Anaesthesia
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Comparative Study
An audit of peribulbar blockade using 15 mm, 25 mm and 37.5 mm needles, and sub-Tenon's injection.
The efficacy of peribulbar anaesthesia performed with short, medium and long needles, with sub-Tenon's injection as a control, was audited. Two hundred patients undergoing cataract surgery underwent peribulbar injection using 25G needles of the following lengths: 15 mm, 25 mm or 37.5 mm. Sub-Tenon's injections were performed with a curved 25-mm sub-Tenon anaesthesia cannula. ⋯ After initial injections of local anaesthetic via the sub-Tenon's cannula or with 37.5 mm, 25 mm and 15 mm needles, supplementation was required in one (2%), 13 (26%), 22 (44%) and 32 (64%) of patients, respectively; the total number of supplementary injections required were 1, 16, 35 and 47, respectively. It is concluded that the efficacy of peribulbar anaesthesia depends upon the proximity of the deposition of local anaesthetic solution either to the globe or orbital apex. These data justify the classification of peribulbar anaesthesia into: circum-ocular (sub-Tenon's, episcleral), peri-ocular (anterior, superficial); peri-conal (posterior, deep) and apical (ultra-deep) for teaching purposes.
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There is mounting concern about the pressures experienced by University Departments of Anaesthesia, which, if lost, could threaten undergraduate peri-operative medicine teaching, development of critical appraisal skills among anaesthetists, and the future of coherent research programs. We have addressed these problems by establishing a foundation course in scientific methods and research techniques (the Cambridge SMART Course), complemented by competitive, fully funded, 12-month academic trainee attachments. ⋯ Research at consultant level is facilitated by encouraging applications for Clinician Scientist Fellowships, and by ensuring that the University Department champions, legitimises and validates the allocation of research time within the new consultant contract. We believe that these are important steps in safeguarding research and teaching in anaesthesia, critical care and peri-operative medicine.
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Reversal of vecuronium-induced neuromuscular blockade with neostigmine was compared in two groups of 16 subjects: patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus and normal controls. When the first twitch of the train-of-four had returned to 25% of the control value, neostigmine 40 microg x kg(-1) and atropine 20 microg x kg(-1) were given to reverse the neuromuscular blockade. ⋯ Fifteen minutes after reversal, the number of patients in whom recovery from neuromuscular blockade was judged insufficient to guarantee good respiratory function (train-of-four ratio < 0.74) did not differ between the groups. However, 15 min after reversal, the number of patients with a train-of-four ratio < 0.9 was significantly higher in the Diabetic Group than in the Control Group (15 vs. 10, p = 0.033).
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Decreases in the hours worked by trainee anaesthetists are being brought about by both the New Deal for Trainees and the European Working Time Directive. Anticipated improvements in health and safety achieved by a decrease in hours will be at the expense of training time if the amount of night-time work remains constant. This audit examined the effects of a change from a partial to a full shift system on a cohort of trainee anaesthetists working in a large district general hospital in the South-west of England. ⋯ An 18% decrease in the number of cases done and an 11% decrease in the number of weekly training lists were found for specialist registrars. A 22% decrease in the number of cases done and a 14% decrease in the number of weekly training lists were found for senior house officers. Furthermore, a decrease of one service list per specialist registrar per week was seen, which will have implications for consultant manpower requirements.
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Long-term venous access is widely used in hospital and in the community for cancer chemotherapy, total parenteral nutrition and long-term administration of antibiotics. There is a large variety of catheters, ports and other devices designed to facilitate these treatments. A postal survey of anaesthetic departments in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland was undertaken to assess the role of anaesthetists in this area of clinical practice. ⋯ Forty-three percent of departments (92 out of 215) provided some form of long-term vascular access service. Twenty-two percent of departments which provided this service (20 out of 92) had anaesthetists with sessional allocation for such procedures. Such work represents a significant workload for anaesthetic departments which is likely to increase over time.