Deep Breaths

We're back! Well, sort of. Listen in to hear what we've been up to while on hiatus, and what our future plans are for the podcast. In the meantime, enjoy this bonus episode. This is a panel discussion covering 'difficult discussions' from the PA Anaesthesia conference in 2025, and we know you'll enjoy it. Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Today, we look back on one of our most-loved episodes by our listeners. We are joined by special guest Dr Shaun Roberts to discuss in-depth cases of patients with tricky cardiac conditions who require non-cardiac surgery.Resources for today's episode:ANZCA Blue Book 2021ESC Guidelines on cardiovascular assessment and management of patients undergoing non cardiac surgery2014 ACC/AHA guideline on Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation and Management of Patients Undergoing Non-cardiac Surgery  Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Today, we go back to take a close look at one of ANZCA's latest professional documents - PG67: Guideline for the care of patients at the end-of-life who are considered for surgery or interventional procedures 2022.Resources for this episode:PG67: Guideline for the care of patients at the end-of-life who are considered for surgery or interventional procedures 2022PG67 BP: Guideline for the care of patients at the end-of-life who are considered for surgery or interventional procedures Background Paper 2022Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Today, we look back at a fantastic and insightful discussion about upper limb regional anaesthesia with special guest, Dr Michael Kerr. If you liked this episode, you can find the second part of this episode in season 5, episode 12. In this episode, part 1, we focus on the interscalene block. Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you!And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.Thanks for listening, and happy studying! Resources for today's episode:Anatomy of the brachial plexus and its implications for daily clinical practice: regional anesthesia is applied anatomy by G.C. Feigl et. al. Video: The Infraclavicular Block - Essentials of Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia by Ki-Jinn ChinThe Second ASRA Practice Advisory on Neurologic Complications Associated With Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine: Executive Summary 2015 by J.M. Neal et. al.Axillary block videos:The in-depth video: Ultrasound Guided Axillary Block NYSORA Regional Anesthesia by NYSORA - Education The short-and-sweet video: Ultrasound Guided Axillary Brachial Plexus Block NYSORA Regional Anesthesia by NYSORA - EducationThe simple and fantastic video: US-guided Axillary Brachial Plexus Block - the Simple Guide by Ki-Jinn ChinFeel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Today, we revisit a topic that was recommended to us by Dr David Tragen of the Sunshine Coast University Hospital - the perioperative management of the direct oral anticoagulant medications or DOACs. We start with some basic revision of the mechanism of action of the DOACs and their indications before diving more closely into the recommendations for stopping and starting these medications around the time of surgery, and the implications for our anaesthetic. Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you!And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.Thanks for listening, and happy studying!Resources for today's episode:2021 ANZCA Blue Book: Direct Acting Oral Anticoagulants - pharmacology and perioperative considerations by Dr Kate Drummond (p147)TGA WebsiteRE-ALIGN TrialGALILEO TrialBMJ: Coagulation assessment with the new generation of oral anticoagulants by  Charles Pollack JrJournal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis: Laboratory testing in patients treated with direct oral anticoagulants: a practical guide for clinicians by J. Douxfils et al. PAUSE TrialRegional Anesthesia and Acute Pain: Regional anaesthesia in the patient receiving antithrombotic or thrombolytic therapy, 5th edition (ASRA 2025 Guidelines)RE-VERSE-AD TrialFeel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Deep Breaths will return this year with a slightly different twist. We're taking a little break, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about our wonderful listeners! We'll be recording the occasional new episode with guest interviewees that we're excited to be chatting with. We're also going to be re-releasing some of our best episodes.Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

In today's episode, we revisit challenges in the diagnosis and management of oesophageal intubation and anaesthetic crises in general. Recognising an oesophageal intubation may seem simple, but by looking at coroner's cases both here in Australia and in the UK, as well as cases in the NAP4, it can be far more complex. Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you!And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.Thanks for listening, and happy studying!Resources for today's episode include:NSW Coroner's Court websiteWhy does oesophageal intubation still go unrecognised? Lessons for prevention from the coroner’s courtNational Audit Project 4ANZCA Professional DocumentsRed Man Syndrome Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

So get ready for something a little different... this week's episode was recorded live from the ANZCA Annual Scientific Meeting 2024, in our home city of Brisbane, Australia. We interviewed some fascinating guests, covering topics as diverse as the role of the college moving forward, how we can be more sustainable in anaesthesia, and the future of podcasting; and we had plenty of fun along the way. Enjoy this interactive and entertaining discussion with Dr Chris Cokis, Professor David Story, Professor Kate Leslie, Dr Andrew Cumpstey, Professor Eugenie Kayak, and Dr Lahiru Amaratunge. Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Today's episode is the second of our two part series on ruptured AAA repairs. We discuss the case of a 72 year old man with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm that is contained, and who is scheduled for an urgent endovascular repair within the interventional radiology suite with special guest, Dr Lahiru Amaratunge.Apologies for the audio quality in this episode - even though it sounds like we recorded on a submarine, we can assure you we were sitting in our study the entire time. Resources for today's episode:BJAED: Anaesthesia for endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysmsby K. Berry et al.LITFL: AAA by C. NicksonLancet: Endovascular versus open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm in 15-years' follow-up of the UK endovascular aneurysm repair trial 1 (EVAR trial 1): a randomised controlled trial by Patel, R. et al.Annals of Surgery: Endovascular Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Patients Physically Ineligible for Open Repair: Very Long-term Follow-up in the EVAR-2 Randomized Controlled Trial by Sweeting, M. et al.Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!

Today - in part 1 of our 2 part series - we talk through the case of an 82 year old man with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm who is scheduled for urgent open repair with special guest, Dr Lahiru Amaratunge.Resources for today's episode:BJAED: Anaesthesia for endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms by K. Berry et al.LITFL: AAA by C. NicksonLancet: Endovascular versus open repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm in 15-years' follow-up of the UK endovascular aneurysm repair trial 1 (EVAR trial 1): a randomised controlled trial by Patel, R. et al.Annals of Surgery: Endovascular Repair of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Patients Physically Ineligible for Open Repair: Very Long-term Follow-up in the EVAR-2 Randomized Controlled Trial by Sweeting, M. et al.Feel free to email us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or suggestions. We love hearing from you! And don't forget to claim CPD for listening if you are a consultant or fellow. Log us as a learning session which you can find within the knowledge and skills division, and as evidence upload a screenshot of the podcast episode.  Thanks for listening, and happy studying!