Guidance for the timing of surgery following SARS-CoV-2 infection needed reassessment given widespread vaccination, less virulent variants, contemporary evidence and a need to increase access to safe surgery.

This is the third iteration of consensus guidance around timing of surgery and risk assessment. Find out here why the update was required and what is new for 2023.

This new meta-analysis from Hansel et al. is a must read for all. Join Associate Editor Susannah Patey as she speaks with the authors about the key findings and clinical conclusions. 

The two most commonly used airway management techniques during general anaesthesia are supraglottic airway devices and tracheal tubes. This new study compares their use for elderly patients undergoing low risk surgery with a composite of postoperative pulmonary complications as the primary outcome. 

It is a fascinating trial for many reasons and we expect there will be much discussion amongst anaesthetists. Join Prof Mike Irwin and the authors to find out why they did it and a summary of the key clinical messages.

Surgical decision-making after SARS-CoV-2 infection is influenced by the presence of comorbidity, infection severity and whether the surgical problem is time-sensitive.

This new paper utilised the OpenSAFELY database to look at practices and outcomes in England, and suggests that some patients can be safely operated within 2 weeks from infection. This podcast goes deeper into the associated issues and implications for clinicians, patients and hospitals. 

Detailed contemporary knowledge of the characteristics of the surgical population, national anaesthetic workload, anaesthetic techniques and behaviours are essential to monitor productivity, inform policy and direct research themes. Every 3–4 years, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, as part of its National Audit Projects (NAP), performs a snapshot activity survey in all UK hospitals delivering anaesthesia, collecting patient-level encounter data from all cases under the care of an anaesthetist.

For this podcast, Tanya Selak speaks with the authors about their work and explores some of the trends from these new data. 

Arguably the most important paper of 2023 so far and essential reading/listening for all!

This new paper from the AERATOR group examines the science around aerosol generation and awake tracheal intubation (ATI). Their study was performed on a single day during an ATI course on 12 anaesthetic trainees. They show that ATI without sedation generates high concentrations of respiratory aerosol. Professor Ross Hofmeyr talks to the authors about their study, its clinical implications and what the future holds for research in this area. 

We caught up with Dr Fiona Kelly, lead author of a new guideline from the Association of Anaesthetists and the Difficult Airway Society on human factors in anaesthesia. The guideline and narrative review were published and launched live at the Winter Scientific Meeting in London today and there are several actions that we can all take today to impact patient care. 

Time to place less reliance on individual and team excellence to deliver high-quality patient care? We think so. Both papers are free to access and worth reading in full for all.

Pre-operative anaemia is common in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery and associated with an increased risk of blood transfusion, hospital length of stay and postoperative complications.

This podcast is all about a new secondary analysis of the PREVENTT study. We are delighted to be joined in Australia by three of the papers authors, Professor Toby Richards, Dr Anastazia Keegan and Professor Lachlan Miles.

The aim of their analysis was to determine whether specific iron deficiency phenotypes derived clinical benefits from intravenous iron before major abdominal surgery compared with placebo.

Today, we were joined by three authors (Dr Alopi Patel, Dr Michelle Kars and Prof Ed Mariano) of a new paper which is all about how to use social media to get published. This forms part of a new series of articles called Reviewer Recommendations, which is very much a ‘how to’ guide for authors and readers. Enjoy!

Today we will be discussing this new paper which describes and validates a new anaesthetic complexity score, which is is a clinician-designed, real-world tested model of case complexity in anaesthetics. It is inclusive of, but distinct from, patient and surgical risk. 

The paper is of interest because of the methods used and also the potential implications for increasing efficiency and productivity in theatre. Joining us today we have authors Dr Elliott Ridgeon, Dr Katy Wilson and Dr Ahmed Elrefaey.