Monthly Summary
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Fluid responsiveness
The use of goal-directed fluid therapy (GDT) in the management of patients undergoing major surgery is controversial. A randomized controlled study of 179 anaerobically ‘fit or unfit’ patients undergoing colorectal surgery, (Challand et al., pages 53–62) compared standard and GDT fluid management and found no advantage for GDT. In contrast, a study in 50 [...] -
Genetics and patient outcome
The role of genetic variation in disease processes is established but there is increasing interest in the effect of genetic factors on patient responses and outcome. Frey and colleagues (pages 869–78) have explored the genetic interactions between the β-adrenergic receptor and one of its signalling proteins on mortality following cardiac surgery. The found [...]
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Pain management
Several aspects of pain management are addressed in articles in this month’s issue of the BJA. Capsaicin has been used topically for neuropathic and musculoskeletal pain. Anand and Bley (pages 490–502) review both the efficacy of capsaicin and recent work of its mechanism of action in pain. A systematic review of the use of [...]
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Caesarean sections
Two articles in this month’s journal deal with different aspects of the anaesthetic management of Caesarean sections. The efficacy of using lower doses of bupivacaine for Caesarean sections is reviewed and analysed by Arzola and Wieczorek (pages 308–18). They conclude that lower doses are associated with fewer adverse effects but more interventions for additional peroperative [...] -
Saving Mothers’ Lives
The eighth triennial report of the UK Enquiries into Maternal Deaths, covering 2006–08, was published in March of this year. Previously, the BJA has published the anaesthesia and critical care chapters of the Report in their entirety to help to disseminate the anaesthesia related findings to a wider audience. Unfortunately, due to a [...] -
Anaesthesia, critical care, and pain in the 21st century: the first decade
The Table of Contents of the July Issue of BJA is available online here.
Link here to the Editorial of this issue of BJA -
Thoracic anaesthesia
Several aspects of thoracic anaesthesia are addressed in studies in this month’sBJA. The potential preventative action of magnesium in preventing post-thoracotomy cardiac arrhythmias was investigated in a prospective RCT of 200 patients (Saran et al., pages 785–91). They found that magnesium did not reduce the incidence other than in patients following pneumonectomy. The relationship of hypoxaemia [...] -
Perioperative risk in paediatrics
Preoperative identification of increased risk of perioperative complications is a major goal in anaesthesia care. A systems-based evaluation ‘NARCO’ is evaluated prospectively in a study in this month’s issue (Malviya et al., pages 352–8). The authors found an acceptable reliability which improved if a measure of surgical severity was included. Obesity is an [...]
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In the February 2011 issue of BJA…
How we manage airways
The 4th National Audit Project run by the Royal College of Anaesthetists aims to determine the incidence of major complications of airway management in the United Kingdom. In order to establish a baseline the first part required a national census of the airway management techniques currently in use. The findings of this [...] -
Nerve location in regional anaesthesia
There is considerable interest and debate in the comparative utility of ultrasound and nerve stimulation for localizing nerves for peripheral blocks. In an innovative volunteer study,Wegener et al. (pages 119–23) used systematic measurements with a stimulator and compared this with ultrasound detection. They found a poor relationship between the point of lowest [...] -
In the November 2010 BJA …
Sugamadex
The role of sugamadex in clinical practice for the reversal of rocuronium blockade is addressed in several articles in this month’s issue. Two Systematic Reviews look at [...] -
In the October 2010 BJA …
Animal studies
The use of animal models in scientific research has undoubted benefits and provides valuable data from which clinical applications can be developed. The BJA is committed [...] -
In the September 2010 BJA …
Prevention of drug errors
Errors in drug administration, either the wrong drug or the wrong dose of the right drug, remain a problem in anaesthesia with an incidence as frequent as 1:131 having been reported. It has been proposed that a system of ‘double-checking’ should be introduced [...] -
In the August 2010 BJA …
Anaesthesia and cancer outcomes
Outcome from cancer surgery is often measured by the incidence of recurrence. There are obviously quite a number of factors relating to the patient and to their management which may influence this outcome. It has been proposed that these factors may include the [...]