By J. Paul Curry, MD (anesthesiologist)

This is the concluding article in my series on respiratory dysfunction in post-surgical patients. Here are highlights from the preceding articles:

• “Improving the Safety of Post-Surgical Care,” introduced the concept that, although the current approach to physiologic threshold monitoring works well in the OR, it is unreliable on post-surgical floors.
• “Pulse Oximetry False Alarms on Post-Surgical Floors,” explored in more depth why the threshold for triggering a pulse oximetry alarm should vary depending on the site of care (OR vs post-surgical floor).
• “Detecting Deadly Post-Surgical Respiratory Dysfunction,” reviewed the pattern, called Type I, of respiratory compromise that characterizes the conditions not related to opioid use.
• “The Risk of Opioids in Post-surgical Settings,” examined the two different patterns of respiratory dysfunction (Types II and III) that can occur when opioids are used in post-surgical settings.

To read the complete article, please go to The Doctor Weighs In.

• Opioid Safety
• Respiratory Compromise