Perioperative & Intraoperative Anesthesia Care Expert Witness

Basis of Dr. Urits's opinions on this topic. Dr. Urits is board certified in Anesthesiology and in Pain Medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology. His opinions about anesthesia care rest on his anesthesia residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School, his board certification in Anesthesiology, and his published research. Retaining counsel should confirm expert qualifications under the rules of their jurisdiction.

Many anesthesia claims turn on what happened before the incision and in the operating room. Was the patient properly evaluated and optimized? Did the anesthetic plan fit the patient? Did the team recognize and respond to intraoperative events in time? Dr. Urits trained in anesthesia at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School and has published on preoperative assessment, intraoperative hypotension, perioperative crisis management, pressure injuries, and enhanced recovery protocols.

Common issues

• Adequacy of the preoperative evaluation and risk assessment, including for frail and cognitively impaired patients

• Choice of anesthetic technique (general, regional, or sedation) for the patient and procedure

• Intraoperative hypotension, arrhythmias, bronchospasm, and other hemodynamic or respiratory events, and how quickly they were treated

• Crisis response, use of emergency protocols, and team communication within the anesthesia care team

• Fluid management and enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols

• Positioning and pressure injuries

Relevant publications by Dr. Urits

• Shehata IM, …, Urits I, Viswanath O. Intraoperative Hypotension Increased Risk in the Oncological Patient. Anesth Pain Med. 2021.

• Herman JA, Urman RD, Urits I, et al. The presence of an emergency manual and team performance during a perioperative crisis. J Clin Anesth. 2022.

• Charipova K, Urits I, Viswanath O, Urman RD. Preoperative assessment and optimization of cognitive dysfunction and frailty in the ambulatory surgical patient. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2020.

• Kassem H, Urits I. Enhanced recovery after surgery protocol for fluid therapy. In: Basic Anesthesia Review. Oxford University Press; 2024 (book chapter).

• Hernandez SH, Schwartz RH, Noor NA, Urits I, Viswanath O. Management of acute intraoperative atrial fibrillation during video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. ASA Monitor. 2021.

• Herman JA, Urits I, et al. Preventing patient pressure injury in the operating room and the intensive care unit. Perioperative Care and Operating Room Management. 2020.

• Urits I, Govindan S, Ramachandran K. Bronchospasm during general anesthesia. Grand Rounds, BIDMC / Harvard Medical School, 2017 (oral presentation).