Clinical Focus

  • Anesthesia

Academic Appointments

  • Clinical Associate Professor, Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine

Professional Education

  • Board Certification: American Board of Anesthesiology, Anesthesia (2014)
  • Fellowship: Brigham and Women's Hospital Anesthesiology Fellowships (2014) MA
  • Residency: Brigham and Women's Hospital Anesthesiology Residency (2013) MA
  • Internship: Univ of Tennessee Health Sciences Internal Medicine Residency (2010) TN
  • Medical Education: Meharry Medical College Registrar (2009) TN

Contact

  • Academic
    darce@stanford.edu
    Department: Anesthesia - Obstetrics Position: Clinical Associate 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

2024-25 Courses

All Publications

  • Mindful Meditation for Epidural Catheter Placement During Labor: A Single-Center Randomized Controlled Trial. Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) Lumbreras-Marquez, M. I., Lazaridou, A., Villela-Franyutti, D., Fields, K. G., Farber, M. K., Nelson, E. R., Schreiber, K. L., Arce, D. Y. 2025

    Abstract

    Labor epidural placement can cause significant procedural anxiety for patients. Behavioral interventions, such as mindful meditation, can effectively reduce anxiety, including during pregnancy. This study aimed to assess the impact of a 10-minute mindful meditation session on anxiety and pain during labor epidural placement.Pregnant women were recruited and randomized into two groups: A 10-minute guided mindful meditation, or a neutral content recording, both delivered via headphones before the epidural procedure as a recording. After the procedure, participants reported their levels of anxiety, pain, and satisfaction. Linear regression analyses were used to evaluate the main effects of the intervention on anxiety, pain, and satisfaction. Additionally, an exploratory post hoc moderation analysis assessed the role of baseline pain catastrophizing and its interaction with the intervention.A total of 100 participants were included (50 per group). There were no overall main effect of mindful meditation on primary outcomes of anxiety and pain, or secondary outcome of procedural satisfaction, compared to the neutral content recording (p's > 0.05). Exploratory post hoc analysis indicated a moderation of treatment effect, such that participants with higher baseline pain catastrophizing experienced greater benefits from mindful meditation compared to neutral content on anxiety ((b=-0.18, p = 0.01) and pain (b=-0.14, p = 0.03).While no overall group-level effects of mindful meditation were found, exploratory analysis suggested that the intervention may be more beneficial for participants with high baseline pain catastrophizing. Future studies enrolling a larger sample, or enriching for patients with these characteristics are needed to confirm these results.

    View details for DOI 10.1093/pm/pnaf075

    View details for PubMedID 40570097

  • Disparities in maternal sepsis and strategies to prevent them. Seminars in perinatology Arce, D., Lee, A. 2024: 151979

    Abstract

    Severe morbidity and mortality associated with sepsis in obstetric care occur even among those presumed to be at low risk, are highly preventable and deserve critical public health prioritization. Continued research is warranted that focuses on the development and performance assessment of screening tools, standardizing diagnostic criteria, and understanding how to implement and sustain quality improvement practices to support timely recognition and treatment, as well as equitable healthcare practices to improve maternal outcomes across diverse populations.

    View details for DOI 10.1016/j.semperi.2024.151979

    View details for PubMedID 39307594