CRISPR: fundamental principles and implications for anaesthesia

TL;DR

This paper explains how CRISPR technology could impact anaesthesia, including patient care and new roles for anaesthesiologists.

Contribution

It introduces CRISPR's potential applications in anaesthesia and highlights new roles for anaesthesiologists in oncology and pain management.

Findings

CRISPR therapy patients will require specialized anaesthesia care.

CRISPR could be used directly in anaesthesia for chronic pain and critical illness.

Anaesthesiologists may take on new roles in oncology using CRISPR.

Abstract

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based medical therapies are increasingly gaining regulatory approval worldwide. Consequently, patients receiving CRISPR therapy will come under the care of anaesthesiologists. An understanding of CRISPR, its technological implementations, and the characteristics of patients likely to receive this therapy will be essential to caring for this patient population. However, the role of CRISPR in anaesthesiology extends beyond simply caring for patients with prior CRISPR therapy. CRISPR has multiple direct potential applications in anaesthesia, particularly for managing chronic pain and critical illness. Additionally, given the unique skills anaesthesiologists possess, CRISPR potentially allows new roles for anaesthesiologists in the field of oncology. Consequently, CRISPR technology could enable new domains of anaesthetic practice. This review provides a primer on CRISPR for anaesthesiologists and an overview on how the technology could impact the field.

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