Cocaine Use and Outcomes of General Anesthesia

Patients with a history of cocaine abuse who are scheduled to undergo surgery at Parkland Hospital will be asked to provide a urine sample for a screening toxicology test on the day of surgery. Patients will also be asked to fill out a questionnaire with questions pertaining to their drug use history. The remaining aspects of perioperative care, including the general anesthetic technique, will be standardized for all patients and will not differ from the standard of care. The anesthesia faculty, resident, or CRNA will identify patients and obtain consent and ask the patient to fill out the questionnaire. This prospective study is intended to enroll about 300 cocaine positive and negative patients over a 2 year period.

Blood samples will be collected for analysis of cardiac troponin T (cTnT) pre- and postoperatively.

Inclusion criteria

• 18-70 years old
• ASA physical status classification 1 to 3
• Personal history of cocaine abuse
• Scheduled for a non-emergent operation that requires general anesthesia
• Vital signs within generally accepted ranges for normal [HR 60-100, RR 12-20, SpO2 > 96% on room air, BP 90-140/60-90 unless a diagnosis of hypertension is present, T 36-38 degrees)
• Willing and able to consent in English or Spanish

Exclusion criteria

• Age less than 18 or older than 70
• Unable to give informed consent for participation in the study
• Patient refusal
• Monitored anesthesia care (MAC) or regional anesthesia planned
• Pregnant or lactating
• Emergent surgery
• Acute cocaine intoxication based on clinical symptomatology (hypertension, tachycardia, agitation, delirium, hyperthermia)
• History of cardiac disease including coronary artery disease (CAD) and cardiac dysrhythmia
• History of stroke
• History of seizure disorder
• ESRD
• Prison patient