Anaesthesia
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The reported incidence of blood vessel puncture after placement of a needle and catheter into the lumbar epidural space in obstetric practice appears to vary between 1 and 10%. This study was undertaken to assess the incidence of blood vessel puncture related to catheter insertion. Two methods of catheter placement were used to see if there were any difference in the incidence of vessel puncture. The incidence of blood vessel puncture after direct catheter placement was found to be 9% compared to 3% after prior injection of 10 ml of 0.5% plain bupivacaine into the epidural space. (p = 0.05).
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The choice of anaesthesia as a future career by 54 undergraduates of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria was studied. None of the students selected anaesthesia as first choice; the specialty ranked sixth. The short duration of exposure to anaesthesia, insufficient participation in practical anaesthesia during their posting and inadequate provision of teaching aids were considered by the students to require improvement. The authors also suggest early introduction of anaesthesia in their curriculum.