This podcast was recorded live at the Association of Anaesthetists Annual Congress 2024 in Harrogate.

We spoke with keynote speaker Sir Julian Hartley (Chief Executive of NHS Providers) and Association of Anaesthetists President Dr Tim Meek about the role of the modern consultant in healthcare systems, HIT lists and whether or not the NHS is 'broken'.

This podcast was recorded live at the Association of Anaesthetists Annual Congress 2024 in Harrogate.

We recently published a new multidisciplinary consensus statement from the Association of Anaesthetists and the British Pain Society. We were delighted to join authors Dr Helen Laycock and Prof Kariem El-Boghdadly to discuss the need for this new document, how it was written and the key clinical implications for practice.

This podcast was recorded live at the Association of Anaesthetists Annual Congress 2024 in Harrogate.

We were delighted to be joined by Dr Sarah Marsden and Dr Stuart Edwardson to talk about a new scoping review from Winter et al. Dr Marsden is the Chair of the Association of Anaesthetists Trainee Committee having taken over the role from Dr Edwardson, who received the anniversary medal for his service to the Association. 

This podcast was recorded following the airway session at the Association of Anaesthetists Annual Congress 2024 in Harrogate.

Our dissemination Editor Dr Maryann Turner was joined by Prof Kariem El-Boghdadly, Dr Emilie Hoogenboom, Prof Ed Mariano and Dr Imran Ahmad. The discussion was around difficult airway management and how the choice between technique A vs. B vs. C vs. others never has an obvious 'correct' answer. For this session, even members of the expert panel chose different options, demonstrating the difficulties clinicians face in everyday practice. 

The 7th National Audit Project (NAP7) of the RCoA examined peri-operative cardiac arrest and each of the three phases captured the involvement of anaesthesia associates in clinical practice. In view of current interest and controversy concerning the roles and scope of practice of anaesthesia associates, the authors aimed to share a full account of information collected during NAP7 to add to the limited available data in this area. This likely represents the only national dataset which incorporates anaesthetists and anaesthesia associates. This interview accompanies the paper and includes the authors Prof Tim Cook and Lee Varney, as well of the President of the Association of Anaesthesia Associates, Sarah Massey. They talk about the paper and the wider associated issues. Essential listening for all.

There are lots of excellent papers this month which have been highlighted by our dissemination editors Maryann and Mike! This month, they discuss:

1. Still a ‘boys’ club': a qualitative analysis of how gender affects a career in anaesthesia in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand

All your CPD for the month in one place, free to listen and clinically relevant for all. Enjoy!

Multimorbidity poses a global challenge to healthcare delivery. This study aimed to describe the prevalence of multimorbidity, common disease combinations and outcomes in a contemporary cohort of patients undergoing major abdominal surgery.

This month, Dr Maryann Turner is joined by Professor Kariem El-Boghdadly to discuss three papers from the June 2024 issue.

1. Comparison of the success rate of tracheal intubation between stylet and bougie with a hyperangulated videolaryngoscope: a randomised controlled trial.

The Opioid PrEscRiptions and Usage After Surgery (OPERAS) study aimed to quantify the current global practice of opioid prescribing and consumption patterns in patients after discharge from common surgical procedures, and to identify factors associated with increased opioid consumption.

It found that double the quantity of opioids patients consume in the post-discharge period are prescribed at discharge, exposing them to risk of opioid-related harm. Individualised opioid prescribing at discharge remains important as excess prescriptions are driving increased consumption of opioids by patients. While patient pain levels and pre-discharge opioid consumption influence opioid consumption at discharge, the quantity of opioids prescribed remains a modifiable factor to curtailing excessive prescriptions of unused opioids.

Despite a lack of supporting evidence, airway management in patients with suspected or confirmed cervical spine injury is traditionally thought to increase the risk of worsening existing neurological deficits (secondary spinal cord injury) or risk of causing a new spinal cord injury (primary spinal cord injury). Although there has been evidence synthesis for specific elements of airway management in this setting, there has been little guidance to support clinical decision-making for airway management in this cohort of patients.

These guidelines focus on the impact of airway management on cervical spine-related safety outcomes rather than efficacy of different airway management techniques. Whilst these two are related, the primary aim is to support clinicians in performing airway management whilst minimising the risk of airway complications and cervical spine cord injury.