Lecture Notes on Anaesthesia

Part 1 General anaesthesia: anaesthetic assessment and premedication - the pre-operative visit, the anaesthetic history and examination, special investigations, medical referral, risk assessment, informing the patient, pre-medication; the delivery of anaesthetic gases and vapours - the delivery of gases to the operating theatre, the role of the anaesthetic machine, checking the anaesthetic machine, anaesthetic breathing systems, mechanical ventilation, scavenging; managing the airway - basic techniques, simple adjuncts, laryngeal mask airway, tracheal intubation, emergency airway techniques; induction of anaesthesia - intravenous anaesthetic (induction) agents, sodium thiopentone, etomidate, propofol, keramine, methohexitone, miscellaneous; maintenance of anaesthesia - the inhalation (volatile) agents and intravenous infusions, nitrous oxide, halothane, enflurane, isoflurane, desflurane, sevoflurane, ether, propofol; muscle relaxation during anaesthesia - neuromuscular blocking drugs and their antagonism, de-polarizing muscle relaxants, non-depolarizing muscle relaxants, anti-cholinesterases; analgesia in anaesthesia - the acute pain pathway, opioid analgesics, the regulations of opioid drugs, Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as analgesics; measurement and monitoring - the background to monitoring, monitoring the cardiovascular system, the respiratory system, miscellaneous, the anaesthetic record; intravenous cannulation and fluid administration - peripheral intravenous cannulation, central venous cannulation, intravenous fluids, intra-operative fluid administration; positioning the patient for surgery - the supine position, the lateral position, the prone position; post-anaesthesia care - the recovery area, common complications, oxygen therapy, post-operative analgesia, Post-operative intravenous fluid therapy; anaesthetic room emergencies - acute severe drug reactions, bronchospasm, aspiration of gastric contents, failed intubation, acute upper airway obstruction, tension pneumothorax, severe hypotension, malignant hyperpyrexia, putting it all together. Part 2 Local and regional anaesthesia: local anaesthetic drugs and their doses - mechanism of action of local anaesthetic drugs, pharmacology of individual drugs, the use of vasoconstrictors, calculation of doses, the causes and management of overdose; local and regional anaesthetic techniques. (Part contents)