Weekly outline

  • Welcome to Internship in Anesthesiology!

    Anesthesiology 260 is a one-week rotation in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) which provides the intern (LU VII student) supervised involvement in the monitoring and care of post-operative patients. It provides the intern the clinical experience for the care of patients recovering from general, regional and monitored anesthesia for all types of surgeries and procedures. There are many physiologic disorders which need to be diagnosed and managed in the PACU during emergence from the effects of anesthesia and surgery. Emphasis is given in the recognition and care of post-operative problems as well as learning the various methods of providing adequate postoperative analgesia. The course also provides the student with the opportunity to experience firsthand the principles and practices of Crisis Resource Management (CRM) in a simulated setting.

  • Course Orientation/Introduction to the PACU

    • Target Learning Outcomes
      • Student is familiar with the following aspects of the course:
        • Learning objectives
        • Course Requirements
        • Activities
        • Attendance
        • Course Evaluation
      • Give an overview of the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
      • Enumerate the staffing requirements for the PACU
      • Enumerate PACU staff duties and responsibilities
      • Describe the ideal location of a PACU within a hospital
      • Describe the layout of a properly designed PACU
      • Enumerate the equipment needed at the PACU
    • Watch: 
      • Introduction to PACU Lecture (Asynchronous/UPMVLE)
      • PACU Walkthrough Video (Asynchronous/UPMVLE)
      • COVID OR Walkthrough (Asynchronous/UPMVLE)
  • Monitoring the Postoperative Patient

    • Target Learning Outcome
      • Student must be able to interpret data from standard monitors in a patient recovering from anesthesia
      • Student must be able to correlate the data with the clinical picture of the patient
    • Watch: Monitoring the Postoperative Patient Lecture Video
  • Management of Postoperative Complications

    • Target Learning Outcomes
      • Student must be able to diagnose and manage the most common PACU complications
    • Read: Heitz, James W. Post-Anesthesia Care: Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Management. Cambridge University Press, 2016.
    • Watch: Video for Bag-mask ventilation (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9GPPLR_3aBE)
    • Watch: Management of Postoperative Complications Video Lecture 
    • Lecture: Postoperative Complications File 3.3MB Powerpoint 2007 presentation
  • Crisis Resource Management in the PACU

    • Target Learning Outcomes
      • Know and apply the principles of Basic Life Support (BLS)
      • Know and apply the principles of Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS)
      • Diagnose and treat the underlying complication of a patient recovering at the PACU
      • Apply the principles of CRM in a simulated clinical scenario
        • Know the environment
        • Anticipate and plan
        • Call for help early
        • Exercise leadership and followership
        • Distribute the workload
        • Use all available information
        • Communicate effectively
        • Use cognitive aids
        • Re-evaluate repeatedly
        • Use good teamwork
  • Management of Postoperative Pain

    • Target Learning Outcomes
      • Know the definition of acute postoperative pain
      • Learn how to assess acute postoperative pain using different grading systems
      • Apply the WHO reverse step-ladder approach for acute postoperative pain
      • Commonly used analgesics
    • Read: Barash, P.G. et al. (2015). Management of Acute and Chronic Pain. In Clinical Anesthesia Fundamentals (pp. 699-720). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer Health.
    • Deep Dive: Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and Faculty of Pain Medicine. (2015). Acute Pain Management: Scientific Evidence (4th ed.). Retrieved from: ACUTE PAIN MANAGEMENT: SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE
    • Watch: Pain Assessment Video 
  • Recovery from Anesthesia and Discharge from the PACU

    • Target Learning Outcomes:
      • Familiarize oneself with the handover procedure for patients coming into the PACU from the operating room
      • Familiarize oneself with the discharge criteria from PACU
      • Assess adequacy of recovery from anesthesia and suitability of discharge from PACU
    • Read: Longnecker, D.E et al. (2017) Postoperative Care of the Anesthesia Patient. In Anesthesiology, 3rd Edition, McGraw-Hill Education, pp 1212-1222
    • Watch: 
      • Effect of Anesthesia on Recovery Video
      • PACU Handover Video
      • Bromage Score Assessment Video 
      • Aldrete Scoring Video