Residents are encouraged to participate in clinical research. Most commonly, research rotations are arranged for the CA-III year. Residents with an interest in research meet with the department research director and research coordinator during the CA-II year. Residents may participate in an existing project, but are also encouraged to develop a hypothesis and to design their own clinical study. This latter approach has the advantage of exposure to the complete research process, including Institutional Review Board approval.

Three resident research projects 2007

Dr. Colleen Parker is exploring the combination of local anesthetics on the duration of interscalene brachial plexus blockade. Local anesthetics are often combined, on the optimistic assumption that you can harvest the desired qualities of both local anesthetics. As an example, lidocaine and bupivacaine are often combined to attempt fast onset and prolonged block duration. However, it is possible that the local anesthetics may have a more competitive interaction. More specifically, Colleen is investigating if adding lidocaine to ropivacaine shortens the duration of post-surgical analgesia compared to ropivacaine alone.

Dr. Michael Sutherland continues his interest in novel ways of confirming neuraxial catheter placement. Michael is using electrical stimulating catheters and attempting to differentiate spinal from epidural catheter placement based upon the electrical current required to produce visible muscle contraction.

Dr. Todd Murphy finished an investigation of clonidine as an adjuvant in intravenous regional anesthesia. Todd conducted a blinded dose-ranging study to determine the optimal dose of clonidine for post-surgical pain relief in patients undergoing carpal tunnel release.

Other current departmental research projects

Ketamine as an adjuvant to intravenous regional anesthesia. Dr. Chris Viscomi is investigating the utility of adding ketamine to Bier blocks in a double-blind systemic control study design.

Dr. Lydia Grondin is leading a trial comparing vasopressors for spinal hypotension in pre-eclamptic women having Cesarean delivery. In a double-blind study, ephedrine and phenylephrine will be compared, with delivery umbilical cord blood gases as the primary outcome determinant.

Dr. Chris Chase continues his work with acupuncture, and is beginning several investigations defining the role of acupuncture in analgesia regimens.

Additional Anesthesiology Trials 2007

Name		PI
An open-label, randomized, phase IIIb multicenter trial to evaluate the pharmacodynamic parameters of intubation bolus, and bolus and infusion maintenance doses of Zemuron in pediatric and adolescent subjects.		Robert Williams, MD
Study of Percutaneous Intradiscal Nucleoplasty Efficacy.		Carlos Pino, MD
An Open-Label, 12-Month Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, and Efficacy of Oravescent Fentanyl Citrate for the Management of Breakthrough Pain in Opioid-Tolerant Patients with Chronic Noncancer Pain.		Carlos Pino, MD
Randomized Controlled Clinical Outcome Study: Conventional Radiofrequency Ablation Versus Pulse Radiofrequency Ablation for the Treatment of Lumbar Zygapophyiseal Joint Generated Pain		Carlos Pino, MD
Acute toxicity of intrathecal dexamethasone in an animal model.		Mark Hoeft, MD