Anaesthesia
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A questionnaire was sent to senior registrars in General Medicine and Anaesthesia enquiring into the amount of training they received in Intensive Therapy and their attitudes to this in the light of their expectations for a consultant post. The results suggest that training is inadequate and that trainees are dissatisfied with the current situation.
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One hundred and fifty women in labour provided with extradural analgesia were monitored and an incidence of Horner's syndrome of 1.33% was noted. Fifty women undergoing Caesarean section under extradural analgesia were also monitored and an incidence of Horner's syndrome of 4% was noted. From the results we found it impossible to predict which patients would develop a Horner's syndrome.
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A simple test rig was developed to assess the force applied during the application of cricoid pressure. Anaesthetists and paramedical personnel familiar with Sellick's manoeuvre were tested yielding results which indicate an unacceptably wide variation in performance in each group. ⋯ In addition a survey was undertaken of trained anaesthetic staff to identify the current status of the manoeuvre. Of those sampled 78% routinely employed Sellick's manoeuvre and over 70% had experienced a problem with its application which exposed the patient to the risk of regurgitation.