Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2023
Prophylactic cannula cricothyroidotomy and percutaneous oxygen insufflation with the Rapid-O2®: A simple and effective tool for enhancing safety in difficult airway management.
Prophylactic cannula cricothyroidotomy is a recognised technique for actual or potential difficult airway management, where it confers a number of technical and non-technical benefits. Oxygenation with this technique is traditionally achieved by way of pressure-regulated, high flow jet ventilation and requires specialised equipment and considerable expertise for safe use, neither of which are always readily available. As an alternative, we describe the management of two patients with progressive upper airway obstruction in whom prophylactic cannula cricothyroidotomy and oxygen insufflation were performed using equipment which we consider is safer, widely available and already familiar to most anaesthetists throughout Australia.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2023
Historical ArticleThe development of albumin solutions in the Second World War.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2023
ReviewIncidence of postoperative delirium in surgical patients: An observational retrospective cohort study.
SummaryPerioperative neurocognitive disorders including postoperative delirium (POD) are common complications of anaesthesia and surgery, associated with morbidity, mortality and a large economic cost. Currently, limited data are available on the incidence of POD in the New Zealand population. The objective of this study was to utilise New Zealand national level datasets to identify the incidence of POD. ⋯ A diagnosis of POD was associated with increased mortality and hospital length of stay. Our results highlight potential risk factors of POD and disparities in health outcomes in New Zealand. Additionally, these findings suggest systemic under-reporting of POD in national level datasets.