Administration of propofol by registered nurses under the supervision of endoscopists was safe, and resulted in high rates of patient satisfaction.

Using a strict protocol designed to protect the patient's airway and cardiovascular function, nurse-administered propofol sedation during emergency upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is safe and appropriate in cases of acute gastrointestinal bleeding.

A simple scoring system that enables surgeons to make an estimation of the likelihood of postoperative urinary retention (POUR) in patients undergoing lower limb total joint replacement would be a useful one. This would enable selection of high risk patients who merit pre-operative catheterisation in a clean theatre environment rather than risking urinary retention and its associated complications late at night on the ward by junior, inexperienced staff.The International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) is such a scoring system and we assessed its reliability in predicting those male patients likely to go into POUR. We selected all male patients undergoing lower limb total joint arthroplasty under spinal anaesthesia and calculated their IPSS. We found a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of POUR as IPSS rises (p=0.0002). We concluded that the IPSS is a quick and easy method of predicting those at risk of POUR, allowing them to be catheterised prophylactically, preventing possible complications.

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