Formation of an Airway Lead Network: an essential patient safety initiative.

We outline the history, implementation and clinical impact of the formation of an Airway Lead Network. Although recommendations to improve patient safety in airway management are published and revised regularly, uniform implementation of such guidelines are applied sporadically throughout the hospital and prehospital settings. The primary roles of an Airway Lead are to ensure supply, quality and storage of airway equipment, promote the use of current practice guidelines as well as the organisation of training and audits. Locally, the Airway Lead may chair a multi-disciplinary airway committee within their organisation; an Airway Lead Network enables Airway Leads to share common problems and solutions to promote optimal airway management on a national level. Support from governing bodies is an essential part of this structure.

Predictors of difficult epidural placement in pregnant women: A trainees' perspective.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Epidural analgesia is believed to be the most difficult technique to learn for a trainee. The reason for this is not only inexperience of the provider and the complexity of the technique but also patient factors like obesity, spinal deformity and others which makes the epidural placement difficult. The aim of this study was to evaluate some of the common risk factors for difficult epidural placement as perceived by the anesthesia providers during training, with varying level of experience. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This prospective observational study includes patients who received epidural placement for labor analgesia. Data recorded on these patients included age, height, weight, body mass index (BMI), ease of palpation of the spinous process, level of epidural placement, number of attempts, time taken for epidural placement and experience of the provider. The association between the variables were assessed using logistic regression for first attempt success and Cox proportional hazard ratio for time to epidural placement. RESULTS: A total of 373 patients received epidural placement for labor analgesia. The mean BMI at the time of placement was 34. The first attempt success rate for the placement of epidural was 67% (n = 273). Women with well palpable spinous process were 3.3 times more likely to have a successful first attempt placement irrespective of the provider experience or BMI [3.39 (1.77-6.51), P < 0.001]. The time to placement was shorter in patients with good anatomical landmarks [1.58 (1.20-2.07), P < 0.001) and when performed by a trainee who had performed a minimum of 20 epidural procedures [1.57 (1.26-1.94), P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Inability to palpate the spinous process contributes to multiple attempts at epidural placement when performed by a trainee.

Maternal morbidity, mortality, and risk assessment.

Maternal deaths in developed countries continue to decline and are rare. Maternal mortality statistics are essentially similar in the United States and United Kingdom. However, the situation is completely different in developing countries, where maternal mortality exceeds 0.5 million every year. This article not only assesses morbidity risks in some of the leading causes of maternal death but also highlights strategies to minimize the risks and to prevent maternal morbidity and mortality.

Intrapartum epidural analgesia and maternal temperature regulation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine maternal temperature changes after epidural analgesia. METHODS: A prospective cohort of nulliparas at term was monitored with hourly maternal tympanic temperatures after epidural analgesia (n=99). Temperature response after epidural analgesia was examined in the group as a whole. Subsequently, mean maternal temperature curves were compared between women who remained afebrile throughout labor (n=77) and women who developed intrapartum fever with body temperature greater than 100.4 degrees F (n=22). Baseline maternal characteristics were assessed. RESULTS: Women who later developed intrapartum fever had a higher mean temperature within 1 hour after epidural analgesia. In contrast, women who remained afebrile had no increase in core temperature. During the first 4 hours after epidural analgesia initiation, women who later develop intrapartum fever have an increase in mean tympanic temperature of 0.33 degrees F per hour. CONCLUSION: Epidural analgesia is not associated with increased temperature in the majority of women. Hyperthermia is an abnormal response confined to a minority subset, which occurs immediately after exposure. Our findings do not support a universal perturbation of maternal thermoregulation after epidural analgesia. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II.