Anaesthesia Collective Blog

Coagulopathies in Anaesthesia Part 2: An Overview of Acquired Disorders of Haemostasis

Dr Wendell Zhang Disclaimer This is an educational piece and is not intended to provide [...]

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Coagulopathies in Anaesthesia Part 1: Implications of Inherited Disorders of Coagulation on Anaesthetics

Dr Wendell Zhang Disclaimer This is an educational piece and is not intended to provide [...]

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Allergy and Anaesthesia: Managing the Risk

By Victor Li Key reference: Savic, L., Stannard, N. and Farooque, S. (2020). Allergy and [...]

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The ABC’s of Physiology during Laparoscopic Surgeries

By Dr Wendell Zhang Key Takeaways Laparoscopic surgeries improve patient outcomes Anaesthetists should be aware [...]

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Is tranexamic acid safe and effective in reducing bleeding in non-cardiac surgery? The POISE-3 trial

By Zheng Cheng Zhu Key reference: Devereaux et al. (2022). Tranexamic Acid in Patients Undergoing [...]

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Hypocalcaemia

By Adam George                         [...]

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Your 75-year-old hip fracture case is at risk of post-op delirium, but what about dementia?

Dementia risk following general or regional anaesthesia by Dr. Matthew Vella @mjv.igee #Anaesthesia #anaesthetics #anesthesiology [...]

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Delayed gastric emptying: an unwanted effect of glucagon like peptide 1 agonists in the perioperative setting

By Zheng Cheng Zhu Key reference: Olesnicky, B. (2023). GLP-1 agonists and gastric emptying. Bulletin. [...]

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Anaesthesia for electroconvulsive therapy

Stripp TK, Jorgensen MB, Olsen NV. Anaesthesia for electroconvulsive therapy – new tricks for old [...]

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Perioperative considerations for transgender and gender diverse adults

By Victor Li Key Reference: Harding D, Marsh S, Lennie Y. Perioperative considerations for transgender [...]

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Presenting a case to a consultant

Presenting a case to a consultant pre-op as a medical student or junior doctor can [...]

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Is our every-day “milk of amnesia” really safe? Review of recent meta-analysis on propofol and associated mortality

By Zheng Cheng Zhu Quick Summary Propofol (2,6-diisopropylphenol) is one of the most widely-used hypnotic [...]

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Performing Spinal Anaesthesia for Caesarean Sections

What should I know? Basic Anatomy In the adult, the spinal cord ends at the [...]

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Compensation in acid-base disturbances

By Dr Garzarella Metabolic acidosis Expected pCO2 = 1.5 × [HCO3] +8 ±2 Metabolic alkalosis [...]

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Non-technical skills in cardiac arrests: a brief practical summary

Cardiac arrests are associated with significant mortality and are often unexpected and extremely stressful for [...]

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Are anaesthesiologists more likely to commit suicide?

By Dr Tommaso Gasparello A 45-year-old anaesthetist was found dead in the doctor’s room of [...]

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Arterial Tourniquet Use During Anaesthesia

Definition of Tourniquet: a constricting or compressing device used to control venous and arterial circulation [...]

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Bradycardias During Anaesthesia

Bradycardia is defined as a heart rate below 60bpm and occurs commonly under anaesthesia. Although [...]

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Haemodynamic Effects of Propofol

An 80kg 50yo male enters theatre directly from the emergency department for an urgent laparotomy. [...]

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Hypercalcaemia

By Adam George                         [...]

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Would you give dexamethasone to your total knee replacement case with a history of type 2 diabetes and severe PONV?

The PADDI trial by Dr. Matthew Vella @mjv.igee PADDI (The Perioperative ADministration of Dexamethasone and [...]

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Hyponatremia

Hyponatremia where salt goes, water (also) follows by Adam George           [...]

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Does IV Iron Infusion for Pre-operative Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) Improve Outcomes? Implications of the PREVENTT trial

By Zheng Cheng Zhu Key reference: Richards, T., Baikady, R. R., Clevenger, B., Butcher, A., [...]

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ABG interpretation

By Dr Jessica It is important to interpret arterial blood gases in a systematic manner, [...]

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Chronic Kidney Disease and Anaesthesia

A summary of this fantastic BJA education article: https://www.clinicalkey.com.au/#!/content/playContent/1-s2.0-S2058534922000506             [...]

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Anaesthesia Without An Anaesthetist?!

By Dr Angus Hayes About the author Dr Angus Hayes is an Australian ICU registrar [...]

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Bag-mask Ventilation Practice Essentials

By Dr. Nam Gupta Contents Overview The Grip Optimising Bag-mask ventilation (BMV) Overview Methods of [...]

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Optimal Patient Positioning for intubation and airway management

By Dr. Harrison Whiting   Have you ever had difficulty trying to ventilate a patient [...]

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Hypernatremia – where salt goes water follows

by Adam George Definition Hypernatremia refers to a high blood sodium concentration. Hypernatremia can be [...]

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Post-operative Nausea and Vomiting (PONV)

By Zheng Cheng Zhu Key reference: Gan, T. J., Belani, K. G., Bergese, S., Chung, [...]

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Your next case is a 66-year-old with coronary artery disease booked for a bowel resection: will you still use nitrous oxide?

The ENIGMA-II trial by Dr. Matthew Vella @mjv.igee #Anaesthesia #anaesthetics #anesthesiology #anesthesia #anesthetic #abcsofanaesthesia #medicine [...]

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Sustainable healthcare in anaesthesia

A review of the environmental impacts of desflurane and nitrous oxide By Yannick De Silva [...]

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What is hyperkalaemia and why is it important?

Definition Hyperkalaemia refers to a state of high serum potassium (K+), typically > 5.5 mmol/L. [...]

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Would you choose general or regional anaesthesia for your paediatric case? What you need to know about the GAS trial

by Dr. Matthew Vella Title: Neurodevelopmental outcome at 5 years of age after general anaesthesia [...]

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An 80-year-old patient with a fractured neck of femur (NOF) on warfarin is on your trauma list: would you proceed or postpone? Updates to hip fracture management

by Dr. Matthew Vella @mjv.igee #Anaesthesia #anaesthetics #anesthesiology #anesthesia #anesthetic #abcsofanaesthesia #medicine #anesthesiologist #anaesthetist #anesthetist [...]

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You never regret an arterial line

Imagine you arrive at your morning urology list with 7 cystoscopy cases. Your 1st patient [...]

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Learning from your anaesthesia assistant/nurse

I remember one stressful case of a patient who was septic, and suffering a post [...]

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Unresponsive Hypotension

You induce a 60yo male for an aorto-bifemoral bypass with severe leg claudication. He has [...]

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What is Hypokalaemia and why is it important?

Definition Hypokalaemia simply means low blood potassium (K+). Mild hypokalaemia refers to a serum potassium [...]

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Anaesthesia Medical Elective Rotation

Anaesthesia Medical Elective Rotation Welcome to anaesthesia! Your anaesthesia rotation will be one of the [...]

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How To Succeed

How to succeed on your anaesthesia rotation I remember the nervous excitement of my first [...]

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ABCs guide to crisis management

Imagine it’s your first month in anaesthesia. 30mins into an elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy your consultant [...]

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What’s the Point of Anaesthesia

Why do we do what we do and why that makes us a big deal [...]

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What do I need to know from the surgeon?

The other side of the blood brain barrier When I first began anaesthesia training, I [...]

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The Pre-anaesthesia Checklist for any Induction

When you first arrive in theatre it is reasonably rare that everything isn’t ready for [...]

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ABCs Guide to Anaesthesia Medications

What’s so special about anaesthesia meds? Anaesthesia medications are some of the most effective and [...]

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A basic guide to preoperative assessment

What is the preoperative assessment and what is its purpose? A consultation performed by an [...]

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Anaesthesia Logbook

I highly recommend keeping an Anaesthesia logbook! Why? You are able to keep track of [...]

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ABCs of Ventilation in Anaesthesia

Click here to download this as a PDF file. Aim To give you a step [...]

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Valve lesions

Aim: To give you a grasp of the important valve lesions, identify severity and how [...]

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The Critical Inductions in Anaesthesia

After you have performed your first 1000 or so inductions in anaesthesia you’ll probably realise [...]

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What is the ANZCA final exam?

This exam is the final exam which anaesthesia trainees must pass prior to gaining specialist [...]

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How do you pass this exam?

This exam is an incredibly challenging exam that requires a large amount of time, effort, [...]

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The Dreaded Cover Letter

Love them or loathe them, the cover letter is an essential component of your application [...]

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Perfecting your Resume

Every year selection committees for critical care jobs receive hundreds of Resumes/curriculum vitae’s (CVs) from [...]

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Seeking out strong references

References are arguably the most important element of your job application. While the CV and [...]

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Optimising Your Memory

Tips and tricks to maximise your potential for this exam There’s few times in your [...]

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How to Learn Tables of Information

Click to download this as a PDF Document Primary Exam This gruelling exam is a [...]

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The Power of Mentors

Navigating a new career path can be daunting. This is especially true for junior doctors [...]

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Tips for getting started with research and audit

The idea of contributing to medical research typically evokes a strong range of reactions from [...]

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Benefits of Continuing Medical Education

Critical care disciplines, especially anaesthesia, are becoming increasingly popular. It is now commonplace for Australian [...]

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Pain Workbook

Click to download this as a PDF Document Objectives Define pain Explore how it is [...]

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Management of the Deteriorating Patient

Click to download this as a PDF Document Objectives By the end of this module [...]

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How to Solve Common Problems

Click to download this as a PDF Document Objectives To develop a thorough system for [...]

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Advanced Life Support

Click to download this as a PDF Document Objectives By the end of this module [...]

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The ANZCA First Part Exam Study Plan!

This exam is one of the most gruelling exams of all the medical specialties. Check [...]

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The subtle sounds of the operating theatre!

A brief introduction to the critical signals beyond what you can see Most anaesthetists probably [...]

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How to get started with regional anaesthesia

How to increase your learning curve when there are limited learning opportunities It seems that [...]

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How risky is surgery?

Surgery is such a complex field with immense variability in every patient. The ACS NSQIP [...]

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Trust the process…

Whether you are a medical student just starting on your anaesthesia journey or an experienced [...]

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