No abstract

SummaryThis study aimed to examine the attitudes of intensivists and haematologists to the use of blood and blood products using a scenario-based postal questionnaire. One hundred and sixty-two intensivists and 77 haematologists responded to the survey. In four scenarios, the baseline haemoglobin thresholds for red cell transfusion ranged from 6 to 12 g.dl )1. There was significant variation between scenarios (p < 0.005). Increasing age, high Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Status II score, surgery, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock and lactic acidosis significantly (p < 0.005) modified the transfusion threshold. There were greater variations in the baseline threshold for platelet transfusion. The majority of respondents (72.3%) selected a baseline haemoglobin threshold between 9 and 10 g.dl )1 . The thresholds for platelet transfusion were far less consistent.

There is a wide range of practice amongst obstetric anaesthetists when obtaining consent for women requesting labour epidural analgesia. This is the first prospective observational study recording the number and types of risks mentioned and whether the risk was quantified. Statements of benefits and alternatives to the procedure were also noted. Fourteen anaesthetists, each consulting a single patient, were recorded during the process of obtaining consent and inserting the epidural. The most commonly mentioned risks (median 7) were headache/dural puncture, failure/difficulty with insertion, nerve damage, bleeding/haematoma and infection/epidural abscess. There was no difference between consultants and trainees, although consultants showed greater variance. It was uncommon for anaesthetists to state a benefit (21%) or mention an alternative option (21%), but there was usually a quantitative statement of risk (71%). Data showed a deviation from the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists guidelines and these findings may encourage anaesthetists to reflect on their own practice and guide future research.

Evidence suggests that anaesthetists' communication can affect patient experience. There is a lack of guidance for anaesthetists as to the optimal verbal communication to use during insertion of epidurals on the labour ward. We recorded the verbal communication used by 14 anaesthetists during the siting of epidural catheters in women on the labour ward; a classification of the language used was subsequently devised. We found that commands and information statements were the most common types of communication used. Individual anaesthetists differed markedly in their use of positive and negative verbal language. This classification of verbal communication that we produced may be of value in future training and research of verbal communication used by anaesthetists on the labour ward.