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Shamsuddin Akhtar, MD, MBBS

Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology
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Additional Titles

Medical Director of YNHH 7-1 Surgical Intensive Care Unit

About

Titles

Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology

Medical Director of YNHH 7-1 Surgical Intensive Care Unit

Biography

Dr. Akhtar is a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology and a nationally recognized educator and leader of clinical anesthesiology. He is board certified in both Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Akhtar has conducted groundbreaking studies of surgical patients demonstrating that elderly patients are consistently administered higher than recommended doses of intravenous induction anesthetics and the incidence of hypotension provoked by these anesthetic induction doses was significantly higher in the elderly patients, which resulted in higher use of rescue pressor therapy to maintain adequate blood pressure. Currently, Dr. Akhtar is part of a clinical study which uses the Multicenter Perioperative Outcomes Group (MPOG) database to determine the association of anesthetic induction dose - with clinically meaningful hypotension that occurs prior to the initiation of the surgical procedures among patients age ≥ 65, and separately among those age ≥ 80.

He has also completed a textbook entitled “Principles of Geriatric Critical Care” published by Cambridge University. He is Past-President of Society for Advancement of Geriatric Anesthesia (SAGA), Board Member of ACE publication by the American Society of Anesthesiology.

Last Updated on December 14, 2022.

Appointments

Other Departments & Organizations

Education & Training

Fellow
Yale University School of Medicine (1998)
Fellow
Medical College of Wisconsin (1996)
Resident
SUNY at Stony Brook (1995)
Intern
SUNY at Stony Brook (1992)
MD
Aga Khan University (1989)

Research

Overview

Medical Research Interests

Anesthesiology; Critical Care Outcomes; Perioperative Care; Pharmacology

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Shamsuddin Akhtar's published research.

Publications

2022

  • Pain, Analgesic Use, and Patient Satisfaction With Spinal Versus General Anesthesia for Hip Fracture Surgery : A Randomized Clinical Trial.
    Neuman MD, Feng R, Ellenberg SS, Sieber F, Sessler DI, Magaziner J, Elkassabany N, Schwenk ES, Dillane D, Marcantonio ER, Menio D, Ayad S, Hassan M, Stone T, Papp S, Donegan D, Marshall M, Jaffe JD, Luke C, Sharma B, Azim S, Hymes R, Chin KJ, Sheppard R, Perlman B, Sappenfield J, Hauck E, Hoeft MA, Tierney A, Gaskins LJ, Horan AD, Brown T, Dattilo J, Carson JL, Looke T, Bent S, Franco-Mora A, Hedrick P, Newbern M, Tadros R, Pealer K, Vlassakov K, Buckley C, Gavin L, Gorbatov S, Gosnell J, Steen T, Vafai A, Zeballos J, Hruslinski J, Cardenas L, Berry A, Getchell J, Quercetti N, Bajracharya G, Billow D, Bloomfield M, Cuko E, Elyaderani MK, Hampton R, Honar H, Khoshknabi D, Kim D, Krahe D, Lew MM, Maheshwer CB, Niazi A, Saha P, Salih A, de Swart RJ, Volio A, Bolkus K, DeAngelis M, Dodson G, Gerritsen J, McEniry B, Mitrev L, Kwofie MK, Belliveau A, Bonazza F, Lloyd V, Panek I, Dabiri J, Chavez C, Craig J, Davidson T, Dietrichs C, Fleetwood C, Foley M, Getto C, Hailes S, Hermes S, Hooper A, Koener G, Kohls K, Law L, Lipp A, Losey A, Nelson W, Nieto M, Rogers P, Rutman S, Scales G, Sebastian B, Stanciu T, Lobel G, Giampiccolo M, Herman D, Kaufman M, Murphy B, Pau C, Puzio T, Veselsky M, Apostle K, Boyer D, Fan BC, Lee S, Lemke M, Merchant R, Moola F, Payne K, Perey B, Viskontas D, Poler M, D'Antonio P, O'Neill G, Abdullah A, Fish-Fuhrmann J, Giska M, Fidkowski C, Guthrie ST, Hakeos W, Hayes L, Hoegler J, Nowak K, Beck J, Cuff J, Gaski G, Haaser S, Holzman M, Malekzadeh AS, Ramsey L, Schulman J, Schwartzbach C, Azefor T, Davani A, Jaberi M, Masear C, Haider SB, Chungu C, Ebrahimi A, Fikry K, Marcantonio A, Shelvan A, Sanders D, Clarke C, Lawendy A, Schwartz G, Garg M, Kim J, Caruci J, Commeh E, Cuevas R, Cuff G, Franco L, Furgiuele D, Giuca M, Allman M, Barzideh O, Cossaro J, D'Arduini A, Farhi A, Gould J, Kafel J, Patel A, Peller A, Reshef H, Safur M, Toscano F, Tedore T, Akerman M, Brumberger E, Clark S, Friedlander R, Jegarl A, Lane J, Lyden JP, Mehta N, Murrell MT, Painter N, Ricci W, Sbrollini K, Sharma R, Steel PAD, Steinkamp M, Weinberg R, Wellman DS, Nader A, Fitzgerald P, Ritz M, Bryson G, Craig A, Farhat C, Gammon B, Gofton W, Harris N, Lalonde K, Liew A, Meulenkamp B, Sonnenburg K, Wai E, Wilkin G, Troxell K, Alderfer ME, Brannen J, Cupitt C, Gerhart S, McLin R, Sheidy J, Yurick K, Chen F, Dragert K, Kiss G, Malveaux H, McCloskey D, Mellender S, Mungekar SS, Noveck H, Sagebien C, Biby L, McKelvy G, Richards A, Abola R, Ayala B, Halper D, Mavarez A, Rizwan S, Choi S, Awad I, Flynn B, Henry P, Jenkinson R, Kaustov L, Lappin E, McHardy P, Singh A, Donnelly J, Gonzalez M, Haydel C, Livelsberger J, Pazionis T, Slattery B, Vazquez-Trejo M, Baratta J, Cirullo M, Deiling B, Deschamps L, Glick M, Katz D, Krieg J, Lessin J, Mojica J, Torjman M, Jin R, Salpeter MJ, Powell M, Simmons J, Lawson P, Kukreja P, Graves S, Sturdivant A, Bryant A, Crump SJ, Verrier M, Green J, Menon M, Applegate R, Arias A, Pineiro N, Uppington J, Wolinsky P, Gunnett A, Hagen J, Harris S, Hollen K, Holloway B, Horodyski MB, Pogue T, Ramani R, Smith C, Woods A, Warrick M, Flynn K, Mongan P, Ranganath Y, Fernholz S, Ingersoll-Weng E, Marian A, Seering M, Sibenaller Z, Stout L, Wagner A, Walter A, Wong C, Orwig D, Goud M, Helker C, Mezenghie L, Montgomery B, Preston P, Schwartz JS, Weber R, Fleisher LA, Mehta S, Stephens-Shields AJ, Dinh C, Chelly JE, Goel S, Goncz W, Kawabe T, Khetarpal S, Monroe A, Shick V, Breidenstein M, Dominick T, Friend A, Mathews D, Lennertz R, Sanders R, Akere H, Balweg T, Bo A, Doro C, Goodspeed D, Lang G, Parker M, Rettammel A, Roth M, White M, Whiting P, Allen BFS, Baker T, Craven D, McEvoy M, Turnbo T, Kates S, Morgan M, Willoughby T, Weigel W, Auyong D, Fox E, Welsh T, Cusson B, Dobson S, Edwards C, Harris L, Henshaw D, Johnson K, McKinney G, Miller S, Reynolds J, Segal BS, Turner J, VanEenenaam D, Weller R, Lei J, Treggiari M, Akhtar S, Blessing M, Johnson C, Kampp M, Kunze K, O'Connor M, Looke T, Tadros R, Vlassakov K, Cardenas L, Bolkus K, Mitrev L, Kwofie MK, Dabiri J, Lobel G, Poler M, Giska M, Sanders D, Schwartz G, Giuca M, Tedore T, Nader A, Bryson G, Troxell K, Kiss G, Choi S, Powell M, Applegate R, Warrick M, Ranganath Y, Chelly JE, Lennertz R, Sanders R, Allen BFS, Kates S, Weigel W, Li J, Wijeysundera DN, Kheterpal S, Moore RH, Smith AK, Tosi LL, Looke T, Mehta S, Fleisher L, Hruslinski J, Ramsey L, Langlois C, Mezenghie L, Montgomery B, Oduwole S, Rose T. Pain, Analgesic Use, and Patient Satisfaction With Spinal Versus General Anesthesia for Hip Fracture Surgery : A Randomized Clinical Trial. Annals Of Internal Medicine 2022, 175: 952-960. PMID: 35696684, DOI: 10.7326/M22-0320.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research
  • Response to comment on: “Association of propofol induction dose and severe pre-incision hypotension among surgical patients over age 65”
    Bardia A, Akhtar S, Schonberger RB. Response to comment on: “Association of propofol induction dose and severe pre-incision hypotension among surgical patients over age 65”. Journal Of Clinical Anesthesia 2022, 81: 110911. PMID: 35780644, PMCID: PMC11146281, DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2022.110911.
    Commentaries, Editorials and Letters
  • Relationship Between Glucose Time in Range in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients
    Ammar MA, Ammar AA, Wee T, Deshpande R, Band M, Akhtar S. Relationship Between Glucose Time in Range in Diabetic and Non-Diabetic Patients and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients. Journal Of Intensive Care Medicine 2022, 37: 1625-1633. PMID: 35491687, DOI: 10.1177/08850666221098383.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research
  • Association of propofol induction dose and severe pre-incision hypotension among surgical patients over age 65
    Schonberger RB, Dai F, Michel G, Vaughn MT, Burg MM, Mathis M, Kheterpal S, Akhtar S, Shah N, Bardia A. Association of propofol induction dose and severe pre-incision hypotension among surgical patients over age 65. Journal Of Clinical Anesthesia 2022, 80: 110846. PMID: 35489305, PMCID: PMC11150018, DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinane.2022.110846.
    Peer-Reviewed Original Research

2021

See All Publications

Clinical Care

Overview

Shamsuddin Akhtar, MD, is an anesthesiologist and critical care specialist who focuses on providing safe and effective anesthesia for patients undergoing surgery and those who require care in the intensive care unit. Much of his work centers on ensuring that elderly patients receive carefully adjusted doses of anesthesia to reduce complications such as low blood pressure.

As professor of anesthesiology and pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Akhtar conducts research aimed at refining anesthesia techniques for older patients, and he has authored a textbook on geriatric critical care. He also values mentorship and is committed to educating the next generation of medical professionals. “The mentorship of students, trainees, and junior faculty is something that I particularly enjoy and is a fulfilling aspect of my career,” he says.

He completed his medical training at Aga Khan University, followed by an internship in internal medicine and a residency in anesthesiology at SUNY at Stony Brook. He pursued a fellowship in critical care anesthesiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and an additional fellowship in major vascular and thoracic anesthesia at Yale School of Medicine.

Clinical Specialties

Anesthesiology; Critical Care Medicine

Fact Sheets

Board Certifications

  • Critical Care Medicine (Anesthesiology)

    Certification Organization
    AB of Anesthesiology
    Original Certification Date
    1997

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