Survey to make anaesthetics safer

Survey to make anaesthetics safer

Please send your ideas to the survey organised by the Royal College of Anaesthetists with James Lind organisation. This is urgent as survey ends this month July 2014.

Urgent to submit your thoughts towards making anaesthetics safer

Please complete this survey http://www.niaa.org.uk/PSP_Survey#pt

We have many reports of psychiatric adverse effects and some suicides following surgery.

The problems may be linked to use of antibiotics such as co-amoxiclav, as reported in the British Medical Journal November 2008.

A recent study found early postoperative delirium was found to be a very common complication after major surgery, even in a population without known risk factors. Thiopentone was independently associated with an increase in its relative risk. 

J Anesth. 2014 Apr;;28(2):198-201. doi: 10.1007/s00540-013-1706-5. Epub 2013 Sep 26.

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Incidence of postoperative delirium is high even in a population without known risk factors.
Saporito A1, Sturini E. 

RESULTS: According to the confusion assessment method for the ICU scale, 28 % of patients were diagnosed with early postoperative delirium. The use of thiopentone was significantly associated with an eight-fold-higher risk for delirium compared to propofol (57.1 % vs. 7.1 %, RR = 8.0, χ (2) = 4.256;; df = 1;; 0.05 < p < 0.02).
CONCLUSION: In this study early postoperative delirium was found to be a very common complication after major surgery, even in a population without known risk factors. Thiopentone was independently associated with an increase in its relative risk. 

Listen to the Voices of the Victims

Victims of adverse drug reactions;
coming out of denial as a society, in the name of better care

In 2014, in Europe, victims of serious adverse drug reactions are still having huge difficulties in being recognised as such. It is time to point out the inacceptable nature of this situation, and to take action.
A conference-debate on this theme was held at Prescrire's annual "Pilule d'Or" ("Golden Pill") awards ceremony, which took place in Paris on 30 January 2014.

Millie Kieve, the founder of the UK charity April (Adverse Psychiatric Reactions Information Link) offered a chance to listen to victims' voices, especially via personal stories.

Sophie Le Pallec, president of  Amalyste, a French group that offers advice and assistance to victims of Lyell and Stevens-Johnson syndromes (extremely severe adverse drug reactions), explained how in practice it is nearly impossible for victims of adverse drug reactions to be recognised as such, most notably because of  poorly adapted legislation. Bruno Toussaint, the Publishing Director of Independent French medical journal Prescrire, underscored the importance of listening to victims, in the name of better care: "many tragedies can be prevented by a better choice of treatments.(...) Everyone gains by listening to the victims of adverse drug reactions. Everyone gains by getting to know them, by recognising them, by listening to them. Their experiences, their personal stories and those of their entourage are a rich source of  movement towards better care, towards a better choice of treatments, towards better information and better education, towards better regulation of the pharmaceuticals market, for better management of health insurance resources, and also for a profound re-thinking of how victims of adverse drug reactions should be taken care of, including from a legal point of view (...)". > Click here for the texts of the presentations from the Conference-debate (in French) English text version now on Préscrire web site: http://english.prescrire.org/en/81/168/49181/0/NewsDetails.aspx ©Prescrire 1 February 2014