A national survey of out-of-hours working and fatigue in consultants in anaesthesia and paediatric intensive care in the UK and Ireland.

The tragic death of an anaesthetic trainee driving home after a series of night shifts prompted a national survey of fatigue in trainee anaesthetists. This indicated that fatigue was widespread, with significant impact on trainees' health and well-being. Consultants deliver an increasing proportion of patient care resulting in long periods of continuous daytime duty and overnight on-call work, so we wished to investigate their experience of out-of-hours working and the causes and impact of work-related fatigue.

Lignocaine topicalization of the pediatric airway.

The application of topical laryngeal lignocaine is a technique used frequently in pediatric anesthesia. It is often used to facilitate open airway procedures, tracheal intubation, or to reduce the incidence of perioperative adverse respiratory events such as coughing and laryngospasm. A number of studies have shown that applying topical lignocaine to the larynx reduces perioperative respiratory adverse events, while others have shown an increased incidence of respiratory complications with lignocaine administration.

Are new supraglottic airway devices, tracheal tubes and airway viewing devices cost-effective?

Over the past two decades, a plethora of new airway devices has become available to the pediatric anesthetist. While all have the laudable intention of improving patient care and some have proven clinical benefits, these devices are often costly and at times claims of an advantage over current equipment and techniques are marginal. Supraglottic airway devices are used in the majority of pediatric anesthetics delivered in the U.

Pediatric laryngoscopes and intubation aids old and new.

This review summarizes the evolution of the pediatric laryngoscope using some of the established landmarks in the history of anesthesia. Children were rarely intubated before 1940 though the subsequent 30 years saw a proliferation of pediatric laryngoscopes in part driven by the developments in pediatric anesthesia and surgery, manufacturing techniques and materials and a change in airway management philosophy exemplified by Jackson Rees's argument against the notion that intubation was to be avoided in children. A perspective on the present day describes the modifications to popular straight and curved blade laryngoscopes and the development of new devices that enhance direct visualization of the larynx.