Anaesthesia
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Observational Study
Associations between pre-operative iron deficiency and postoperative infection in patients undergoing major surgery (CARIPO): a prospective observational study.
Iron deficiency, with or without anaemia, is common during the peri-operative period. It has been hypothesised that pre-operative iron deficiency is associated with an increased incidence of postoperative infection. We designed the CARIPO prospective observational study to assess the incidence of postoperative infection in patients with and without iron deficiency undergoing a variety of major surgeries. ⋯ Iron deficiency was not associated with a higher rate of postoperative infection relative to an iron replete state. While iron deficiency was associated with a higher rate of surgical site infection, this result is hypothesis-generating, and further prospective studies are required.
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Observational Study
Gastric ultrasound performance time and difficulty: a prospective observational study.
Point-of-care gastric ultrasound is an emerging tool in peri-operative practice. However, data on the technical challenges of gastric ultrasound, which are essential for optimised training, remain scarce. We analysed gastric ultrasound examinations performed after basic training to identify factors associated with difficulty. ⋯ Approximately 50 scans are required to achieve a baseline performance of 5 min per gastric ultrasound. Future training programmes should focus on patients with obesity, male sex, higher ASA physical status and trauma.