Monthly Archives: July 2016

CPD, Education, Meetings

Educational Meeting Friday 15th July

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(Posted on behalf of Peter McLaren)

Hi guys,

Yes, we have a meeting next Friday. I’ve been trying to encourage others to share their clinical experience in their respective areas of expertise but finding no great enthusiasm. I would like to lead discussion on :

  • multimodal and pre-emptive management of PONV. What are your favourite mixtures?
  • intrathecal morphine – damned if you do and damned if you don’t?
    insertion of LMAs in the prone position – is it cowboy anaesthesia?
  • If any of these topics are of interest, please come along.

The catering is by Donna Clark of Covidien. She will be demonstrating an endoscopy bite block / oral airway that looks as though someone was watching ‘Silence of the Lambs’ just before they designed it!

The format is the same as usual; 5.30 for 6 in the board room at Pindara Hospital. Food and drink supplied. Please RSVP for catering purposes.

I do know it is the depths of a rugged Gold Coast winter but if the attendance isn’t a little bit up on last month’s airway workshop, these meetings may not continue. There will be a further M&M, a medicolegal and a presentation on evidence-based perioperative antibiotic therapy later this year.

Cheers,

Peter McLaren

Safety

ANZCA Safety Updates

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Here are some selected links from the most recent ANZCA bulletin;

Hydroxyethyl starch (Voluven and Volulyte) – “In addition to the potential risks for patients with sepsis (detailed below), the updated review found that the increased risk of death and kidney injury that may need kidney replacement therapy (such as dialysis) applies to all critically ill patients, such as those typically admitted to the intensive care unit of a hospital.”

Marcain Spinal 0.5% Heavy and reports of failed or incomplete spinal anaesthesia – “In August 2015, the TGA received notification from one hospital that there had been five occasions where hyperbaric Marcain failed to achieve adequate spinal anaesthesia, despite administration by experienced clinicians…. Failure of spinal blockade is a recognised complication of this type of anaesthetic, with incidences suggested in the medical literature of between 2-4%… products tested were found to be within specification, and results concurred with those from testing conducted by AstraZeneca…. These investigations were closed out without requiring any further action.”

Perioperative Mortality in New Zealand – Fifth report of the Perioperative Mortality Review Committee. Report to the Health Quality & Safety Commission New Zealand June 2016.