Obsgynaecritcare

You are called to review a woman in labour ward. When you arrive you are told her epidural is no longer working. The epidural was placed by a colleague 5 hours ago and was working well. However in the last 20-30 minutes she has developed breakthrough pain despite a top up and pressing the PCEA a few times. You look at her back and the epidural dressing looks fine - no obvious explanation there. Upon further questioning you are told that she had a caesarean in her previous pregnancy and she is attempting a VBAC. She tells you that since you arrived in the room the pain has changed. Now it is constant and she has developed pain in her shoulder. Suddenly the CTG deteriorates and within a few minutes the team are calling a code blue caesarean to theatre.....This is recollection of a real case from an evening shift a few years ago. As you can probably guess this week we are discussing the important and somewhat scary topic of uterine rupture. This week we are joined to discuss this topic by Dr David Owe

A maternal death is always a tragic event for the mother, the child, the family and society at large. Unfortunately in some parts of the globe this is still a much too common event. Luckily for those of us living in higher resource countries it has now become relatively rare. This week Matt and I sat down together to discuss the history of maternal mortality reporting, and all the useful knowledge we have been able to learn over the years from these important resources. What are direct, indirect and coincidental maternal deaths? We touch on some aspects of the recent Australian reports and then go into depth on the long history of the UK reports which have many strengths such as their national funding, compulsory reporting, anonymous nature and very long history. Thanks Matt References Maternal Mortality Report Australia Maternal Mortality World Health Organisation WHO MBRRACE-UK Maternal mortality reports UK

As the duty anaesthetist you are called down to the antenatal clinic by the obstetric team to see a pregnant woman with achondroplasia who is booked to deliver in your hospital. What are the anaesthetic issues which can arise in this condition? What evidence is there in the literature for the optimal anaesthetic techniques? What will you discuss with this woman and how will you counsel her? Join Declan and I as we discuss the anaesthetic issues of this relatively rare but sometimes challenging condition... References Dumitrascu CI, Eneh PN, Keim AA, Kraus MB, Sharpe EE. Anesthetic management of parturients with achondroplasia: a case series. Proc (Bayl Univ Med Cent). 2023 Dec 20;37(1):63-68. doi: 10.1080/08998280.2023.2261084. PMID: 38173994; PMCID: PMC10761160. Lange, E.M.S., Toledo, P., Stariha, J. et al. Anesthetic management for Cesarean delivery in parturients with a diagnosis of dwarfism. Can J Anesth/J Can Anesth 63, 945–951 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12630-016-0671-5 15 Ways P

You are called to a code blue on the postnatal ward. A 28 yr old female who is 1 day post a non elective caesarean section has just had a witnessed convulsion lasting 1-2 min. She has now regained consciousness but seems a little confused and is complaining that she "has lost vision in both of her eyes". Her BP is 180/100, and all other vital signs are normal. What is this most likely to be? What is your differential diagnosis (what things do you not want to miss)? What investigations would you like done? This turns out to be an episode of eclampsia and PRES (posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome). What is PRES? What are it's radiological features and what is the mechanism which leads to this disorder? Join Graeme and I as we discuss this uncommon but fascinating condition. References Gewirtz AN, Gao V, Parauda SC, Robbins MS. Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2021 Feb 25;25(3):19. doi: 10.1007/s11916-020-00932-1. PMID: 33630183; PMCID: PMC7905767.

Hi everyone, Join us this episode - Declan and I have scoured the literature for a few interesting articles of varying degrees of quality! We had fun discussing these articles and hopefully you will also enjoy our discussion. Hopefully we will make this a regular feature every 3-4 months! Articles Discussed 1 - Effect of Dural-Puncture Epidural vs Standard Epidural for Epidural Extension on Onset Time of Surgical Anesthesia in Elective Cesarean DeliveryA Randomized Clinical Trial In this RCT published in JAMA - the time to surgical anaesthesia was 4 min faster when topping up a dural puncture epidural in comparison to a standard epidural catheter. 2 - Neuraxial buprenorphine for post-cesarean delivery analgesia: a case series This correspondence from the International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia (IJOA) this year discussed the experience of a small hospital which decided to use neuraxial buprenorphine when there was a morphine shortage. 3 - There's No Such Thing as “Nonjudgmental” D

You are called to labour ward to place an epidural in a nulliparous woman who is obviously extremely distressed in pain. After you sit her up to clean her back you notice she has a long scar running down the middle of her back. Between contractions she tells you she had surgery as a teenager to straighten her back.....what does this mean? Hi Everyone, Graeme regularly teaches this topic to our anaesthesia trainees and I was surprised to realise that we haven't done a podcast on this already. Join us as we discuss scoliosis, spina bifida, spinal surgery and other assorted spinal issues. TRAGIC CASE OF AIRWAY DEATH DUE TO SEVERE KYPHOSCOLIOSIS - FROM WEST AUSTRALIAN

Hi Everyone, Whole blood, freeze dried plasma, refrigerated or frozen platelets.... On Oct 31st - Nov 3 Graeme, Emelyn and I attended the THOR - THUNDER conference hosted here in Perth at the Rendezvous Hotel in Scarborough. Who is THOR? In their own words: The THOR (trauma haemostasis oxygenation resuscitation) organization is a resuscitation and blood network, originating in Norway a decade ago, and now boasting global reach. It has built an avid following of both civilian and military resuscitation clinicians and scientists, covering both pre-hospital and hospital management of critically unwell patients. The THOR vision is to improve outcomes from traumatic haemorrhagic shock by optimising the acute phase of resuscitation. The mission is to develop and implement the best practices for haemorrhagic shock resuscitation from pre-hospital care right through to the completion of the acute phase of hospital resuscitation. Thor group website: Trauma Hemostasis and Oxygenation Research Network

Hi everyone, Welcome to part 3 of a 3 part series we have put together – 3 hypothetical cases involving anaemia / patient blood management scenarios. Thanks to the two great colleagues who made these discussions with me, Dr Anastazia Keegan Head of Haematology here at KEMH and Assoc Prof Nolan McDonnell a colleague from our Department of Anaesthesia. These cases might sound familiar to any registrars who have attended the Thursday teaching run here over the last 8-9 years! We had a lot of fun discussing these three cases and I hope there is a lot of great learning for those of you listening – thanks Anastazia and Nolan for giving up a few hours to put these together!

Hi everyone, Welcome to part 2 of a 3 part series we have put together – 3 hypothetical cases involving anaemia / patient blood management scenarios. Thanks to the two great colleagues who made these discussions with me, Dr Anastazia Keegan Head of Haematology here at KEMH and Assoc Prof Nolan McDonnell a colleague from our Department of Anaesthesia. These cases might sound familiar to any registrars who have attended the Thursday teaching run here over the last 8-9 years! We had a lot of fun discussing these three cases and I hope there is a lot of great learning for those of you listening – thanks Anastazia and Nolan for giving up a few hours to put these together!

Hi everyone, Welcome to part 1 of a 3 part series we have put together - 3 hypothetical cases involving anaemia / patient blood management scenarios. Thanks to the two great colleagues who made these discussions with me, Dr Anastazia Keegan Head of Haematology here at KEMH and Assoc Prof Nolan McDonnell a colleague from our Department of Anaesthesia. These cases might sound familiar to any registrars who have attended the Thursday teaching run here over the last 8-9 years! We had a lot of fun discussing these three cases and I hope there is a lot of great learning for those of you listening - thanks Anastazia and Nolan for giving up a few hours to put these together! Reference - Fishbane Reaction Safety of Intravenous Iron Following Infusion Reactions Stojanovic et al The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice Volume 9, Issue 4, April 2021: 1660-1666 - A great paper discussing the different types of reactions to i.v. including the Fishbane reaction and how they were manag

You are phoned and asked to review the venous blood gas from a woman who has just given birth in labour ward. She had a long and difficult labour and eventually required an instrumental delivery. The RMO tells you also that she was very difficult to take blood from and the tourniquet was on her arm for quite a long time. Her results show that she has a lactate of 2.5. Does this result mean she has maternal bacterial sepsis? Does this mean she is in shock, not perfusing her organs properly and they are using anaerobic metabolism? Unfortunately it's not that simple but these are common misconceptions that we might encounter when interpreting raised lactate levels. What is lactate? How does the body handle it? What are the different conditions which can raise your lactate levels? If you want to know this and more listen in to our fascinating discussion this week. Hi everyone, This week I am joined by two new guests, Tim Marmion one of our talented junior registrars and Declan Sharp the new educati

Hi Everyone, "Three minutes after the administration on the spinal anaesthetic they became restless and complained of severe pain in both lower limbs and back. Their heart rate and blood pressure increased to 130bpm and 160/100 mmHg. A rapid survey of previously administered medications revealed tranexamic acid 300mg was accidentally injected into the subarachnoid space instead of 15mg of hyperbaric bupivacaine." - case report 2021 Graeme and I sit down to do a deep dive on the serious topic of accidental neuraxial administration of tranexamic acid which may have up to 50% mortality. We discuss two papers which summarise over 40 published case reports of spinal administration and one case report of accidental epidural administration. Join us as we discuss the pharmacological mechanism of toxicity, proposed treatments and methods to minimise the risk of this occurring in the first place. References Catastrophic drug errors involving tranexamic acid administered during spinal anaesthesia. S. Pat

Hi Everyone, Join Siv and I as we sit down to discuss a couple of interesting obstetric related topics. The first is the pharmacology around the choice and strength of local anaesthetics used in epidural analgesia - thanks Siv. The second part we discuss a very large pragmatic study in the New England Journal of Medicine of 11000 women studying the use of tranexamic acid as a prophylaxis during caesarean surgery (elective and emergency). Spoiler alert it didn't show any difference (death or transfusion). Thanks Siv! References Tranexamic Acid to Prevent Obstetrical Hemorrhage after Cesarean Delivery Pacheo et al N Engl J Med 2023; 388:1365-1375 Minimum local analgesic concentration of local anaesthetics. Malachy Columb, Iain Gall Continuing Education in Anaesthesia Critical Care & Pain, Volume 10, Issue 4, August 2010, Pages 114–116 Determination of the Minimum Local Analgesic Concentrations of Epidural Bupivacaine and Lidocaine in Labor. Columb, Malachy O. FRCA; Lyons, Gordon FRCA. Anesthes

Hi Everyone, This week we are joined by Dr Anastazia Keegan an obstetric haematologist and the head of Haematology at our Women's hospital here in Western Australia. Join us as Anastazia educates us about congenital bleeding disorders in pregnancy - the common ones, Von Willebrands disease and haemophilia - and how to approach a woman with one of the many uncommon ones (which working in a tertiary referral centre are more common than you would expect). Thanks for all the great advice and insights - we look forward to having Anastazia back in the near future for the lowdown on some more really important haematological conditions we encounter in women's health. References Updated Australian consensus statement on management of inherited bleeding disorders in pregnancy. Med J Aust 2019; 210 (7): Online Bleeding Assessment Tool ISTH-BAT

Hi Everyone, This is part 2 of a discussion (see the previous episode for part 1). We have just returned from the Obstetric Anaesthesia Special Interest Group Satellite meeting held on May 3-4. I sat down two days after the meeting with Dr Matt Rucklidge (the convenor of this meeting and a colleague here at KEMH) and Prof Nuala Lucas one of the keynote invited speakers from the UK who is the president of the OAA UK (Obstetric Anaesthesia Association). We discuss the highlights of this two day meeting and some of the takeaway learning points. Thanks to Matt Rucklidge and Jane Brown who organised the speakers – an absolutely amazing line up of compelling speakers and topics! Apologies for the audio quality – we didn’t have the usual microphones and had to record in a side room at the Sydney Convention centre at were unable to get away from the background elevator music…… Nuala flew straight from Sydney back to the OAA annual meeting this year being held in Edinburgh. If anyone is interested in

Hi Everyone, We have just returned from the Obstetric Anaesthesia Special Interest Group Satellite meeting held on May 3-4. I sat down two days after the meeting with Dr Matt Rucklidge (the convenor of this meeting and a colleague here at KEMH) and Prof Nuala Lucas one of the keynote invited speakers from the UK who is the president of the OAA UK (Obstetric Anaesthesia Association). We discuss the highlights of this two day meeting and some of the takeaway learning points. Thanks to Matt Rucklidge and Jane Brown who organised the speakers - an absolutely amazing line up of compelling speakers and topics! Apologies for the audio quality - we didn't have the usual microphones and had to record in a side room at the Sydney Convention centre at were unable to get away from the background elevator music...... Nuala flew straight from Sydney back to the OAA annual meeting this year being held in Edinburgh. If anyone is interested in attending any excellent Obstetric Anaesthesia meetings the OAA hold

You are called to a code blue medical on labour ward - a previously well nulliparous woman has just had a seizure, and now seems confused. Her observations are normal, she is not hypertensive and the CTG appears fine. She is presumed to have had an eclamptic seizure and is given oxygen, magnesium and has some urgent pre-eclampsia bloods and urine sent. The midwife states she has been trying to stay well hydrated with lots of coconut water and has been on oxytocin to augment her labour for a number of hours. Her results are all normal except for a sodium of 111. She suddenly starts to begin seizing again....... Hi everyone, This week I am joined by two guests - Siv our current education fellow and Jess who is a senior ICU trainee working in our department to discuss a very important but perhaps somewhat often overlooked condition - peripartum hyponatraemia. As we acknowledge in the podcast hyponatraemia is a huge topic and in order to make this podcast more manageable and practical we have chosen to foc

Hi Everyone, In our tertiary women's hospital here in Perth we use remifentanil PCA in labour approximately 15 times a year - and we are told that in Australian terms this is considered a "heavy user" of this labour analgesic technqiue. This week I sit down with Mike Jamison an anaesthetic fellow from Belfast spending a year with us here in Perth. When he arrived in WA we quickly learned from him that remifentanil PCA is commonly used for labour analgesia in Northern Ireland with one unit he worked in having prescribed this technique for more than 11,000 women. We sit down to have a deep dive into the use of remifentanil PCA in labour in Northern Ireland. What aspects of their approach have led it to become such a commonly utilised technique? What is their recipe? How do they prescribe it, how do they monitor the women and how is this technique now viewed amongst the obstetric, midwifery and wider Northern Irish community! If you are attending the upcoming Obstetric Anaesthesia satellite meeting in S

You are referred a patient who needs urgent surgery and the obstetrician tells you she has some obscure medical condition which you have never heard of before. Does her condition have any implications for the safe conduct of anaesthesia? How can you find out in a timely manner what the specific anaesthetic issues are and what anaesthetics have been used safely by others in these patients before? Hi everyone, This week I am joined by Siv and Sarah to discuss this tricky situation and to give a free plug for the website orphananesthesia.eu a site started by the German society of anaesthesiology and now contributed to by anaesthesia providers from all over the world to help with these difficult patients. Correction: In the podcast we referred to Stoelting's textbook - this text is actually titled "Anesthesia and co-existing disease" - but not dedicated specifically to rare or uncommon disorders. A more relevant text would have been Fleischer et al "Anaesthesia and uncommon diseases". References ht

Arterial lines - let's face it who doesn't love them? When you have a truly sick patient these humble and often underrated devices bring so much to the table, precise control of the haemodynamics, assessment of gas exchange, blood sampling to assess coagulation, anaemia and many other parameters. There is nothing more frustrating however when these lines don't go in easily, malfunction or stop working altogether..... Hi everyone, This week I sit down with Graeme and Siv to dissect & discuss a great review article. The authors do a great job performing a deep dive into almost every imaginable aspect of their use, including insertion techniques, ultrasound, angle of insertion, length, size, site, construction, securement, and more. Join us and no matter what your level of experience I am sure you will learn something new - I know I certainly did! References Preventing radial arterial catheter failure in critical care - Factoring updated clinical strategies and techniques. Anaesth Crit Care Pain Med