Background: Securing airway and adequate ventilation after induction of anesthesia is the utmost priority of anesthesiologists, failure of that can lead to hypoxic brain injury and death in a few minutes. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to ascertain the role of ultrasonography in predicting difficult intubation by comparing different ultrasonographic parameters. Materials and Methods: One hundred patients posted for elective surgery under general anesthesia were studied. The study was carried out in two phases. The first phase – during the pre-anesthetic checkup, ultrasonographic measurements of Anterior neck soft-tissue thickness at the level of hyoid (ANS-Hyoid), anterior neck soft tissue thickness at the level of vocal cords (ANS-VC), pre-epiglottic space (Pre-E), distance from the epiglottis to the mid-point of the distance between the vocal cords (EVL), and the ratio of both (PES/EVL) was also done. In the second phase, Cormack–Lehane (CL) grade was noted during intubation. A Chi-square test was applied to correlate ultrasonographic parameters and CL grade. Sensitivity, specificity, an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value were calculated for various parameters. Results: In this study among the studied parameter, only ANS–VC was statistically significant in predicting difficult intubation (P<0.0001). ANS-VC >0.32 cm was 93.3% sensitive and 84.7% specific and had Area under the ROC curve of 85% in predicting CL grade 3 and 4 (difficult intubation). Conclusion: USG is a useful tool in predicting difficult intubation. ANS-VC >0.32 cm is a highly sensitive and specific predictor of difficult intubation, while other USG parameters are not indicative of difficult intubation.

Background: Birth asphyxia is a lack of blood flow or gas exchange to or from the fetus in the period immediately before, during, or after the birth process. Birth asphyxia can result in profound systemic and neurologic sequelae due to decreased blood flow and/or oxygen to the developing fetus or infant. Birth asphyxia is one of the most common causes of neonatal mortality and morbidity globally. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to assess the importance of cranial Doppler as investigation tool for the early prognostic marker of babies with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in short term. Materials and Methods: This prospective study was carried out in a tertiary care teaching hospital. The present study includes 50 newborns, out of which 30 newborns admitted with birth asphyxia were considered as a case, while 20 healthy term newborns were taken as control. Transcranial Doppler of middle cerebral artery (MCA) was done on day 1 of life. They were followed up at discharge for neuromotor outcome by Hammersmith Neonatal neurological examination (HNNE). The outcome was correlated with, Doppler findings of MCA. P<0.05 was taken significant. Results: Abnormality detected by transcranial Doppler within 24 h of life in neonates with birth asphyxia was significantly associated with poor neuromotor outcome when compared to healthy term neonates. HNNE score in HIE babies was lesser than healthy term neonates on discharge. Conclusion: Cranial Doppler within 24 h of birth in term HIE babies has very high sensitivity in predicting short-term outcome in babies with HIE, such as Low HNNE score.

Background: There have been numerous studies about the health implication of COVID-19 on patients, but little attention has been paid to the impacts of the pandemic on physicians. Our paper attends to this gap by exploring the mental health of physicians in Madhya Pradesh, India during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: This study examined medical professionals' mental health outcomes by evaluating the prevalence and associated potential risk factors of anxiety and depression. Using a web-based cross-sectional survey, we collected data from 100 Medical professionals. Seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale and Nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) were used to measure the anxiety and depression, respectively. Result: 36 %  males and 34 % females had anxiety. 26 % males and 29 % females had depression and 38 % males and 37 % females none. Findings revealed that marital status, work per day and current job location were the main risk factors for anxiety while sex, age, and marital status were the main risk factors for depression. Conclusion: Our results highlight the need to implement policies and strategies for positively impacting the mental health of physicians during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The personal protective equipment (PPE) undoubtedly provides a shield of protection for the healthcare workers (HCWs) fighting the disease as a valuable asset to the nation. However, there have been various problems associated with the PPE, ranging from its shortage to problems arising from heat, dehydration, etc while wearing them. There is a need to assess these problems faced by HCWs both qualitatively and quantitatively for their timely and effective redressal. An electronic questionnaire survey was conducted among a cohort of HCWs who had performed COVID-19 duties and used PPE kits in Madhya Pradesh. The cohort consisted of different categories of doctors, nursing personnel, and other paramedical staff. Results; The most common problems associated with using PPE kits was excessive sweating (100%), fogging of goggles, spectacles, or face shields (79 %), suffocation (61%), breathlessness (49 %), fatigue (82 %), headache due to prolonged use (34 %), and pressure marks on the skin at one or more areas on repeated use (56 %). Occasional problems reported were skin allergy/dermatitis caused by the synthetic material of the PPE kit, face shield impinging onto the neck during intubation, and nasal pain, pain at the root of the pinna, and slipperiness of shoe covers.