Articles: anesthesia.
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The handover of patient information between shifts enables continuity of care and increases patient safety. We surveyed UK practice during handovers in obstetric anaesthesia. A questionnaire was sent to 239 lead consultant obstetric anaesthetists to record routine practice in their unit and individual opinion about handover procedures. ⋯ Consultant anaesthetists were most likely to be present at the morning handover and few handovers were multidisciplinary. Four percent of units reported critical incidents following inadequate handovers in the past 12 months. We identify features in handover procedures that could be improved.
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Multicenter Study
Techniques for identifying the epidural space: a survey of practice amongst anaesthetists in the UK.
A postal survey of all UK members of the Obstetric Anaesthetists' Association was carried out to ascertain their preferred method for identifying the epidural space in obstetric and non-obstetric patients. Over 1200 questionnaires were returned (79.3% response rate). In obstetric patients, the single most common technique (used by 58% of anaesthetists) was continuous advancement of the epidural needle and loss of resistance with saline, followed by intermittent needle advancement with air (21%). ⋯ Only 48% of anaesthetists said they would try an alternative if they experienced difficulty with their preferred technique. A similar pattern was seen for lumbar epidurals in non-obstetric surgical patients (89% used the same technique as in obstetrics), although for thoracic epidurals, 23% used a different technique to that which they would use for obstetrics, and the paramedian approach was more popular (21%). When inserting lumbar epidurals to supplement general anaesthesia in surgical patients, 18% of anaesthetists said they usually performed the block with the patient asleep, whereas for thoracic epidurals, this figure fell to 14%.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Unplanned intubation during anesthesia: review of 31 cases from the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI study).
To examine the causes, outcomes, and contributing factors associated with patients requiring unplanned emergency intubation for adverse respiratory events. METERIAL AND METHOD: Appropriate unplanned intubation incidents were extracted from the Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI Study) database conducted between February 1, 2003, and January 31, 2004, and analyzed using descriptive statistics. ⋯ Major incidents of unplanned intubation occurred after bronchoscopy. Common contributing factors related to inadequate ventilation, airway obstruction, sedative agents and unstable hemodynamics. Quality assurance, additional training, and improved supervision tended to minimize the incidents.
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Acta Anaesthesiol Belg · Jan 2006
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyRopivacaine versus bupivacaine 0.125% with fentanyl 1 microg/ml for epidural labour analgesia: is daily practice more important than pharmaceutical choice?
Ropivacaine might be superior to bupivcaine for epidural labour analgesia because it appears to induce less lower extremity motor blockade. The clinical relevance of this difference is not yet clear. ⋯ Institutional clinical practice can be significantly different. Pharmacological differences between bupivacaine and ropivacaine at 0.125% with 1 microg/ml fentanyl seem to be less important than differences between institutions in terms of clinical practice.
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Multicenter Study
An analysis of intraoperative recall of awareness in Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI Study).
This study aimed to analyze intraoperative awareness using database of Thai Anesthesia Incidents Study (THAI Study) with regard to frequency, contributing factors, preventive and corrective strategies. ⋯ The incidence of intraoperative recall of awareness in this study was 0.08%. Patients reported sound, pain, feeling operated without pain, and paralysis. Corrective strategies included guideline practice, additional training, quality assurance activity, and improved supervision.