Perioperative Medicine – Current Controversies

Karen Stuart-Smith was born and raised in Glasgow, Scotland, and graduated in Physiology and Medicine from the University of Glasgow. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and has enjoyed a long career as a clinical anaesthetist. Early training in cardiorespiratory research led to an enthusiasm for applying scientific methodology to clinical practice, and she is also a passionate believer in the role of clinical audit in assessing the quality of patient care. Karen presently resides in New Zealand, where she continues to practice as an anaesthetist and enjoys the outdoor lifestyle in her spare time.

Perioperative medicine: defining the anaesthesiologist's role in shaping perioperative outcomes.- Prehabilitation.- Impact of co-morbidities, physiological status and age on survival.- Transthoracic echocardiography in the preoperative clinic.- Defining postoperative quality of recovery.- Enhanced recovery for colorectal surgery.- Perioperative beta-blockade: the pros and cons. The story of beta-blockade and cardiac protection.- Perioperative management of the diabetic patient.- Perioperative management of non-diabetic patients with hyperglycaemia (stress-induced hyperglycaemia).- Postoperative Pulmonary Complications.- Haemostatic resuscitation for perioperative bleeding.- Fluid therapy in trauma.- Role of multimodal monitoring in the perioperative period: improving outcomes in high-risk surgical patients.- Can perioperative interventions during cancer surgery affect recurrence or metastasis?.- Transverseabdominis plane block: evolution and current understanding.- Future ultrasound technologies for the perioperative physician.- Lung ultrasound in anaesthesia and critical care medicine.- The acute pain team.- The transition of acute post-operative pain to acute persistent pain to chronic pain: assessing and managing the risks.