Anesthesiology Service

Miami VA Healthcare System

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Program Mission

The Anesthesiology Service mission is to provide quality and excellent anesthesia for our veteran patients undergoing a surgical procedure.

Program Description

The Service of Anesthesiology at the Miami VA Medical Center is a dedicated service with clinical, research and educational components. The Department enjoys a long-standing, symbiotic affiliation with the University of Miami. Residents from the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Miami / Jackson Memorial Hospital receive the benefits of obtaining experience in managing a wide variety of surgical patients. They also have the opportunity to be exposed to clinical research in the area of anesthesiology.

The operating theatre is composed of 10 rooms. Of these, one is specifically dedicated to ophthalmologic surgery, two to urology surgical procedures and one to cardiac surgery. Commonly encountered cardiac procedures are coronary artery bypass grafting, aortic and mitral valve replacements, insertion of defibrillators (AICD’s) and placement of pacemaker devices.
The other operating rooms are busy with a variety of surgical specialties, such as general surgery, neurosurgery, ENT, orthopedic, plastic, hand and podiatric surgery.

At present, 50-60% of all surgical patients are outpatients. A formal outpatient clinic for preoperative evaluation of surgical patients has been created, and that has resulted in less delay for surgical patients, improved patient satisfaction and decreased unnecessary preoperative testing.

An extensive pain service, for both acute and chronic pain problems has been established.

The Miami VA Medical Center serves as a referral base for not only South Florida, but also the US Caribbean islands. The hospital also routinely handles US veterans who have come to Southern Florida for vacation but find themselves in need of emergency medical care.

Services Provided - Areas of Interest

• Geriatric anesthesia
• Anesthesia for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Cardiovascular and thoracic anesthesia
• Regional anesthesia
• Critical care and clinical research on sedation in the intensive care unit patients
• Chronic and acute pain management
• Preoperative evaluation
• Resident and medical student education

Anesthesiology Clinical Research

Our established team consists of faculty physicians and a research resident dedicated to the performance of clinical research. Current research projects are:

• Development of Dexmedetomidine as an adjunct to general anesthesia.
• Use Dexmedetomidine for difficult airway
• Use of Rofecoxib for control of post-operative pain in Inguinal Hernia Repair
• Use of Dexmedetomidine for prevention of post-operative shivering
• Lidocaine to prevent hemodynamic changes during laryngoscopy

From this research, abstracts are presented at national and international meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals on a regular basis.

Education

The VA Medical Center offers an exceptional opportunity for the residents to become familiar with a wide variety of anesthetic techniques. All residents work closely together with the faculty and are evaluated monthly on their performance. A monthly morbidity and mortality conference is scheduled at the end of each month in order for all rotating residents to review their clinical experiences, events, procedures and complications. Also rotating through the VA Medical Center are third and fourth year medical students from the University of Miami. For a period of two weeks, they observe and participate in the clinical and educational activities.

Contact Information

For further information, please contact Anesthesiology Service (305) 575-3150.