Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2014
The effect of patient sex on the incidence of early adverse effects in a population of elderly patients.
Patient sex is known to influence the response to general and regional anaesthesia and recovery after surgery. However, most studies come from analyses carried out on middle-aged patients. As most of the patients admitted to the post-anaesthesia recovery room in our institution are elderly, we took the opportunity to investigate the association between sex and incidence of early adverse events in this older population of patients after major surgery. ⋯ Women showed a higher incidence of shivering (relative difference +48%, P=0.0003), postoperative nausea and vomiting (+91%, P<0.0001), hypotension (+32%, P=0.044) and desaturation (+60%, P=0.0030) than men. The incidence of hypertensive response, arrhythmias and acute respiratory failure were not statistically significantly different. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that women have a higher risk of early postoperative adverse events even in a more elderly population.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2014
Syringe Drivers: incorrect selection of syringe type from the syringe menu may result in significant errors in drug delivery.
There have been many reported adverse incidents due to syringe driver use, most of which have been attributable to human error. In this paper we present a previously unreported, but potentially widespread practice which may result in significant over or under-delivery of medication. Even with the naked eye it is evident that syringes of equal volume have different dimensions and to quantify this we sectioned a range of syringes and measured the inner and outer dimensions. ⋯ There is a wide variation in syringe metrics and complex syringe menus may increase errors, resulting in significant under or over-delivery of medication. Availability of more than one brand of syringe in a clinical area increases the risk of adverse drug delivery events. Systems need to be implemented to minimise the risk of adverse events.
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"Those wonderful huts…" (Florence Nightingale). This is the story of the British Civil Hospital, erected in 1855 at Renkioi on the south Dardanelles coast of Turkey. The spectacular hospital was a portable one designed by British engineer IK Brunel. It was his only health-related project, and it was known as a Civil Hospital because its staff were all civilians, despite its patients being military.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Jul 2014
Biography Historical ArticleDr Pugh and the myth of the illicit still.
In her valuable history of the arrival of the news of etherisation in Australia and its implementation by many doctors and dentists, titled One Grand Chain, the late Dr Gwen Wilson asserted that the dentist and the doctor who pioneered etherisation in Australia, "Belisario and Pugh, …were charged by the authorities with possession of an illicit still." This paper examines the evidence for the truth or otherwise of this assertion, in relation to Dr Pugh.