Local news spotlights ASA, SPA guidance on anesthesia concerns in Venezuelan patients

ASA and the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA) issued a joint communication regarding severe neurologic complications seen in healthy adult and pediatric patients of Venezuelan ancestry following routine general anesthesia. News of the communication has been featured on FOX13 (Tampa) and Univision 45 (Houston). “We want parents to understand… we can manage this if we need to,” ASA Past President Randall Clark, MD, FASA, told FOX13. “If an anesthesiologist is aware of the risk, they can avoid the trigger gases and use different sedative techniques that are completely safe for these patients.”