Environmental and financial impacts of perioperative paracetamol use: a multicentre international life-cycle assessment.

Background: Pharmaceuticals account for 19-32% of healthcare greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Paracetamol is a common perioperative analgesic agent. We estimated GHG emissions associated with i.

Nitrous Oxide Use in Australian Health Care: Strategies to Reduce the Climate Impact.

Nitrous oxide is a useful inhaled analgesic. Due to its high global warming potential and ozone-depleting properties, the nitrous oxide emissions related to health care are being increasingly scrutinized. In this narrative review, we will discuss the clinical uses of nitrous oxide relevant to anesthetists, in addition to its contribution as a greenhouse gas.

Operation clean up: A model for eco-leadership and sustainability implementation.

Healthcare contributes to environmental harm. Trainee-led Research and Audit in Anaesthesia for Sustainable Healthcare (TRASH) is an Australasian network focused on sustainable anaesthesia practice. TRASH hypothesised that trainee-led audits alongside education presented on a scheduled national day, called Operation Clean Up, can improve engagement with sustainability initiatives.

A health economic evaluation of the unnecessary ordering of coagulation studies and blood grouping prior to elective surgery.

Unnecessary pathology tests add significant financial burden to health care expenditures while offering limited benefit to patients. Current guidelines do not support indiscriminate ordering of preoperative coagulation studies and ABO blood typing. We sought to estimate the incidence and financial cost of the indiscriminate ordering of these investigations in our institution.

Gender effects in anaesthesia training in Australia and New Zealand.

Background: Women face gender-based challenges in their medical education and career. Inequitable access to procedural training, a confidence gap, and professional identity deficit have been shown. We made a gender comparison of procedural case volume, confidence for independent practice, perceived gender and ethnic bias, and professional identity in Australasian anaesthesia trainees.

Developing models to predict early postoperative patient deterioration and adverse events.

Background: Accurate identification of patients at risk of early postoperative deterioration allows needs-based allocation of patients to appropriate levels of care. This study aimed to record the incidence of early postoperative deterioration and identify factors predictive of at-risk patients. Doing so may assist future evidence-based perioperative planning and allocation of patients to high-acuity facilities.

A call centre and extended checklist for pre-screening elective surgical patients – a pilot study.

Background: Novel approaches to preoperative assessment and management before elective surgery are warranted to ensure that a sustainable high quality service is provided. The benefits of a call centre incorporating an extended preoperative electronic checklist and phone follow-up as an alternative to a clinic attendance were examined.

Methods: This was a pilot study of a new method of patient assessment in patients scheduled for elective non-cardiac surgery and who attended a conventional preoperative clinic.