Anaesthesia
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Review
Monitoring the anaesthetist in the operating theatre - professional competence and patient safety.
This article about competence and patient safety in anaesthesia was inspired by a statement in the 2015 AAGBI guidelines on monitoring during anaesthesia: 'the presence of an appropriately trained and experienced anaesthetist is important for patient safety during anaesthesia'. The review starts with a structured description of competence, presenting five dimensions of it; the first two dimensions are identical with the two classical attributes of competence, practical skills and theoretical knowledge. Concerning skills, the value of aiming for a high level of proficiency early in a traning programme is pointed out, and deliberate practice is given as an example of a pedagogical model where aiming for excellence is a core idea. ⋯ Intuitive expert knowing, lastly, concerns the tacit dimension of knowledge and skills, which enables professional experts to quickly find a working solution for most clinical problems. The final part of the review is about the 'when' and 'how' of competence assessment. The main message is the importance of assessing the competence of clinically active anaesthetists regularly during their whole career.
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We analysed the association of independent variables with non-verbal cognition at 6 years in children with complete data (3441 from a cohort of 9901), of whom 415 were anaesthetised before the age of 5 years. Using multivariable regression, cognition was reduced by a mean (95% CI) score for children: anaesthetised before the age of 5 years, 2.1 (0.7-3.5), p = 0.004; born prematurely, 9.8 (4.1-15.4), p = 0.001; whose mothers smoked while pregnant, 2.3 (0.8-3.8), p = 0.004; whose mothers had lower IQ scores, 0.3 (0.2-0.3) for each unit reduction in maternal IQ, p < 0.0001. The association of child IQ with exposure to anaesthetic drugs was sensitive to missing data.
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This review attempts to draw on the published literature to address three practical clinical questions. First, what means of testing the degree of regional blockade pre-operatively are available, and can eventual success or failure be determined soon after injection? Second, is it possible to predict if a block inserted after the induction of general anaesthesia will be effective when the patient wakes? Third, what features, and what duration, should cause concern when a block does not resolve as expected after surgery? Although the relevant literature is limited, we recommend testing of multiple sensory modalities before surgery commences; temperature and thermographic changes may offer additional early warning of success or failure. There are a number of existing methods of assessing nociception under general anaesthesia, but none has yet been applied to gauge the onset of a regional block. Finally, criteria for further investigation and neurological referral when block symptoms persist postoperatively are presented.
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Acute respiratory distress syndrome is associated with high mortality and morbidity. Inhaled nitric oxide has been used to improve oxygenation but its role remains controversial. Our primary objective in this systematic review was to examine the effects of inhaled nitric oxide administration on mortality in adults and children with acute respiratory distress syndrome. ⋯ There were no statistically significant differences in ventilator-free days, duration of mechanical ventilation, resolution of multi-organ failure, quality of life, length of stay in intensive care unit or hospital, cost-benefit analysis and methaemoglobin and nitrogen dioxide levels. There was an increased risk of renal impairment (risk ratio (95% CI) 1.59 (1.17-2.16)) with inhaled nitric oxide. In conclusion, there is insufficient evidence to support inhaled nitric oxide in any category of critically ill patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome despite a transient improvement in oxygenation, since mortality is not reduced and it may induce renal impairment.