Patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is one of the most common techniques used in the control of acute pain, especially in the postoperative setting. This session concentrates on intravenous PCA.
This session will describe the importance of postoperative analgesia, with emphasis on multimodal analgesia, together with some commonly encountered techniques. The analgesic ladder will be described.
This session will consider control of a normal sodium balance and how this may be disturbed, the potential effects of disturbed balance on the patient and the implications of disturbed balance when it is preoperatively identified.
This session will consider the control of serum potassium and how this may be disturbed, potential effects on the patient and implications when this is preoperatively identified.
In this session, the indications for coagulation tests are discussed. This will include the common abnormalities of coagulation and the ways they can be corrected. The commonly-used anticoagulants, including their mode of action and their side-effects, ar
This is the first of two sessions dealing with preoperative blood tests. It considers the indications for a full blood count and describes the causes, clinical features and treatments of common abnormalities.
This session gives a basic introduction to cross-sectional imaging, an overview of the technology involved in generating computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies.
This session aims to introduce the fundamentals of abdominal radiographs. This includes the techniques of image acquisition, basic anatomy as seen on an abdominal radiograph and subsequent interpretation of the pathological findings.
This session will discuss the importance of evaluation and interpretation of radiographs of the skull, spine, thoracic inlet and long bones. It will also review common pathologies, particularly pertaining to trauma and provide general guidance about the n
