Department of Anesthesiology
Congratulations to Christopher Reglen, MD for scoring in the top 10 percent among those who took the ABA Basic Examination this June 2023.
Lindsay Maess fulfilled a lifelong passion by working with monkeys, chimps and gorillas at US zoos and often returning to Africa for field research at the Pandrillus conservation organization and sanctuary for orphaned chimpanzees and endangered drill monkeys in Nigeria.
Life in the jungle can pose dangers we don’t face in the Western world. When Lindsay came down with malaria, it set her on a path to severe neurological issues, pain and trauma that took so many years of her life and, if it weren’t for her team of physicians at RUSH, could have ended her dream forever.
In April of 2016, Lindsay tested positive for a parasitic infection — Plasmodium falciparum.
The day after she began her third round of medication, Lindsay developed the worst headache of her life. The next few days brought shooting pain through her whole head, fever and bleeding sores all over her face. She felt like electricity was running through her tongue, lips, face and ears.
The pain spread to her shoulders, spine and left arm. She felt dizzy and confused, like she was intoxicated.
By the time Lindsay came to RUSH in January of 2019, her life had completely changed. She could barely swallow, talk or be social anymore — much less continue her life’s work with primates.
“To get through those years before coming to RUSH, I didn’t want to live through it,” Lindsay says. “The pain and vertigo were so intense, and I thought there was no way I could keep going like this.”
At RUSH, she would finally get relief, not only from one doctor, but from a community of physicians that worked together to address all her medical concerns.
Lindsay was referred to Dr. Ryan Smith, MD, a facial plastic surgeon at RUSH who specializes in treating facial nerve disorders. Assuring he would do whatever it took to help, he worked to tailor her treatment.
Lindsay also worked with Dr. Sandeep Amin, MD, a pain management physician at RUSH and University Pain Centers (UPC), to further treat her nerve pain and migraine. “Her nervous system was in hyper-drive mode when I first saw her, accounting for her facial issues, pain, headaches and difficulty swallowing,” Dr. Amin says.
To treat these issues, he used ultrasound imaging as a guide to place several nerve blocks, injecting anesthesia into specific nerves in Lindsay’s head and neck. “It’s almost like resetting the neurologic system and bringing it into normal drive mode,” Dr. Amin says.
“Dr. Smith and Amin, what’s so special about them is that they’ll sit and listen,” Lindsay says. “They’ve been so patient and persistent with me. Dr. Smith has probably missed lunch hours just from answering my many questions and letting me express everything I wanted to say. And Dr. Amin has been relentless at peeling back and treating the layers of my pain with compassion.”
Pictured: Theodore J. Jeske, DO
Vikash J. Patel, DO Recipient of the 2022 Robert D. Dripps, MD Memorial Award
A new study shows 37% of millennials, or those ages 25 to 34 years old, do not trust their health care providers.
The high prevalence of medical misinformation available for all ages has led to a greater push to educate the public. The U.S. Surgeon General declared public health misinformation an “urgent threat to public health” in October 2021.
A recent study from Harmony Healthcare IT indicates that 69% of its millennial respondents searched online for health and medical advice instead of going to the doctor. In addition, 25% of these respondents reported they had also trusted online information to diagnose their symptoms accurately. This can come at a dangerous health risk as over 70% of people have been exposed to medical or health-related misinformation.
While information is instantaneous and accessible for those with internet access, the problem with online medical information is the rapid exchange and spread of information that may not be credible, which leads to further confusion. In addition, patients may misdiagnose their medical issue, request unnecessary tests or delay treatment.
“As a board-certified cardiac anesthesiologist, I understand that physicians have the knowledge needed to diagnose and treat medical conditions and online sources do not replace the 12-14 years of medical school and residency. But physicians can do more to address medical misinformation.”It is imperative that everyone, not just millennials, are extremely cautious of relying on unvetted online medical information. Misinformation is dangerous.
Link to Article 
- Luis Sanguino, MD
Dr. Shils is an expert in Neuromodulation, Microelectrode recording, and Intraoperative Neurophysiological Monitoring techniques and applications.
“The incidence of chronic pain is significant,” said Dr. Asokumar Buvanendran the Anesthesiology Department Chair at Rush University Medical Center. “In fact, it is much more than hypertension and diabetes combined,” he added.
Rush is partnering with the National Institute of Health to identify where chronic pain originates and who is most susceptible to developing it.
They are using MRI scans of the brain to get their results.
“Traditionally, pain is reported by the patient, but we can actually see documented evidence now in the brain of the circuits that light up with chronic pain. So that’s a really exciting and new field that’s developed over the years,” said Dr. Buvanendran
Instead of prescribing opioids, doctors are now able to insert electrodes surgically into the spine to stop pain signals before they reach the brain and trigger discomfort. “So if you’re able to interrupt the signals in the process, you naturally can cut down the pain signals going to the brain, and therefore you decrease the pain perception,” said Dr. Buvanendran.
Going into surgery is nerve-racking for anyone, but it can be especially frightening for children. Rush University Children’s Hospital has a new tool that is helping Rush’s youngest patients better understand their surgery experience and take on an active role in their care — all while having fun.
Behnoosh Shayegan, MD, director of pediatric anesthesiology, first got the idea for a tool like this while completing her anesthesiology fellowship. She witnessed what a difficult and stressful time this could be for children and dreamed of creating something fun and interactive that could help ease the anxiety of patients going through the surgical process.
Dr. Shayegan teamed up with Shira Miller, MS, CCLS, manager of child life and creative arts therapies, and the two thought through every stage of a patients’ journey into surgery from the moment they walk through the doors to discharge. The treasure map has been a longtime vision of Shayegan’s.
“I wanted to create an interactive tool that puts the patients themselves in charge of their care,” Dr. Shayegan says. “When kids are involved in something that they’re usually scared of, they tend to react more positively.”
As patients make their way through the day of surgery and conquer each island on the treasure map, they get a sticker to mark the completion of another step. When the young explorers finally land at Recovery Island, aka the recovery room, they have reached the treasure and are able to collect a prize from a treasure box which includes small, age-appropriate toys.
Congratulations to Drs. Amin and Birmingham on their Promotion to Associate Professor
“I was the on-call chaplain on Thursday, 6/24/2021 evening, when Darren paged me to support the family of a patient on 10W who was being compassionately extubated. I witnessed how Darren supported the emotional needs of different members of the family while patiently answering medical questions and suggesting that they do not witness the extubation, while going out of his way to care for the family’s spiritual needs as well. I was able to feel how much care there was in the brief encounter for the grieving family’s wellbeing.
May you continue to be a source of both healing and inspiration to the entire Rush University Medical Center. You are an exemplary credit to your profession and a true Hero of the Heart.”
Congratulation to Dr. Vaskar Das on being awarded the American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) 2021 conference “Best of Abstracts: Basic Science” for his abstract ”Effect of Opioid and Ampa Antagonists on (2r,6r)-HNK (Hydroxynorketamine) Anti-hyperalgesic Activity” at ANESTHESIOLOGY 2021 Annual Meeting to be held in San Diego, California on Sunday, October 10th, 2021
A Holiday Thanks to the Pediatric Anesthesiology Team Congratulation to Dr. Vaskar Das on the 2020 Schweppe Foundation Grant and Armour pilot grants (Ketamine Metabolite, (2R, 6R) - Hydroxynorketamine as an Alternative Analgesic Target in Low Back Pain, Evaluation of Direct and Indirect Analgesic Efficacy in a Murine Low Back Pain Model), he was recently selected using an NIH-style peer-review panel comprised of Rush research faculty members. These grants will allow development of preliminary data to enable the investigators to be competitive for future federal or private funding. Thank you to the review panel members and congratulations to the awardees! Dr. Das is the principal investigator on this award grant in collaboration with Dr. Asokumar Buvanendran and Dr. Robert McCarthy (Department of Anesthesiology).
Click here to view award recipients.
Maiko Yamashita, CRNA has been selected as the winner of the Ellen Elpern Voice of the APRN award for 2020. This is the first time that a CRNA has been awarded this Rush system-wide recognition for excellence in practice, mentoring and leadership.
Congratulations Maiko on this outstanding achievement!!
For elective surgeries, hospitals are implementing new protocols to keep everyone safe.
“We do a screening out front before they come in. Check their temperatures. Check for any symptoms. We are testing all of our patients for COVID before they come in for surgery,” said Dr. Patel.
This week started with O’Connor manning a newly outfitted intensive care unit specially designed to treat COVID-19 patients. “A COVID patient who has viral pneumonia, they are a different animal completely,” says O’Connor, a member of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in Schaumburg. “They are more challenging to ventilate.”
Starting work in a new ICU, similar to a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) used during wars with professionals spanning medical fields, resulted in O’Connor working with people for the first time. People had “some trepidation about what would happen, but we all came together. I was proud people came together very quickly as a team,” he says.
The American Society of Anesthesiologists has issued statements on the complications of using one ventilator for multiple patients and converting anesthesia gas machines to ICU ventilators, and a list of resources for anesthesiologists and health care professionals.
Asokumar Buvanandran, MD, Recognized by HHS for Contributions to Acute and Chronic Pain
The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), along with ASA Pain Committee Chair, Asokumar Buvanendran, M.D., were acknowledged by the Chief Medical Officer for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for demonstrating early support of the HHS Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force and for providing input on best practice recommendations for acute and chronic pain. Congratulations to Dr. Buvanendran!
David M. Rothenberg, MD, FCCM, Receives the Distinguished Service Award for ” Outstanding Contributions to the Advancement of Anesthesiology in Illinois from the Illinois Society of Anesthesiologists
Asokumar Buvanandran, MD, Appointed President of American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
Originally founded in 1923, ASRA was reborn in 1975 and is the largest subspecialty medical society in Anesthesiology. With approximately 4,500 members, the society has rich international distribution and rising attendance at annual meetings and scientific presentations. Dr. Buvanendran’s ASRA presidency will last through April 2019 and include hosting the World Congress of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, an event not scheduled to occur in the United States for another 24 years and expected to attract more than 3,000 delegates.
American Society of Pain and Neuroscience
July 13-16, 2023 | Miami Beach, FL
The following Rush resident presented:
Shyam Desai, MD, Christopher Massey, MD and Sandeep Amin, MD: Escheria coli Backterial Meningitis after Intrathecal Pump Implantation.
Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists
May 6-9, 2023 | Portland, OR
The following Rush resident presented:
Bishir Clayton, MD and Arvind Rajagopal, MD: Undiagnosed Antiphospholipid Syndrome in a Patient Preparing To Undergo Open Heart Surgery for Mitral Valve Regurgitation
Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology
May 3-7, 2023 | New Orleans, LA
The following Rush residents presented:
Justin Shang, DO and Michael Holland, MD: Anesthetic Considerations for a Parturient with Subglottic Stenosis and Multiple Sclerosis
Daniel Webster, MD and Alisha Bhatia, MD: An Uncommon Initial Presentation of Amniotic Fluid Embolism