British journal of anaesthesia
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The concept of using a checklist in surgical and anaesthetic practice was energized by publication of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist in 2008. It was believed that by routinely checking common safety issues, and by better team communication and dynamics, perioperative morbidity and mortality could be improved. ⋯ However, introducing surgical checklists is not as straightforward as it seems, and requires leadership, flexibility, and teamwork in a different way to that which is currently practiced. Future work should be aimed at ensuring effective implementation of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist, which will benefit our patients on a global scale.
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There is increasing evidence that intraoperative fluid therapy decisions may influence postoperative outcomes. In the past, patients undergoing major surgery were often administered large volumes of crystalloid, based on a presumption of preoperative dehydration and nebulous intraoperative 'third space' fluid loss. However, positive perioperative fluid balance, with postoperative fluid-based weight gain, is associated with increased major morbidity. ⋯ The advent of individualized goal-directed fluid therapy, facilitated by minimally invasive, flow-based cardiovascular monitoring, for example, oesophageal Doppler monitoring, has improved outcomes in colorectal surgery in particular, and this monitor has been approved by clinical guidance authorities. In the contrasting clinical context of relatively low-risk patients undergoing ambulatory surgery, high-volume crystalloid infusion (20-30 ml kg(-1)) reduces postoperative nausea and vomiting, dizziness, and pain. This review revises relevant physiology of body water distribution and capillary-tissue flow dynamics, outlines the rationale behind the fluid regimens mentioned above, and summarizes the current clinical evidence base for them, particularly the increasing use of individualized goal-directed fluid therapy facilitated by oesophageal Doppler monitoring.
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Achieving good health outcomes for patients is the fundamental purpose of healthcare. What really matters to patients is the outcome of an intervention and the effect it will have on their wellbeing and life expectancy. After media coverage, and public enquiry into high mortality rates for paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary during the early 1990s, mortality rates for paediatric cardiac surgical procedures decreased dramatically both in Bristol and nationally. ⋯ There are issues around clinical coding, risk adjustment, the influence of clinical teamworking, and environmental factors. The National Institute of Academic Anaesthesia (NIAA) has identified that the description of clinical practice in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine is currently limited by a lack of valid, reliable quality measures. The NIAA suggests that there is a requirement for further research into identifying the anaesthetic outcome indicators which are most relevant to patients, and then benchmarking the performance of anaesthetic departments and anaesthetists.