The Spiraling Cost of Healthcare #2567831

Not surprisingly, the American Society of Anesthesiologists decided, this week, that brain-scanners, to help assist in monitoring a patient in surgery, are not necessary to perform their job.

From Medgadget:

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has once again decided not to recommend widespread use of "brain function monitoring devices" as necessary tools to prevent intraoperative awareness under general anesthesia. The Task Force of the ASA has just published a practice advisory to help anesthesiologists deal with this serious complication of general anesthesia. The news is indeed a blow to manufacturers of these devices, despite their positive spin press releases.

Here's an excerpt from the ASA's statement:

Brain function monitoring devices, made by a handful of companies, use processed electroencephalographic data to assign a numeric value to a patient's depth of sedation. One application for which they are marketed is to help minimize the risk of intraoperative awareness.

The report recognizes the devices as a possible tool for monitoring selected patients, but concludes that the decision to use this emerging technology should be made on a case-by-case basis by the individual practitioner.

We're <sarcasm>shocked</sarcasm> that a special interest group would stand athwart an emerging technology that might potentially render their profession easier to perform (i.e. performable by someone on a nurse's pay-grade).

This would seem to be bad news for Aspect Medical (NASD: ASPM), a producer of these devices.

Comments

[Lauren Vacek]

My professional experience with surgeons and anesthesiologists is that they are skeptical of patients' first hand accounts of rousing to consciousness during surgical procedures for which they have been anesthetized.

[The Stalwart]

Do they think the patient is lying? Or just looking to file a lawsuit?

Thanks for the comment, Lauren.