With its advanced monitoring capabilities, the Department provides anesthesia during all surgeries and functions as a primary element in Penn's Level One Trauma Center, where its specialists perform airway management, pulmonary and cardiovascular assessment, patient resuscitation and follow-up care in the Hospital's Intensive Care Units. Advances in the administration of obstetrical anesthesia have also been developed in the Department, and obstetrical anesthesia is an important component of the Department's services. Department clinical research areas include evaluation of new drugs, of new computer-assisted technology, delivery of obstetrical anesthesia, and investigations of reperfusion, tissue protection from oxygen deprivation, and respiratory response, as well as studies examining pain mechanisms. The Anesthesia Pain Management Center provides interdisciplinary treatment of chronic pain.
Methods used include neural blocks, implantable drug delivery systems and spinal cord stimulation.