Anaesthesia
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Anaesthetists have traditionally focused on technological and pharmacological advances when considering the provision of anaesthetic care. Anaesthetists are expected to be able to communicate effectively with peers, patients, their families and others in the medical community; however, few details are provided regarding how this might be achieved. ⋯ Understanding these processes could allow the development of a learnable framework for effective communication when the usual strategies are not working. This concept could also be used to facilitate communicating with surgeons and other colleagues, with potential benefits to patients.
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Both the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Difficult Airway Society of the United Kingdom have published guidelines for the management of unanticipated difficult intubation. Both algorithms end with the 'can't intubate, can't ventilate' scenario. ⋯ Over the last four years, the Department of Anaesthetics at the Royal Perth Hospital have developed a didactic airway training programme to ensure staff are appropriately trained to manage difficult and emergency airways. This article discusses our training programme, the evaluation of emergency airway techniques and subsequent development of a 'can't intubate, can't ventilate' algorithm.
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Letter Multicenter Study
Nitrous oxide cylinders on anaesthetic machines: do we really need them?
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Letter Case Reports
Airtraq laryngoscope for bronchial blocker placement in a difficult airway.