Anesthesiologists’ Overconfidence in Their Perceived Knowledge of Neuromuscular Monitoring and Its Relevance to All Aspects of Medical Practice: An International Survey.

Editorial: Heuristics, Overconfidence, and Experience: Impact on Monitoring Depth of Neuromuscular Blockade. Harman A, Tung A, Fox C, Lien CA. Anesth Analg. 2019 Jun;128(6):1057–9. Being one of those overconfident anaesthetists referred to by Naguib’s international survey, I found both the survey and the constructively critical editorial by Harman interesting to read. Naguib’s international online survey […]

Provider Education and Vaporizer Labeling Lead to Reduced Anesthetic Agent Purchasing With Cost Savings and Reduced Greenhouse Gas Emissions.

Zuegge’s quality improvement project aiming to reduce OR greenhouse gas emissions is a must read, as is the editorial by Sherman. How we use volatiles in theatre plays a surprisingly large role in overall healthcare related greenhouse gas emissions. Desflurane and Nitrous Oxide are special molecules in many ways, but their probably fatal flaw is […]

Transversus Abdominal Plane Block in Children: Efficacy and Safety: A Randomized Clinical Study and Pharmacokinetic Profile.

The TAP block is now a standard feature in many paediatric anaesthetists’ tool kits. Whether to use a higher volume, lower concentration or lower volume, higher concentration approach is studied by this group in children having inguinal hernia surgery, and both recovery pain profiles and pharmacokinetic data were obtained. They showed no clinically relevant difference […]

Clinical Use of the Pictorial Baxter Retching Faces Scale for the Measurement of Postoperative Nausea in Children.

Acronym perfection in practice. The BARF scale is a newer paediatric PONV scale, and this study shows consistent reliability of the scale in children > 6 yrs, with excellent predictive ability. Of particular importance in paediatrics, they highlight that clinically significant nausea occurs frequently in children post operatively, but unless the child actually vomits, treatment […]

Medical device regulation: the need for clinical vigilance and oversight.

In this editorial, the authors address the (lack of) regulation of the medical device industry. The process for certification of medical devices is variable around the world – there are currently 29 notified bodies in Europe for example that assess and certify devices for clinical use. Low risk devices may be approved without a separate […]

Aluminium release by coated and uncoated fluid-warming devices.

Fluid-warming devices are recommended when infusion rates are >500 ml/h (in adults) to reduce peri-operative hypothermia. Surface contact systems often use a heated aluminium plate, either with a bio-compatible coated such as parylene or uncoated aluminium in direct contact with the intravenous fluids being administered. Aluminium is thought to be toxic in humans due to […]