A board-certified internist, pulmonologist, and intensivist, Stephen Pastores talks with fellow Prabalini Rajendram. He specializes in the fields of severe sepsis and acute respiratory failure and also directs our Critical Care Medicine Fellowship Program.
Our Anesthesiology Service is responsible for all forms of anesthesia administered for both inpatient and outpatient procedures. This includes patients who are receiving treatments in the main operating rooms, the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit, the Center for Image-Guided Intervention, endoscopy suites, and the Pediatric Day Hospital, as well as patients receiving radiation oncology, ophthalmology, and radiology services. We work closely with the Departments of Surgery and Nursing to manage activities in the operating rooms, the Surgical Day Hospital, and remote anesthetizing locations. We also play an active role in all preoperative preparation of patients undergoing procedures.
Certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs) are advanced practice nurses who in collaboration with anesthesiologists provide the full range of anesthesia services to patients at MSK. CRNAs have been part of the Department of Anesthesiology at MSK for more than 50 years. Currently there are over 90 CRNAs and they are vital members of the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine.
Our Critical Care Medicine (CCM) Service provides care for patients in the adult medical-surgical Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in collaboration with other clinical departments. Our service delivers consultative and rapid-response services 24 hours a day. The CCM Service is staffed by a multidisciplinary team and provides education and training for Anesthesiology residents, medical students, CCM fellows, and advanced practitioners. The ICU participates in multicenter research activities in sepsis and respiratory failure.
Our Pain Service provides acute, chronic, and interventional pain management consultation and services to both inpatients and outpatients. We work closely with the Department of Medicine’s Palliative Medicine Service and also collaborate with the Departments of Surgery, Neurology, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Nursing as well as the Division of Pharmacy Services.
Our Respiratory Therapy Service provides care for both adult and pediatric patients. Respiratory therapists, under the direction of a physician, assess patients for problems with their cardiopulmonary system and provide a wide variety of treatments including mechanical ventilation, medication aerosols, volume enhancement, and respiratory muscle strengthening exercises to promote bronchial hygiene and restore normal lung function. The service also provides both invasive and noninvasive mechanical and ventilatory assistance for adult and pediatric patients throughout the hospital. Our respiratory therapists obtain arterial blood gas samples through radial artery puncture of indwelling arterial catheters and monitor ventilated patients and patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
