Deep Breaths

Part 2 of our two-part series looking at common problems encountered in the post-anaesthetic care unit. We hope you enjoy another of our favourite topics.  Feel free to email us at deepbreathspod@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session whi...

This two part series looks at some common problems we encounter in the post-anaesthetic care unit (PACU). It's another of our favourite topics and well worth the review.  Feel free to email us at deepbreathspod@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a...

The final episode on our two-part series on cases in paediatric anaesthesia with special guest, Dr Paul Lee-Archer. Another of our favourites, we hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Resources for today's episode: Emergence delirium after paediatric anaesthesia: new strategies in avoidance and treatment by Nair, S. & Wolf, A. Paediatric massive transfusion by Blain, S. & Paterson, N....

Our two-part series on paediatrics in which we discuss previous anaesthetic viva scenarios with special guest, Dr Paul Lee-Archer, is another favourite of ours.  Resources for today's episode: Emergence delirium after paediatric anaesthesia: new strategies in avoidance and treatment by Nair, S. & Wolf, A. Paediatric massive transfusion by Blain, S. & Paterson, N. Dilemmas in the preop...

Our second and final episode in our two-part series looking at cases involving one-lung ventilation with special guest, Dr Ivan Rapchuk. This series is one of our favourites! Resources for today's episode: Pre-anaesthetic assessment for thoracic surgery by Peter Slinger and Gail Darling. Feel free to email us at deepbreathspod@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We l...

One lung ventilation can be tricky, but our two part series with special guest Dr Ivan Rapchuk, attempts to break it down and make it easier to both approach and understand. This series is another favourite! Resources for this episode: Pre-anaesthetic assessment for thoracic surgery by Peter Slinger and Gail Darling. Feel free to email us at deepbreathspod@gmail.com if you have any questions, comm...

Obstructive sleep apnoea is an ongoing challenge for anaesthetists. In this episode - another favourite - we discuss sleep apnoea in the context of anaesthesia with special guest, Dr Hamish Pollock.  Reference for this episode: Perioperative considerations in the management of obstructive sleep apnoea by Holt, N. et al.   Feel free to email us at deepbreathspod@gmail.com if you have any questions,...

In today’s episode, we revisit one of our earliest and most topics - awareness. What it is, how it happens, and most importantly, how to prevent it. Resources for this episode include: National Audit Project 5 (NAP5) - https://www.nationalauditprojects.org.uk/NAP5home B-Aware trial - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673604163009?via%3Dihub B-Unaware trial - https://www.nejm.o...

Bad Blood is a two-episode miniseries that takes a closer look at ROTEM. It's a favourite episode of ours and we hope you enjoy listening again too.  References for part 2: Deranged Physiology - Interpretation of abnormal ROTEM data . ROTEM product information and interpretation instructions with case examples . NHS University Hospitals Sussex ROTEM interpretation flow diagram . ROTEM e-learn...

Bad Blood is a two-episode miniseries that takes a closer look at ROTEM. It's a favourite episode of ours and we hope you enjoy listening again too.  References for part 1: ROTEM e-learning modules . Note: this website defaults to German language, but can be changed. Alternatively, Google offers a translation service for the website. ROTEM product information and interpretation instructions w...

Sweet Leaf looks at the ways in which medical marijuana impact the provision of safe and effective anaesthesia. This episode is one of our favourites, and is increasingly relevant to our clinical practice as we see more patients presenting for surgery in whom medical marijuana therapy is prescribed.  Feel free to email us at deepbreathspod@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments or suggestio...

Deep Breaths returns next Monday August 14th with a selection of wonderful topics to help boost your exam prep, and to help keep you up to date. This season will be a little different though. We're taking a well-earned break (our first since Deep Breaths started in August 2020) and for season 7 we will be re-releasing seven of our favourite topics previously already released in earlier season...

Today, we take a deep dive into the pros and cons of having the families of patients present in operating rooms beyond what is already in practice for paediatric anaesthesia and caesarean sections.  Resources for today's episode: Could, Should Families Watch Their Loved One's Surgeries and, If So, When? By Quinonez, Z.A. et al.  Note: ANZCA members can access this title via the ANZCA lib...

Today,  we are joined by special guest Dr Shaun Roberts to discuss in-depth cases of patients with tricky cardiac conditions who require non-cardiac surgery. Resources for today's episode: ANZCA Blue Book 2021 ESC Guidelines on cardiovascular assessment and management of patients undergoing non cardiac surgery 2014 ACC/AHA guideline on Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation and Management of...

Today's episode is the second and final of our obstetric cardiac disease series where we take a close look at a few case scenarios with special guest, Dr Michael Toon. Our third case takes a closer look at pulmonary hypertension in pregnancy and how this impacts the delivery and our anaesthetic options. We then end with a case in which a patient with congenital cardiac disease and a fontan ci...

Today's episode is the first of two where we take a close look at a few obstetric case scenarios that deal with major cardiac disease with special guest, Dr Michael Toon. Our first case explores a pregnancy and delivery in a patient with moderate to severe mitral stenoses. We then chase this with a case scenario revolving around a patient with a peripartum cardiomyopathy. In both cases we tak...

Today, we finish our discussion about post obstetric nerve injury with an in-depth discussion about the different intrinsic obstetric nerve palsies that can occur as a result of the mechanisms of labour and delivery. We follow this with a chat about our approach to assessing patients with altered neurology post delivery and in whom a neuraxial anaesthetic has been performed. Resources for today&ap...

Today, we discuss post-delivery nerve injury in obstetric patients. In this first of two episodes, our discussion begins with revision of the classification of nerve injury severity, followed by a chat about the different clinical syndromes observed as a result of nerve injury during neuraxial anaesthesia.  Resources for today's episode: Anaesthesia Tute of the Week (ATOTW): Peripartum Neurol...

Today's episode is the second part in our discussion about anaesthesia for eye surgery with special guest, Dr Lahiru Amaratunge. We discuss two emergency eye surgeries and our options for managing these potentially challenging situations. Resources for today's episode: ABCs of anaesthesia ophthalmic anaesthesia youtube playlist (as mentioned by Dr Amaratunge during the episode): ABCs of...

Today's episode is the first of a 2-part series covering anaesthesia for eye surgery with special guest Dr Lahiru Amaratunge. Over the course of these two episodes, we'll hear Dr Amaratunge discussing a few different case scenarios in both elective and emergency surgery for eyes. Resources for today's episode: ABCs of anaesthesia ophthalmic anaesthesia youtube playlist (as mentioned...

Today, we take a close look at the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS). We discuss the diagnostic criteria, pathophysiology and treatment of this condition, as well as taking a closer look at the role of opioids in the management of pain relating to CRPS. Resources for today's episode: Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: Practical Diagnostic and Treatment Guidelines, 5th Edition by Harden, R.N...

Today, we're taking a close look at one of ANZCA's latest professional documents - PG67: Guideline for the care of patients at the end-of-life who are considered for surgery or interventional procedures 2022. Resources for this episode: PG67: Guideline for the care of patients at the end-of-life who are considered for surgery or interventional procedures 2022 PG67 BP: Guideline for the c...

Today, we're tackling the absolutely mammoth topic of hyponatremia after JAMA recently published a fantastic article about its diagnosis and management. Part 2's episode focuses on determining the cause of a patient's hypotonic hyponatremia. From here we also go on to discuss the pathophysiology of both the Syndrome of Inappropriate ADH secretion (or SIADH) and cerebral salt wasting...

Today, we're tackling the absolutely mammoth topic of hyponatremia after JAMA recently published a fantastic article about its diagnosis and management. We start with a review of some relevant physiology before talking about the ways in which hyponatremia can present, and the approach to determining the underlying cause of the hyponatremia. In this episode, we specifically talk about determin...

Today, we share our fourth and final discussion in our four part series about statistics with Dr Shannon Morrison.  In this episode, we discuss the following topics: the research methodology for designing a clinical trial pilot trials bias and confounding ethics committees and the process of ethics approval Forest plots Resources for today's episode: Zedstatistics (youtube channel) - short vi...