Clinical Focus

  • Anesthesia

Academic Appointments

Professional Education

  • Residency: Brigham and Women's Hospital Anesthesiology Residency (2007) MA
  • Board Certification: American Board of Anesthesiology, Anesthesia (2008)
  • Fellowship: Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard Medical School (2004) MA
  • Residency: Nuremberg Hospital (2002) Germany
  • Medical Education: Eberhard-Karls-Univ Tubingen/Germany (1993) Germany

Contact

  • Academic
    University - Academic staff Department: Anesthesia - MSD Position: Clinical Assistant Professor
  • Clinical (Primary)  Anesthesia Department 300 Pasteur Dr Rm H3580 MC 5640 Stanford, CA 94305 (650) 725-8544 (fax)

Additional Clinical Info

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 5640

All Publications

  • Ephedrine shows synergistic motor blockade when combined with bupivacaine or lidocaine for spinal anesthesia in a rat model. Anesthesia and analgesia Djalali, A. G., Wang, J. C., Perez-Valdivieso, J. R., Danninger, T., Fritsch, G., Zurakowski, D., Gerner, P. 2013; 116 (4): 944-948

    Abstract

    Ephedrine is a direct/indirect vasoactive drug. In addition, it also possesses intrinsic local anesthetic properties, mainly due to its sodium-channel blockage. We investigated whether ephedrine demonstrates a synergistic effect with bupivacaine and lidocaine when injected via a spinal catheter into the spinal space of rats.Spinal catheters were surgically placed in 47 rats (n = 8 per group; 7 rats were excluded.) Bupivacaine, lidocaine, and ephedrine in various concentrations and constant volumes (60 μL) were injected into the spinal catheters to determine the equipotency of each drug. Ephedrine in combination with either bupivacaine or lidocaine was then injected into the spinal catheters.Ephedrine demonstrated statistically significant synergistic effects with bupivacaine as well as with lidocaine in fixed combinations. The combination index reflecting a synergistic effect was 0.792 (95% confidence interval: 0.665-0.919) for ephedrine + bupivacaine and 0.663 (95% confidence interval: 0.532-0.794) for ephedrine + lidocaine.Ephedrine combined with either bupivacaine or lidocaine acted synergistically to block motor function and has the potential to reduce the amount of local anesthetic needed for spinal block. The synergistic effect of ephedrine in combination with local anesthetics is an interesting pharmacological phenomenon that warrants further clinical evaluation.

    View details for DOI 10.1213/ANE.0b013e3182834662

    View details for PubMedID 23460571

  • Conventional Ventilation vs Protective Strategies for Thoracic Surgery The Results May Be Too Good to Be True CHEST Djalali, A. 2011; 140 (6): 1668-1669

    View details for DOI 10.1378/chest.11-1791

    View details for Web of Science ID 000297966500047

    View details for PubMedID 22147831