Equipment to manage a difficult airway during anaesthesia.

Airway complications are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in anaesthesia. Effective management of a difficult airway requires the timely availability of suitable airway equipment. The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists has recently developed guidelines for the minimum set of equipment needed for the effective management of an unexpected difficult airway (TG4 [2010] www.anzca.edu.au/resources/professionaldocuments). TG4 [2010] is based on expert consensus, underpinned by wide consultation and an extensive review of the available evidence, which is summarised in a Background Paper (TG4 BP [2010] www.anzca.edu.au/ resources/professional-documents). TG4 [2010] will be reviewed at the end of one year and thereafter every five years or more frequently if necessary. The current paper is reproduced directly from the Background Paper (TG4 BP [2010]).

Communication failure in the intensive care unit--learning from a near miss.

A 51-year-old female patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome was given three times the intended dose of intravenous human immunoglobulin while admitted to a tertiary intensive care unit. The error went unnoticed for seven hours and appears to have been the result of several successive breakdowns in communication between key staff The patient, fortunately, made a full recovery. This report analyses the communication failure and explores possible ways of avoiding similar occurrences in the future.

Turcot's syndrome.

The first reported case of Turcot's syndrome (brain tumour with polyposis coli) in Australia is described. An awareness of the possible extracolonic concomitant conditions of polyposis coli should lead to the prompt investigation of any patient with either known polyposis or a family history of polyposis who develops a disorder of the central nervous system.