The provision of anaesthesia requires a high level of knowledge, sound judgement, fast and accurate responses to clinical situations, and the capacity for extended periods of vigilance. With changing expectations and arising medico-legal issues, anaesthesiologists are working round the clock to provide efficient and timely health care services, but little is thought whether the "sleep provider" is having adequate sleep. Decreased performance of motor and cognitive functions in a fatigued anaesthesiologist may result in impaired judgement, late and inadequate responses to clinical changes, poor communication and inadequate record keeping, all of which affect the patient safety, showing without doubt the association of sleep debt to the adverse events and critical incidents. Perhaps it is time that these issues be promptly addressed to prevent the silent perpetuation of a problem that is pertinent to our health and our profession. We endeavour to focus on the evidence that links patient safety to fatigue and sleepiness of health care workers and specifically on anaesthesiologists. The implications of sleep debt are deep on patient safety and strategies to prevent this are the need of the hour.

A Robotic device is a powered, computer controlled manipulator with artificial sensing that can be reprogrammed to move and position tools to carry out a wide range of tasks. Robots and Telemanipulators were first developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for use in space exploration. Today's medical robotic systems were the brainchild of the United States Department of Defence's desire to decrease war casualties with the development of 'telerobotic surgery'. The 'master-slave' telemanipulator concept was developed for medical use in the early 1990s where the surgeon's (master) manual movements were transmitted to end-effector (slave) instruments at a remote site. Since then, the field of surgical robotics has undergone massive transformation and the future is even brighter. As expected, any new technique brings with it risks and the possibility of technical difficulties. The person who bears the brunt of complications or benefit from a new invention is the 'Patient'. Anaesthesiologists as always must do their part to be the patient's 'best man' in the perioperative period. We should be prepared for screening and selection of patients in a different perspective keeping in mind the steep learning curves of surgeons, long surgical hours, extreme patient positioning and other previously unknown anaesthetic challenges brought about by the surgical robot. In this article we have tried to track the development of surgical robots and consider the unique anaesthetic issues related to robot assisted surgeries.

Clonidine has anti-hypertensive properties and augments the effects of anaesthesia, hence we considered it to be an ideal agent to contain the stress response to pneumoperitoneum. We studied the clinical efficacy of oral clonidine premedication in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Fifty patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anaesthesia were randomly allocated to receive premedication with either oral clonidine 150 μg (Group I, n = 25) or placebo (Group II, n = 25) 90 minutes prior to induction. The patients were managed with a standard general anaesthetic. The two groups were compared with respect to haemodynamic parameters, isoflurane concentration, pain and sedation scores, time to request of analgesic and cumulative analgesic requirements. Oral clonidine was found to be significantly better in terms of maintaining stable haemodynamics, having an isoflurane sparing effect and having a prolonged time interval to the first request of analgesia postoperatively compared to the control group. Administration of oral clonidine 150 μg as a pre-medicant in patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy results in improved perioperative haemodynamic stability and a reduction in the intra-operative anaesthetic and post-operative analgesic requirements.

This study was undertaken to study efficacy of single dose of intravenous magnesium sulphate to reduce post-operative pain in patients undergoing inguinal surgery. One hundred patients undergoing inguinal surgery were divided randomly in two groups of 50 each. The patients of magnesium sulphate group (Group-I) received magnesium sulphate 50 mg/kg in 250 ml of isotonic sodium chloride solution IV whereas patients in control group (Group-II) received same volume of isotonic sodium chloride over 30 minutes preoperatively. Anaesthesia was induced with propofol (2 mg/kg) and pethidine (1 mg/kg). Atracurium besylate (0.5 mg/kg) was given to facilitate insertion of LMA. Pain at emergence from anaesthesia and 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hours after surgery was evaluated. The timing and dosage of rescue analgesic during first 24 hrs after operation was noted. Pain in postop period was significantly lower in magnesium sulphate group in comparison to control group at emergence from anaesthesia and 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 hrs postop [1.86 vs. 1.96 (P=0.138), 1.22 vs. 1.82 (P=0.001), 1.32 vs. 1.88 (P=0.000), 2.74 vs. 3.84 (P=0.000), 1.36 vs. 2.00 (P=0.000) and 0.78 vs 1.30 (P=0.000), respectively]. Patients in group-I were more sedated as compared to group-II [sedation score 1.86 vs. 1.40 (P=0.000)]. Rescue analgesia requirement postoperatively in first 4, 8 and 16 hrs was significantly lower in patients of group-1 than in group- II [1.9 vs. 3.8 (P<0.05), 25.50 vs. 52.50 (P<0.05) and 0.000 vs. 7.5 (P<0.05)]. Preoperative magnesium sulphate infusion decreases postop pain and requirement of rescue analgesia.

Both sevoflurane and desflurane have shorter emergence times compared to isoflurane based anaesthesia. Because of its pharmacological properties, desflurane appears to yield a rapid early and intermediate recovery compared with sevoflurane. The aim of this study was to assess the maintenance and emergence characteristics after anaesthesia with sevoflurane or desflurane. One hundred female patients scheduled to undergo daycare laparoscopic gynaecological surgery were enrolled for this prospective study. Patients were randomised into two groups to receive either desflurane [group I (D); n = 50] or sevoflurane [group II (S); n = 50] for maintenance of anaesthesia. The demographic data and the duration of procedure were comparable in both the groups. The early recovery time was shorter after maintenance of anaesthesia with desflurane compared with sevoflurane. However, this faster early recovery failed to lead to early readiness for home discharge. The intraoperative haemodynamic characteristics were comparable with both sevoflurane and desflurane. Both sevoflurane and desflurane provide a similar time to home readiness despite a faster early recovery with desflurane. The intraoperative haemodynamics are similar with both the agents.

The incidence of difficulty in tracheal intubation has been reported to range from 0.5 to 18% in patients undergoing surgery. We aimed to elucidate the role of upper lip bite test (ULBT) with other prevailing tests, hyomental/thyrosternal distances (HMD/TSD), and the mandible length (ML) and their possible correlation in predicting difficulty in intubation. After institutional approval and informed consent were obtained, 300 consecutive patients aged 20-60 years of ASA physical status I and II, scheduled for elective surgical procedures requiring tracheal intubation and meeting the inclusion criteria, were enrolled in this study. Each patient was evaluated regarding ULBT, HMD, TSD and ML. Laryngoscopy was assessed by an attending anaesthesiologist blinded to the measurements. The laryngoscopic result was graded according to Cormack and Lehane's Grading system. The negative predictive value (NPV) and positive predictive value (PPV) of ULBT were found to be 94 and 100%, respectively. These corresponding figures for TSD were 88.5 and 0%, respectively. Specificities for ULBT, HMD, ML and TSD were 100, 98.9, 98.9 and 98.1%, respectively. ULBT class and laryngoscopic grading showed the greatest agreement (kappa = 0.61, P < 0.001). An agreement between laryngoscopic grading and HMD and ML also existed (0.003 and <0.001, respectively), but was comparatively weaker. The high specificity, NPV, PPV and accuracy of ULBT as revealed in this study could be a good rationale for its application in the prediction of difficulty or easiness in intubation. ML > 9 cm and HMD > 3.5 cm were good predictors of negative difficult intubation.

H1N1 subtype of influenza A virus has clinical presentation ranging from mild flu like illness to severe lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The aim of our study was to compare the demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, and mortality of critically ill patients with (H1N1+) and without H1N1 infection (H1N1-). We retrospectively analyzed medical charts of patients admitted in "Swine Flu ICU" with ARDS from August 2009 to May 2010. Real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay was used for detection of H1N1 virus in the respiratory specimens. Clinical data from 106 (H1N1 , 45; H1N1+, 61) patients was collected and compared. Mean delay in presentation to our hospital was 5.7 ± 3.1 days and co-morbidities were present in two-fifth of the total admissions. Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score of patients with and without H1N1 infection was comparable; 7.8 ± 3.5 and 6.6 ± 3.1 on day 1 and 7.2 ± 4.5 and 6.5 ± 3.1 on day 3, respectively. H1N1+ patients were relatively younger in age (34.2 ± 12.9 years vs. 42.8 ± 18.1, P = 0.005) but presented with significantly lower PaO ₂ :FiO ₂ ratio (87.3 ± 48.7 vs. 114 ± 51.7) in comparison to those who subsequently tested as H1N1 . The total leucocyte counts were significantly lower in H1N1+ patients during the first four days of illness but incidence of renal failure (P = 0.02) was higher in H1N1+ patients. The mortality in both the groups was high (H1N1+, 77%; H1N1, 68%) but comparable. There was a mean delay of 5.7 ± 3.1 days in initiation of antivirals. Patients with H1N1 infection were relatively younger in age and with a significantly higher incidence of refractory hypoxia and acute renal failure. Mortality from ARDS reported in our study in both the groups was high but comparable.

Stellate ganglion block (SGB) is very effective in management of chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS-1). However, serious complication may occur due to accidental intravascular (intra-arterial) injection of local anaesthetic agents. Abdi and others, has suggested a modified technique in which fluoroscopy-guided block is given at the junction of uncinate process and body of vertebra at C7 level. In this approach vascular structures remain away from the trajectory of needle and thus avoid accidental vascular injection. We have used this technique of SGB in nine patients who were treated for CRPS-I. The blocks were effective in all the patients all the time without any vascular or other serious complication.

Patients with coexisting peripheral vascular disease and coronary artery disease constitute a high risk surgical group. Perioperative management of such patients is an anaesthetic challenge. A 57-year-old male presented with critical limb ischaemia and impending gangrene of the right lower limb. Associated coronary artery disease with triple vessel involvement was diagnosed on coronary angiography. This patient underwent an aorto-femoral bypass. The postoperative course was complicated by the development of mesenteric ischaemia requiring emergency laparotomy and bowel resection.

Myotonic dystrophy (MD) is a rare genetic disorder with multisystem involvement characterised by myotonia and progressive muscle weakness and wasting. These patients pose significant challenges to the anaesthesiologist in view of the muscular and extramuscular involvement and sensitivity to anaesthetic drugs. The literature is replete with reports of postanaesthetic respiratory and cardiovascular complications in these patients. But an ideal anaesthetic technique in MD patients remains to be determined. Rapid recovery is desirable to reduce postoperative respiratory complications. Though there are a few case reports of maintenance of anaesthesia with isoflurane and sevoflurane, there are scanty reports of use of desflurane in these patients. We present successful management of a patient with MD for laparoscopic cholecystectomy using a carefully titrated desflurane-based anaesthesia and discuss the perioperative considerations.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a rare autoimmune demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system clinically manifesting as periodic attacks of varied neurologic symptoms, eventually progressing to fixed neurologic deficits and disability. The treatment is symptomatic and directed towards prevention of future progression of the disease involving multiple agents. We present here a case report of a patient with MS who underwent an orthopaedic procedure under general anaesthesia (G.A.) uneventfully. Anaesthetic implications include assessment of neurological deficits with documentation pre- and postoperatively, awareness towards side-effects, potential drug interactions of medications, selection of suitable techniques/anaesthetic agents, neuromuscular monitoring-guided titration of non-depolarizing blocking agents with lowest necessary dose and avoidance of hyperthermia along with temperature, haemodynamic and respiratory monitoring. Lower concentrations of local anaesthetic (LA) should be used for regional blocks keeping in mind the susceptibility of demyelinated neurons, towards LA neurotoxicity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of anaesthetic management of MS in India.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G-6-PD) deficiency is an X-linked recessive enzymopathy responsible for acute haemolysis following exposure to oxidative stress. Drugs which induce haemolysis in these patients are often used in anaesthesia and perioperative pain management. Neurosurgery and few drugs routinely used during these procedures are known to cause stress situations. Associated infection and certain foodstuffs are also responsible for oxidative stress. Here, we present two patients with G-6-PD deficiency who underwent uneventful neurosurgical procedures. The anaesthetic management in such patients should focus on avoiding the drugs implicated in haemolysis, reducing the surgical stress with adequate analgesia, and monitoring for and treating the haemolysis, should it occur.

Epidural anaesthesia (EA) is an extensively used procedure for many surgeries. Increase incidence of bleeding in the epidural space [epidural haematoma (EH)] is reportedly more common in patients with altered coagulation and patients on anticoagulation treatment. EH secondary to spinal while intending EA for caesarean section (C-section) in a healthy individual leading to transient or persistent neurological problems is very rare. We report a case of EH after spinal while intending EA for C-section in a healthy young female along with 5-yrs follow-up after conservative treatment.

Solutions containing adrenaline are widely used for presurgical infiltration. Haemodynamic changes associated with its use are well documented in the literature. Prolonged intraoperative hypotension after subcutaneous infiltration of diluted adrenaline is an uncommon scenario. We believe that our case of the prolonged episode of hypotension was secondary to infiltration of nasal septum with a high concentration of adrenaline. As β2 receptor activation leads to skeletal muscle vasodilation, a decrease in preload may have lead to profound hypotension. Postoperatively, the patient was examined and any autonomic or endocrinological pathology was ruled out.