a close up of a brown and white cat looking to the side ALT: a close up of a brown and white cat looking to the side

Hate the phrase "Angry Cat", people never know what you mean...

New guidance on sterile gown use during spinal anaesthesia aims to reduce unnecessary waste while maintaining high standards of patient safety

Guidelines published in @anaesjournal.bsky.social buff.ly/rvtALwy

With CAI, @ra-uk.org, @oaa-anaes.bsky.social, @rcoanews.bsky.social, @anzca.bsky.social

The actions that also reduce carbon emissions and energy use are probably actions that matter to patients, such as pre-habilitation to reduce hospital length of stay, identifying and treating co-morbidities pre-operatively and shared decision making regarding surgical options.

We need to take a more holistic, patient-centred approach to this. We know that co-morbidities can lead to complications post-surgery, prolong hospital stays, and require further surgeries, all resulting in increased energy use.

👩‍⚕️Ahead of International Women’s Day, we’ve published a new brief on women in anaesthesia.

Our specialty has a diverse workforce, with a growing number of women working in anaesthesia. Yet disparities in recruitment, career progression, and workplace safety remain.

Read the brief: shorturl.at/Qx8v1

Happy Final FRCA CRQ-eve!

Watched Cardiac Arrest recently (as someone who was in nappies when it came out) and thought it was brilliant, though also kind of shocking that we are still dealing with the same issues 30 years on!

Hot takes from Final FRCA revision (T-minus 10 days):

1) Any patient with any co-morbidity should be first on the list to limit pre-operative fasting and dehydration.

2) Most situations can be improved by multi-disciplinary team involvement, shared decision making and multi-modal analgesia.

I don’t think you can be too fussy tbh…

Definitely going to try this out when I am next on labour ward!

When testing a neuraxial block for caesarean section, AoA guidelines recommend using light touch as the primary sensory modality, but no recommendation on *how* we should assess light touch.

So what are people using? Cotton wool? Monofilaments?

@assocanaes.bsky.social @oaa-anaes.bsky.social

Or maybe this is just a sign of how tired I am right now.

a cartoon character is playing drums and the word drumroll is on the drums ALT: a cartoon character is playing drums and the word drumroll is on the drums

Random musings from covering obstetrics: does anyone else think of pushing through the ligamentum flavum like a drum roll with the release when you get loss of resistance?

…but I hope it’s by saving the lives of people who would otherwise die from cancer rather than finding tumours that were never going to cause harm in the first place!

However the interviewers kept spinning it as any man who is worried they have prostate cancer should get tested!

I hope the government is able to improve cancer outcomes…

This is an emotive debate and often the nuance is lost.

An example of this is PSA screening for prostate cancer.

I listened to an interview with Chris Hoy who was advocating for PSA screening in HIGH-RISK individuals like himself (both his father and grandfather died from prostate cancer)

I think this comes from a good place: we have some of the worst cancer survival rates in Europe and this needs to be addressed.

But they are many examples from screening programmes where more cancers are found, more successfully treated but no change in number of people who died from cancer!

Three quarters will survive cancer by 2035, government promises There are plans for earlier diagnosis and faster treatment in England but experts worry about lack of staff.

Interesting to note that they aren’t promising to reduce cancer deaths but rather promising to identify cancer earlier…

The Patient Information Forum (PIF) has launched a series of Trusted Health Information collections in partnership with NHS England.

This #HealthInformationWeek, Patient Information Forum has launched a series of Trusted Health Information collections in partnership with NHS England.

Our epidural anaesthetics – risks & side effects resources have been added to the collection 🙌

View them here 👉 https://ow.ly/4xyh50XZEEy

My thoughts too. What was the reasoning behind an intra-op epidural and a GA if the epidural had to come out? Perhaps I would have just done intrathecal (dia)morphine?

When was the patient expected to ambulate post-op? Would the femoral catheter delay that?

a white cat is sitting on a couch with the word ketamine written on the bottom . ALT: a white cat is sitting on a couch with the word ketamine written on the bottom .

Much more ketamine? Next time I'm in day surgery will be interesting....

Also after a 500mg dose, the character remained fully conscious, whatever effects it did have seemed to last hours and she didn’t throw up once.

I’m assuming the writers have not sat the FRCA or spoke to anyone who has administered the drug…

Watching ‘Pluribus’ and the main character picks up two vials of thiopentone, which is presented as a clear colourless liquid!

Even though I have never used the drug (sorry traditional RSI enthusiasts), I know it’s a yellow powder stored in a nitrogen atmosphere!

Find out more about our new resources on epidural and spinal anaesthetics, for pain relief options for pregnant women and people.

They explain the risks, benefits, and side effects, and can be used in antenatal discussions.

Share them widely 👉 ow.ly/zKtC50XNBgn

#Ansky #Medsky

Do you think a regional technique, such as an interscalene, with a small amount of sedation, would have worked in this scenario?

PulmCrit: Hot take on RSI trial of ketamine vs etomidate The RSI trial was just published, comparing ketamine versus etomidate. Unless you're living under a rock, you've probably already heard about it. So I'm

please see this one too: emcrit.org/pulmcrit/rsi...

I think when the dust settles and the glitter wears off the RSI trial, people will realize that ketamine isn’t that scary and all induction agents drop your BP 🤷‍♂️

Special shout outs to the young children who are clearly just amazed that when they press a key, they create a sound

There are some really talented people out there but I find it actually sweeter to hear people who aren’t necessarily the most amazing players just enjoying expressing themselves musically

My current hospital has a piano in it, and it is really heart warming to see patients/other members of the public playing it

This feels almost as bad as saying the Q word