Anaesthesia and intensive care
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Feb 2007
Anaesthesia for emergency caesarean section, 2000-2004, at the Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne.
The provision of anaesthesia for emergency caesarean section is a major part of the workload of obstetric anaesthetists and the urgency often dictates the mode of anaesthesia that can be provided. We have audited the provision of anaesthesia for 'immediate' caesarean sections over a four-year period following the introduction of a 'Code Green' system to coordinate a rapid response to an obstetric decision to proceed with an 'immediate' caesarean section. The records of all patients for whom a Code Green was called between July 2000 and June 2004 were studied. ⋯ General anaesthesia was most used between the hours of 0700 and 1700 h. A swift response to the call for an immediate caesarean section can be achieved when suitable facilities and procedures are in place. Administering an epidural bolus into an already established epidural catheter that is working effectively can allow a decision-to-delivery interval almost as short as general anaesthesia.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Feb 2007
Medical specialist examinations: item format types and minimising error.
Examinations such as those within anaesthesia and intensive care are used to identify candidates who are able to progress through their training programs or onto specialist practice. Examinations that are valid, reliable, fair, practical and generalisable are useful tools for determining the underlying anaesthesia and intensive care related abilities of candidates. However, medical specialty examinations are only indirect indicators of candidate competency or mastery. ⋯ This article presents an effective method for viewing examination content, procedures and processes for the purposes of minimising error. The article also describes the six question (or item) formats currently utilised within the examinations used by the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists and/or the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine. The article includes summaries of the advantages and disadvantages of each of these formats.
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Anaesth Intensive Care · Feb 2007
Letter Case ReportsErroneous pulse oximetry readings during robotic prostatectomy.