Propranolol and surgery performance

James Parker did some research and found us a neat reference for a study where they tested the hypothesis that use of propranolol (40 mg) would improve the performance of a resident surgeon. You may recall that this question was brougth up in class. Indeed, there was less nervous tremor and anxiety (note that this is the probably the cardiac rate consequence of anxiety, not the anxiety sense itself) after taking propranolol. Also note that the summary conclusions  carefully state that the ultimate outcome, namely improved surgery, was not tested in this study! I would add also that these were residents that were tested - seasoned surgeons probably would not show any more tremor or anxiety - I hope!


Thanks James, great job!