Anaesthesia
-
Forty anaesthetists, of all grades, were interviewed without prior warning and questioned about the checks they had performed on their anaesthetic equipment before use. The results reveal that a substantial percentage (up to 41%) of anaesthetists perform inadequate checks. Furthermore, of those that do, few follow the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland's recent guidelines.
-
Clinical and fibreoptic assessment of positioning of the size 1 laryngeal mask airway was performed in 50 infants. A clinically patent airway was obtained in 47 patients at the first attempt, but perfect positioning, as assessed by fibreoptic laryngoscopy, was found in only 22 instances. Despite an airway initially patent, delayed airway obstruction occurred in 12 infants. It is concluded that clinical airway patency does not guarantee ideal positioning of LMA in infants, and that care should be taken to ensure continued airway patency because of the tendency of the LMA position to deteriorate in this group of children.
-
The authors have examined early records of the administration of ether anaesthesia in Manchester and the lives of several medical men involved in these events. Charles Strange, a dentist and chemist, in a letter to the Manchester Guardian published on 14 January 1847, described a self-administration of ether for dental extraction, but George Bowring, a surgeon, subsequently claimed the first anaesthetic administered by a doctor in Manchester. The merits of these claims are discussed in the light of the circumstances surrounding these events.
-
A new approach to internal jugular vein catheterisation in the neck (the 'very high' approach) was used in 335 patients over a 12-month period. The success rate was 100% and there were no complications. It proved to be an easy technique to learn and may be particularly useful in difficult and emergency situations.