British journal of anaesthesia
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Authorship provides academic recognition for substantial intellectual contributions to scholarly articles. Beyond recognition, authorship has become a form of currency within the academic community, acting as an indicator of academic output and thus influencing standing within an institution and the general medical community. ⋯ Unfortunately, this emphasis on authorship has also been linked to instances of misconduct. We discuss our personal experience with editorial misconduct hoping to highlight the issue and thereby increase awareness and peer-to-peer control to reduce future authorship misconduct and to encourage others to speak up.
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A report on participant views of a two-person check confirming tracheal intubation implemented in their institution found that this check was generally considered feasible and useful, but there was some resistance and some concerns that it would not solve the problem. Social, cultural, and cognitive factors play a role in airway management in the operating theatre, partly because of the pre-eminence of airway management as a cornerstone of the profession of anaesthesia. ⋯ Although situation awareness might be better maintained by the two-person check, there could be advantages if airway management became the responsibility of the whole operating theatre team. Potential strategies to overcoming the ongoing problem of failed airway management are proposed, including multidisciplinary team training in airway management and a new airway point in the surgical safety checklist time out.
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Clinical guidelines and consensus statements are an essential aid to clinical practice. However, they bring with them risks. ⋯ This editorial explores the challenges of producing robust consensus statements and guidelines that have impact, and identifies current frameworks for addressing these. It is important to conduct clinical consensus exercises using recognised and accepted methodologies.
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With crewed deep space exploration on the horizon, preparation for potential astronaut health crises in space missions has become vital. Administration of anaesthesia and analgesia presents many challenges owing to constraints specific to space (physiologic and ergonomic challenges associated with microgravity) and nonspecific factors (isolation and lack of supplies). Regional anaesthesia can be the safest option; however, we hypothesised that the ergonomics of microgravity would compromise ease and accuracy of nerve blocks. ⋯ Regional anaesthesia appears feasible for experts in simulated microgravity despite the ergonomic challenges. Although our model has limitations and might not fully capture the complexities of actual space conditions, it provides a foundation for future research into anaesthesia and analgesia during deep space missions.