Anaesthesia
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Children make up around one-fifth of all emergency department visits in the USA and UK, with an increasing trend of emergency admissions requiring intensive care. Anaesthetists play a vital role in the management of paediatric emergencies contributing to stabilisation, emergency anaesthesia, transfers and non-technical skills that optimise team performance. From neonates to adolescents, paediatric patients have diverse physiology and present with a range of congenital and acquired pathologies that often differ from the adult population. ⋯ Staying abreast of the latest evidence for managing complex low frequency emergencies is a challenge. This review focuses on recent evidence and pertinent clinical updates within the field. The challenges of maintaining skills and training are explored as well as novel advancements in care.
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Increasing demand for surgery and anaesthesia has created an imperative to manage anaesthetic workforce and caseload. This may include changes to distribution of cases amongst anaesthetists of different grades, including non-physician anaesthetists. To achieve this safely, an assessment of case complexity is essential. ⋯ Receiver-operating characteristic analysis showed good prediction of complexity sufficient to require a consultant anaesthetist, with area under the curve of 0.84. Any rise in complexity above baseline (score > 15) was strongly predictive of a case too complex for a junior trainee (positive predictive value 0.93). The Oxford Anaesthetic Complexity score can be used to match cases to different grades of anaesthetist, and can help in defining cases appropriate for the expanding non-physician anaesthetist workforce.