British journal of anaesthesia
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Practitioners can face significant challenges when managing the airways of infants and neonates because of their unique anatomical and physiological features. The requirement for emergency airway management in this age group is rare. Details of emergency airway techniques in paediatric practice guidelines are missing or lack consensus, and it is known that outcomes for affected children can be poor. ⋯ So, what happens when such a practitioner encounters this life-or-death scenario and feels ill-equipped to act? The ethical and legal issues surrounding the management of this emergency are clearly defined, but they can be unknown or misunderstood by doctors. Compounding the extreme stress of the scenario is the moral and ethical dilemma of whether to act or not. The following discussion explores these issues and examines the philosophical and psychological perspectives.
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Cigarette smoking is commonly reported among chronic pain patients in the clinic. Although chronic nicotine exposure is directly linked to nociceptive hypersensitivity in rodents, underlying neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown. ⋯ These findings implicate a role of Drd2-mediated dopaminergic VTA→ACC pathway signalling in chronic nicotine-elicited allodynia.