Department of Anesthesiology

Department of Anesthesiology- Research Division

	Alan R. Tait, PhD Director of Clinical Research Professor of Anesthesiology Phone: 734-763-8128 Fax: 734-764-9332 Email: atait@umich.edu

Dr. Tait is the Department of Anesthesiology Endowed Professor of Clinical Research. He serves as the Director of Clinical Research and is the Chair of the Anesthesiology Clinical Research Committee. Dr. Tait is also a member of the Institutional Review Board and the Medical School Admissions Executive Committee. In addition, Dr. Tait is the Chair of the Research Committee for the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia.

Dr. Tait is currently involved in NIH-funded studies (NICHD and NHBLI) to develop strategies to improve the communication of informed consent to adult patients, parents, and children. Current studies suggest that many patients and research subjects have limited understanding of the elements of consent and therefore may not be truly informed. It is hoped that this research will be important in enhancing understanding and ensuring that the legal and ethical rights of patients and research subjects are protected.

Dr. Tait also continues to be involved with studies examining the effects of general anesthesia on outcomes in children who present for surgery with an upper respiratory tract infection (URI). This work has identified several risk factors for children with URIs who undergo elective surgery such that many of the complications that can arise when anesthetizing these children can be more readily anticipated and recognized.

Recent Publications:

Tait AR, Voepel-Lewis T, Snyder RM, Malviya S. Parents’ understanding of information regarding their child’s postoperative pain management. Clin J Pain 24:572-577, 2008. [PubMed]

Voepel-Lewis T, Marinkovic A, Kostrzewa A, Tait AR, Malviya S. The prevalence of and risk factors for adverse events in children receiving patient-controlled analgesia by proxy or patient-controlled analgesia after surgery. Anesth Analg 107:70-75, 2008. [PubMed]

Tait AR, Voepel-Lewis T, Burke C, Kostrzewa A, Lewis I. Incidence and risk factors for perioperative respiratory adverse events in children who are obese. Anesthesiology 108:375-380, 2008. [PubMed]

Voepel-Lewis T, Malviya S, Tait AR, Merkel S, Foster R, Krane EJ. A comparison of the clinical utility of pain assessment tools for children with cognitive impairment. Anesth Analg 106:72-78, 2008. [PubMed]

Lewis I, Burke C, Voepel-Lewis T, Tait AR. Children who refuse anesthesia or sedation: A survey of anesthesiologists. Pediatr Anesth 17:1134-1142, 2007. [PubMed]

Malviya S, Voepel-Lewis T, Tait AR, Watcha M, Sadhasivam S, Friesen RH. Effect of age and sedative agent on the accuracy of Bispectral Index in detecting depth of sedation in children. Pediatrics 120:e461-470, 2007. [PubMed]

Tait AR, Voepel-Lewis T, Malviya S.  Presenting research information to children: A tale of two methods.  Anesth Analg 2007 Aug;105(2):358-64. [PubMed]

Tait AR, Burke C, Voepel-Lewis T, Chiravuri DS, Wagner D, Malviya S.  Glycopyrrolate does not reduce the incidence of perioperative adverse events in children with upper respiratory tract infections.  Anesth Analg 2007;104:265-70. [PubMed]

Tait AR.  Preventing infections in the perioperative period: The role of the anesthesiologist.  Curr Rev Clin Anesth, 27(9):107-13, 2006.

Malviya S, Voepel-Lewis T, Ramamurthi RJ, Burke C, Tait AR. Clonidine for the prevention of emergence agitation in young children: efficacy and recovery profile. Paediatr Anaesth. 2006 May;16(5):554-9. [PubMed]

Malviya S, Voepel-Lewis T, Burke C, Merkel S, Tait AR. The revised FLACC observational pain tool: improved reliability and validity for pain assessment in children with cognitive impairment. Paediatr Anaesth. 2006 Mar;16(3):258-65. [PubMed]

Kheterpal S, Han R, Tremper KK, Shanks A, Tait AR , O'Reilly M, Ludwig TA. Incidence and Predictors of Difficult and Impossible Mask Ventilation. Anesthesiology. 2006 Nov;105(5):885-891. [PubMed]

Malviya S, Voepel-Lewis T, Tait AR. A comparison of observational and objective measures to differentiate depth of sedation in children from birth to 18 years of age. Anesth Analg 102:389-94, 2006. [PubMed]

Hutson AD, Davidson BA, Raghavendran K, Chess PR, Tait AR, Holm BA, Notter RH, Knight PR. Statistical prediction of the type of gastric aspiration lung injury based on early cytokine/chemokine profiles. Anesthesiology 104:73-79, 2006. [PubMed]

Voepel-Lewis T, Malviya S, Tait AR. Validity of parent rating as proxy measures of pain in children with cognitive impairment. Pain Management Nursing 6: 168-174, 2005. [PubMed]

Voepel-Lewis T, Burke C, Hadden SM, Tait AR, Malviya S. Nurses’ diagnoses and treatment regarding care of the agitated child. J Perianesth Nurs 20: 239-48, 2005. [PubMed]

Nader ND, Davidson BA, Tait AR, Holm BA, Knight PR. Serine antiproteinase administration preserves innate superoxide dismutase levels after acid aspiration and hyperoxia but does not decrease lung injury. Anesth Analg 101:213-19, 2005. [PubMed]

Tait AR. Anesthetic management of the child with an upper respiratory tract infection. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol 18: 603-607, 2005.

Malviya S, Voepel-Lewis T, Merkel S, Tait AR. Difficult pain assessment and lack of clinician knowledge are ongoing barriers to effective pain management in children with cognitive impairment. Acute Pain 7:27-32, 2005.

Tait AR , Voepel-Lewis, T, Malviya S, Philipson, SJ. Improving the readability and processability of a pediatric informed consent document: effects on parents' understanding. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 159:347-352, 2005. [PubMed]

Tait AR and Malviya S. Anesthesia for the child with an upper respiratory tract infection: still a dilemma? Anesth Analg 100:59-65, 2005. [PubMed]

Research Divisions