Past Recipients

2022 Recipients

Principal Investigator: Cheng Lin
Co-investigators:  Kamal Kumar, David Shin

Study Title:  BI-LEVEL VS. SINGLE-LEVEL ERECTOR SPINAE PLANE BLOCK FOR VIDEO ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC SURGERY – A RANDOMIZED PILOT STUDY

Summary:  Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), a minimally invasive surgery to remove intrathoracic lesions, is associated with moderate to severe post-operative pain. A single shot chest wall block, such as erector spinae block (ESB), is a component of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery, recommended by the European Society of Thoracic Surgeons and a single-level block is standard of care at Victoria Hospital. Recently, case reports began to emerge, suggesting bi-level ESB’s may provide more effective analgesia for VATS and other traumatic chest pain. As there is no robust data on bilevel ESB, we would like to conduct a randomized pilot study comparing bi-level versus single-level erector spinae block in VATS.

Principal Investigator: Timothy Turkstra
Co-investigators:  Ruediger Noppens, William Regan

Study Title:  CERVICAL SPINE MOTION: A FLUOROSCOPIC COMPARISON OF THE CMAC VIDEOSTYLET (VS) VERSUS THE FLEXIBLE BRONCHOSCOPE (FB)

Summary:  This prospective randomized controlled trial will investigate cervical spine movement during tracheal intubation and duration of laryngoscopy, comparing the CMAC VS versus FB. The C-spine will be recorded using fluoroscopic video to measure the maximal relative angular displacement of adjacent vertebrae during intubation using the two devices.

Principal Investigator: Ilana Sebbag
Co-investigators:  Khader Zimmo, Indu Singh, Barbra deVrijer, Tammy Symons, Philip Jones, Brendan Carvalho, Pervez Sultan

Study Title:  QUALITY OF RECOVERY SCORES IN PARTURIENTS WITH OBESITY: A PROSPECTIVE OBSERVATIONAL COHORT STUDY

Summary:  The prevalence of obesity has significantly increased over the past few decades. Obesity can lead to chronic inflammation having various effects on the body, including severe pain after surgery. To date, no studies have been conducted to evaluate how well patients with morbid obesity recover after cesarean delivery. In this study, we wish to evaluate the Quality of Recovery in parturients with and without obesity, and therefore allow us to identify the differences on which healthcare providers can act on to better the overall childbirth experience. The quality of recovery will be assessed by a validated 10-item questionnaire that looks at parameters such as pain, presence of side effects such as nausea and vomiting, ability to breastfeed, and ability to walk, among others. We believe parturients with obesity suffer more pain after cesarean delivery, but the magnitude of this difference is unknown, and information provided by this study may help providers adjust pain management for their patients after surgery.

Principal Investigator: Yamini Subramani
Co-investigators:  Homer Yang, Richard Malthaner, Janet Martin, Ava John-Baptiste, Shehzad Ali, Ashraf Fayad, George Nicolaou, Mahesh Nagappa, Jill Querney

Study Title:  EFFECT OF CONTINUITY OF CARE WITH DIGITAL HOME MONITORING ON POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS UNDERGOING THORACIC SURGERY: A PILOT RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (CDHM: RCT)

Summary:  When patients are discharged from the hospital after surgery, certain complications can result in emergency department visits and hospital readmissions. Surgical recovery after discharge from hospital can also pose a challenge to a patient's caregiver. Continuity of care after discharge has been shown to reduce emergency department visits and readmissions rates. An improved method of extending the continuity of care into a patient’s home may improve postoperative outcomes. For patients who are at risk, continuity of care with digital solutions offers a pathway to providing more education, influencing behaviour, and creating better outcomes. With a continuous and more complete picture of patient health, caregivers can adjust care plans and proactively engage patients in managing their own care. In this study, we will investigate the feasibility of continuity of care via digital home monitoring to improve postoperative outcomes in patients undergoing thoracic surgery.

2017 Recipients

Principal Investigator: Ruediger Noppens

Co-investigators:  Jillian Belrose, Marco Prado, Vania Prado

Study Title:  THE AFFECT OF VOLATILE ANESTHETICS ON ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE IN AN ANIMAL MODEL

Summary:  Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder which affects 500,000 individuals in Canada, and can greatly impact length of hospital stay, morbidity, mortality, and costs to the Canadian health care system (1). The impact of anesthesia in Alzheimer’s disease is an area which requires further investigation to guide clinical management in this patient population. This study aims to investigate the effect of various volatile anesthetics on cognition, and on the pathways involved in Alzheimer’s disease progression in an Alzheimer’s mouse model. 

Principal Investigator: Ray Zhou

Co-investigators:   Satoru Fujii, Deepti Vissa, Sugantha Ganapathy, Daniel Bainbridge, Phil Jones, Michael Chu, Mackenzie Quantz, Ray Guo, Neil Mckenzie, Mary Myers, Bob Kiaii, David Nagpal, Martin Goldback

Study Title:  ANALGESIC EFFECTS OF TRANSVERSE THORACIC PLANE (TTP) BLOCK IN CARDIAC SURGERY

Summary:  Pain after cardiac surgery is prevalent and under-treated, and standard treatment by oral and intravenous medications is not always adequate. The purpose of this study is to examine the feasibility of applying a nerve block technique after cardiac surgery. 

2016 Recipients

Principal Investigator: Craig Railton

Co-investigators:   Richard Kim

Study Title:  ROCURONIUM PHARMACOGENETICS

Summary:  Rocuronium is a neuromuscular blocking agent widely utilized during general anesthesia. Residual neuromuscular blockade with agents such as rocuronium is a significant problem with associated morbidity and mortality. The goal of this project is to expand our understanding of rocuronium by identifying its molecular transporter and its specific genetic polymorphisms that place patients at risk for residual neuromuscular blockade.

Principal Investigator: Qutaiba Amir Tawfic

Co-investigators:   Zameer Pirani, Kamal Kumar, George Nicolaou, Nabeel Amiruddinz

Study Title:  THE ROLE OF INTRAOPERATIVE LIDOCAINE INFUSION IN PREVENTING CHRONIC POST SURGICAL PAIN AFTER VIDEO ASSISTED THORACOSCOPIC SURGERY: RANDOMIZED DOUBLE- BLINDED CONTROLLED STUDY

Summary:  Although, minimally invasive techniques such as video assisted surgery (VATS) decrease the amount of surgical insult compared to thoracotomy, the literature would suggest that the incidence of Chronic Post Surgical Pain (CPSP) remains similar in both surgical techniques. The reported incidence of chronic pain after VATS is up to 55 %. CPSP can significantly affect a patients’ quality of life post procedure. The intraoperative administration of systemic lidocaine reduces the incidence of CPSP in other surgical procedures such as mastectomy. Based on that, our hypothesis in this study is that systemic administration of lidocaine during the intra-operative period would be effective in preventing CPSP post VATS. As a secondary outcome, we hypothesized that systemic lidocaine will reduce acute postoperative pain and reduce total opioid requirements. We believe that the results of our study will improve the standard of care for patients presenting for elective VATS. 

Principal Investigator: Ravi Taneja

Co-investigators:  Zachery Hynes, Sayra Cristancho

Study Title:  HEURISTICS AND BIASES IN CARDIAC ANESTHESIA MANAGEMENT

Summary:  Heart surgery is very complex and the anesthesiologists involved in the operating room must make numerous decisions routinely that are crucial for patient safety.  This study aims, through face-to-face interviews, to find out how anesthesiologists make complex decisions about certain medicines that are used to treat bleeding.  Learning what influences their thought process during heart surgery may help improve the quality of care and patient safety. 

Principal Investigator: Deepti Vissa

Co-investigators:  Sugantha Ganapathy

Study Title:  A NOVEL SINGLE INJECTION PHRENIC NERVE SPARING ULTRASOUND GUIDED SUBSCAPULARIS PLANE BLOCK COMPARED TO INTERSCALENE BLOCK FOR ARTHROSCOPIC SHOULDER SURGERY – A PROSPECTIVE, RANDOMIZED NON-INFERIORITY STUDY

Summary:  Interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB) which is considered a gold standard for shoulder surgery is associated with significant ipsilateral hemi diaphragmatic paralysis. Nerve blocks targeting individual nerves such as Suprascapular nerve and Axillary nerve blocks have been shown not to be superior to ISB. We have developed a novel single injection phrenic nerve sparing shoulder block as a potential alternative to ISB. 

2015 Recipients

Principal Investigator: Angela Builes

Co-investigators:   Miguel Arango, Nelson Gonzalez, Isabel Arias, Mauricio Giraldo

Study Title:  ULTRASOUND EVALUATION OF AIRWAY CHANGES AFTER PRONE POSITION SURGERIES

Summary:  The use of the ultrasound for extubation has not been well described after prone. Understanding the sonoanatomy changes of the airway will provide additional information that could eventually aid the anesthesiologist to proceed safely with the extubation process in cases where the decision is challenging (as it is after prolonged prone position surgeries). This descriptive study will describe the sonoanatomy changes of the airway after prone position surgeries. 

Principal Investigator: Ekta Khemani

Co-investigators:   Fatemah Qasem, Daryl Gray, Ian McConachie, Ken Leslie

Study Title:  EVALUATION OF ERAS:  HAS IT MADE A DIFFERENCE?  A CONTINUOUS, MULTIDISCIPLINARY INITIATIVE TO IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF ERAS AT VICTORIA HOSPITAL

Summary:  ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) is a multimodal perioperative care system designed to achieve early recovery for patients that have undergone elective surgery. ERAS addresses key factors that keep patients in hospital following surgery with the goal to optimize patient care while reducing in hospital length of stay (LOS). A set of ERAS protocols has been adopted by Victoria Hospital since January 2015. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether the implementation of ERAS made a significant impact on patient recovery after surgery by looking at outcomes such as LOS, perioperative fluid management, pain management, avoidance of hypothermia, post operative nausea and vomiting (PONV), and post-operative complications. 

Principal Investigator: Jason Chui

Co-investigators:   Rosemary Craen, Mel Boulton, Sachin Pandey, Ian Herrick

Study Title:  GOAL-DIRECTED THERAPY IN ENDOVASCULAR COILING OF CEREBRAL ANEURYSM PATIENTS – A PILOT PROSPCECTIVE RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Summary:  Goal directed therapy (GDT) is a technique, which employs a non-invasive cardiac output monitoring (NICOM) device to guide management of circulating blood volume and blood pressure during procedures. FloTrac is a Health Canada approved non-invasive cardiac output monitoring device based on the analysis of the arterial pulse pressure contour. It provides information on the circulating blood volume status and amount of blood pumped from the heart per minute (cardiac output). The purpose of this study is to determine whether the use of GDT using the FloTrac (Edward LifeSciences) device to optimize blood volume and cardiac output during the procedure, can improve the outcome of patients undergoing endovasculartreatment of a brain aneurysm. 

Principal Investigator: Suzanne Flier

Co-investigators:   Phil Jones

Study Title:  IMPACT OF PREOPERATIVE BETA BLOCKER WITHDRAWAL ON POSTOPERATIVE 30-DAY MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY

Summary:  Beta blockers belong to a group of heart control medication mainly prescribed for hypertension, certain types of palpitations and to protect the diseased heart against oxygen deprivation. Therefore, guidelines dictate that patients on beta blockers should continue to take their medication up to the day of surgery. However, regularly patients admit to not have taken any pill on the morning of their surgery, rendering the heart vulnerable to increases in heart rate and therefore oxygen deficit. The present study therefore likes to investigate the effect of the withdrawal of beta blockers on postoperative outcomes until 30 days after surgery.

Principal Investigator: Timothy Turkstra

Co-investigators:  

Study Title:  COMPARISON OF SIMULTANEOUS ENDOTRACHEAL TUBE INSERTION WITH GLIDESCOPE USE: A PILOT  STUDY

Summary:  Patients presenting for elective surgery requiring orotracheal intubation will be randomized to having the ETT inserted into the pharynx simultaneous to GlideScope insertion and then having the ETT advanced under GlideScope guidance into the trachea, or, being intubated in the more common fashion with the GlideScope being inserted first and having the ETT then advanced via the pharynx into the trachea. The primary outcome is time to intubation.