. At the same time, some anesthesia colleagues have suggested there are limited roles for critical care anesthesiologists. Critical care physicians, with their speci...