Anaesthesia News

First transcontinental anaesthesia

Dr Thomas Hemmerling and his team achieved a world first when they treated patients undergoing thyroid gland surgery in Italy remotely from Montreal, Canada.

Anaesthetics add to global warming

Inhaled anaesthetics used to put patients to sleep during surgery contribute to global climate change, according to a new study.

Anesthesia and learning ability

Brain stem cell loss is the reason why repeated anesthesia causes memory and learning problems in children, Swedish researchers suggest.

Slow-release anaesthetic created

A new, slow-release injectable nerve block could be a long-lasting local anaesthetic for the treatment of pain during and after surgery, US researchers say.

Clues to waking in surgery

Light anaesthesia and a history of awareness are major risk factors for "waking up" while under general anaesthesia, researchers report.

Epidurals safer than thought

Major complications with epidural and spinal anaesthesia are very uncommon, according to UK researchers.

Anti-anaesthesia drug effective

An experimental drug worked many times faster than a standard treatment in helping surgery patients recover from anaesthesia, according to a just-published study.

Anaesthesia boosts post-op pain

Most general anaesthetics used to put patients to sleep during surgery can increase the discomfort patients feel when they wake up, according to researchers.

Russia runs out of anaesthetics

Going under the knife in Russia's underfunded hospitals became more stressful this week as doctors warned the country was running out of anaesthetics.

Robot anaesthetist developed

A prototype robot that can induce a general anaesthetic for operations has been developed and tested on some 200 patients, the project team leader has announced.