Physicians

Chief, Liver Transplant Anesthesia

Department / Division
Anesthesiology / Anesthesiology-GVTU Division

Address
DUMC 3094
Durham, NC 27710

Office Telephone
919-681-9660

Fax Telephone
919-681-8994

Training

• MD, University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine (Canada), 1980

Residency

• Anesthesiology, University of British Columbia Affiliated Hospitals (Canada), 1981-1986

Fellowship

• Liver Transplant Anesthesia, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pennsylvania), 1986-1987
• Clinical Research, Multi-Organ Transplant Service, London Health Sciences Center (Canada), 1987-1988

Other Training

• Fellow, Royal College of Physicians (Canada)

Clinical Interests
General, high-risk, vascular, and transplant anesthesiology; donor management

Research Interests
Endocrine changes and hemodynamic stability after brain death, perioperative management of the multiorgan donor and DCD continue as my main areas of expertise and authorship for 15 years.  Given the shortage of cadaveric donors, living related donation of the kidney and right lobe of the liver has become a viable option for adult patients, and as such, requires meticulous care of a healthy donor patient to limit the perioperative risk of morbidity and mortality.  I have published guidelines for the perioperative care of the transplant patient for surgery and/or pregnancy and delivery.  My clinical research interests include anesthesia for liver transplantation (pain management, perioperative outcomes, pharmacokinetic/dynamic studies, strategies to reduce transfusion requirements, low CVP anesthesia and liver surgery), developing a perioperative outcomes anesthesia database, clinical efficacy of synthetic colloid solutions for large volume infusion and living-related kidney transplantation, and phase I studies in human volunteers in the Human Pharmacology Laboratory (HPL).

Industry Relationships and Collaborations (What's this?)

This physician has no reported relationships with industry.

Representative Publications
Robertson K. Pregnancy and Transplantation. In: Gambling D, Douglas J, McKay R, editors. Obstetric Anesthesia and Uncommon Disorders 2nd edition. Cambridge University Press, 2007. p. 381-403. (2007)

Robertson K, Zalunardo M.  Anesthesia. In: Killenberg P, Clavien PA, editors. Medical Care of the Liver Transplant Patient 3rd edition. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing; 2006. pp. 270-296. (2006)

McGowan F, Belani K, Scott V, Robertson K.  Anesthesia for Pediatric Organ Transplantation.  In: Davis P, Motoyama E, editors. Smith’s Anesthesia for Infants and Children 7th edition. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2005. p. 895-975. (2005)

Schroeder RA, Collins BH, Tuttle-Newhall E, Robertson K, Plotkin J, Johnson LB, Kuo PC. Intraoperative fluid management during orthotopic liver transplantation. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2004 Aug;18(4):438-41. (2004) Abstract

Emery SF, Robertson KM. Organ procurement and preparation for transplantation. In: Wijdicks EFM, editor. Brain death. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williamns and Wilkins; 2001. p. 189-213. (2001)