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Tragus pressure-guided removal of airway devices for safe emergence from sedation: A randomised controlled trial

Dear Editor, Emergence from anaesthesia and deep sedation is the transition from unconsciousness to the return of awareness and airway reflexes. The chief patterns of...

Response to letters arising from publication of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore clinical guideline on the use of sedation by non-anaesthesiologists during gastrointestinal endoscopy in the hospital setting

Dear Editor, The Academy of Medicine, Singapore (AMS) guideline on the use of sedation by non-anaesthesiologists during gastrointestinal endoscopy in the hospital setting and an...

Sedation in gastrointestinal endoscopy in Singapore

Dear Editor, I refer to the editorial “Ensuring safe sedation during gastroendoscopy”1 and the original article “Academy of Medicine, Singapore clinical guideline on the use...

Non-anaesthesiologists administering propofol in the Singapore context

Dear Editor, Propofol is a potent intravenous sedative-hypnotic agent. Its popularity for sedation has increased in the last 3 decades because of its smooth, rapid...

Sedation by non-anaesthesiologists in gastrointestinal endoscopy

Dear Editor, We read with interest the paper by Ang et al.1 on Singapore guidelines in the use of sedation by non-anaesthesiologists during gastrointestinal endoscopy...

Pericardial Injury Following Severe Sepsis from Faecal Peritonitis—A Case Report on the Use of Continuous Cardiac Output Monitoring

The intermittent manual bolus thermodilution method is the most common means of determining cardiac output in critically ill patients. Although widely used, there are...

An Overview of Anaesthetic Issues in Phaeochromocytoma

New developments in technology, monitoring and pharmacology over the last decade have improved our understanding of phaeochromocytoma and its management. This review summarises the...

Is it Feasible to Use Magnesium Sulphate as a Hypotensive Agent in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery?

Although deliberate hypotension during surgery may potentially cause organ ischaemia, in particular of the myocardium and cerebrum, it is widely used as an adjuvant...

Postanaesthetic Shivering—A Comparison of Thiopentone and Propofol

The incidence of shivering following general anaesthesia varies from 5% to 65%. Postanaesthetic shivering may increase tissue oxygen demand by as much as 500%...

Radiotherapy as Local Adjuvant Treatment for Endometrial Carcinoma—A Review of 45 Patients

Radiotherapy as an adjunct to surgery has long been used in the management of endometrial carcinoma with the intent to improve local tumour control...

A Review of Patients with High-risk Carcinoma of the Cervix Treated with Combined Surgery and Postoperative Radiotherapy

It is generally accepted that early stage invasive carcinoma of the cervix, stage I to stage IIA disease, can be treated with equal effectiveness...

Sudden Profound Hypoxaemia in the Intensive Care Unit—A Case Report

Significant arterial hypoxaemia is defined as a partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) that is less than 60 mmHg or a percentage of oxyhaemoglobin (%...

Bronchoscopy in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)

Flexible fibreoptic bronchoscopy (FFB) has become an indispensable tool in the optimal management of intensive care unit (ICU) patients with both diagnostic and therapeutic...

Management Training in Critical Care Medicine

Critical care medicine as a specialty has grown rapidly, both clinically and academically, over the past 25 years. In the USA, certification of competence...

Combined High-frequency Ventilation (CHFV) in the Treatment of Acute Lung Injury—A Case Report

The role of ventilatory support in acute lung injury is supportive, whilst the damage to alveolar-capillary membranes resolves and alveolar stability is restored. The...

Critical Care Medicine in the Western Pacific Region

The Western Pacific region includes a very diverse group of countries varying in their culture, economic development and per capita income, disease prevalence and...

Critical Care—The Worldwide Perspective

Although special areas for postoperative patients existed 50 years ago, the modern specialty of Critical Care began during the polio epidemic of the 1950s....

Caudal Morphine in Paediatric Patients: A Comparison of Two Different Doses in Children after Major Urogenital Surgery

The use of caudal preservative-free morphine for postoperative analgesia in children has gained popularity since it was first described by Jensen. Several studies have...

Use of Central Venous Lines in Paediatrics—A Local Experience

Peripheral access by venous cut down, once popular in the 1950s and 1960s, has almost become obsolete with the introduction of the Seldinger technique...

Predictors of Long-term Outcome in Severe Head Injury

Injuries form the fifth commonest cause of death locally. They accounted for 27 out of 100 000 deaths in 1993. This article is available only...

Audit of 2431 Admissions to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit, Singapore General Hospital

The Singapore General Hospital is a 1700-bedded tertiary hospital with subspecialty intensive care units (ICUs), i.e. Surgical ICU, Cardiothoracic ICU, Neurosurgical ICU, Medical ICU,...

Intensivists for the Intensive Care Unit—Do They Make a Difference?

Does Critical Care Medicine exist and what defines its area of practice? Different countries have embarked on their own journeys of discovery, and have...

Epidural Analgesia in Obstetrics

Most obstetric anaesthetists have their favourite epidural concoction for use in labour, This paper surveys the variation in techniques of drug delivery and types...

Soft Tissue Cover in Compound and Complicated Tibial Fractures Using Microvascular Flaps

Compound tibial fractures are high-energy traumatic injuries, which are frequently associated with high incidence of complications like infection and failure of bony union leading...

An In vitro Evaluation of Epidural Catheters: Tensile Strength and Resistance to Kinking

In the current era of increasing economic and medicolegal pressures, it is imperative that equipment-related limitations and complications be reduced to a minimum. Epidural...

Excimer Laser Phototherapeutic Keratectomy for Recurrent Corneal Erosions

Recurrent cornea1 erosion (RCE) syndrome is a commonly encountered clinical condition which may be difficult to treat. Hansen first described it in 1872. This article...

Use of EMLA Cream or Alfentanil for Analgesia during Ophthalmic Nerve Blocks

Cataract surgery is performed mainly as day-case surgery, with the majority performed under regional anaesthesia. Retrobulbar block, combined with facial nerve block, provides good...

The Use of Magnesium Sulphate in the Intensive Care Management of an Asian Patient with Tetanus

A 29-year old Thai construction worker, previously well, was admitted to our Orthopaedic Department for sudden onset of lower back pain. Physical examination showed...

Re-expansion Pulmonary Oedema Following One-lung Ventilation —A Case Report

A 15-year-old female patient weighing 40 kg with asymptomatic but severe scoliosis was admitted for correction of a skeletal deformity via a thoracoscopic anterior...

Changing the Institutional Practice of Prolonged Mechanical Ventilation after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery to Early Extubation

In the past, cardiac patients in this institution were ventilated postoperatively for a prolonged period, frequently overnight. Since 1997 some of our cardiac anaesthetists...

Controversies in Anaesthesia—Designer Drugs

The discovery of new drugs in anaesthesia previously relied completely on chance. Chemical compounds produced by pharmaceutical companies were screened by a variety of...

Radial Nerve Injury after Intravenous Cannulation at the Wrist—A Case Report

A 44-year-old male, right-handed and ASA 1 bus driver presented for elective mastoidectomy under general anaesthesia. Preoperative venous cannulation with a 20G cannula (Angiocath™)...

Dissemination of Respiratory Secretions During Tracheal Tube Suctioning in an Intensive Care Unit

Tracheal tube suctioning is frequently performed in critically ill patients. This procedure often results in dissemination of droplets from the patient’s respiratory tract with...

Perioperative Wheezing—A Report of Three Cases

Perioperative “wheezing” can be due to upper or lower airway obstruction. The signs and sounds of upper airway obstruction are typically worse during inspiration,...

The Use of the Laryngeal Mask Airway in Post-Tonsillectomy Haemorrhage—A Case Report

A 53-year-old man with a history of hypertension and asymptomatic Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome was admitted to the hospital for an elective uvulopalatopharyngoplasty, tonsillectomy and bilateral...

A Case Report of the Use of Magnesium Sulphate during Anaesthesia in a Patient who had Adrenalectomy for Phaeochromocytoma

Phaeochromocytomas are catecholamine-secreting tumours of the chromaffin cells of the body derived from neural crest tissue. They may secrete both adrenaline and noradrenaline in...

Prophylactic Esmolol Infusion for the Control of Cardiovascular Responses to Extubation after Intracranial Surgery

Both intubation and extubation are processes associated with blood pressure and heart rate flux. While many studies have been carried out on the changes...

Transurethral Surgery and the Adductor Spasm

Bladder tumours frequently arise from the posterolateral wall of the bladder1 over the course of the obturator nerve. It is during transurethral resection of...

Subcutaneous Emphysema and Pneumomediastinum after Endotracheal Anaesthesia

Pneumomediastinum is a well-recognised clinical entity. It may present either intraoperatively or postoperatively from a number of possible causes. This article is available only as...

Total Intravenous Anaesthesia Using 3-in-1 Mixture of Propofol, Alfentanil and Mivacurium

Total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) implies achieving the 3 components of anaesthesia (hypnosis, analgesia and muscle relaxation) by the administration of anaesthetics via the intravenous...

The Predictive Value of Intraoperative ST-segment Monitoring as a Marker of Myocardial Injury

Patients with ischaemic heart disease have a high incidence of perioperative ischaemia resulting in an increased risk of cardiac events in the post-surgical period.1...

Fibre-optic Aided Bougie (FAB) for Simulated Difficult Tracheal Intubation

Difficult intubation remains a key problem1 and the value of a flexible introducer (gum elastic or wire) as a first approach is well recognised...

A Case Report on the Treatment of Intractable Anal Pain from Metastatic Carcinoma of the Cervix

Unremitting pain remained a primary therapeutic challenge in cancer patients. Both opioids and non-opioids are often the main stay of therapy for many. This article...

Intravenous Regional Anaesthesia Using Lignocaine and Tramadol

Intravenous regional anaesthesia (IVRA) has a reported success rate of between 94% and 98% for upper limb surgery. Limitations to its use include the...

Comparison of Allergic Contact Dermatitis Cases in the Private and Subsidised Clinics in the National Skin Centre, Singapore

Allergic contact dermatitis is a common clinical problem seen in our dermatology outpatient clinics, comprising 0.5% of patients seen in 1999. In addition to...

Catheter-related Infection: Diagnosis, Prevention and Treatment

Intravascular catheters are indispensable for patient care. Despite advances in catheter technology and patient care, catheter infection remains a significant clinical problem. This article is...

Book Review

This handbook serves an important function for Intensive Care Units in Singapore. It is a collective effort of 35 specialists in 5 different institutions...

Intra-abdominal Hypertension—Implications for the Intensive Care Physician

Although the detrimental effects of raised intra-abdominal pressure have been known for over 100 years, it is only in the last two decades that...

Anaemia in the Critically Ill—The Optimal Haematocrit

The function of haemoglobin (Hb) is to transport oxygen to the tissues. Approximately 97% of oxygen is transported via Hb, while 3% is transported...

Quality of Life in Long-Term Survivors of Intensive Care

Intensive care has undergone rapid technological advancement in recent years enabling complex treatment of patients of advanced age and/or with advanced chronic diseases underlying...

Limitation of Life Support in the Critically Ill: The Hong Kong Perspective

Technological advances over the last 30 years have had an enormous impact on the way in which medicine is delivered today. This is particularly...

Simulation-based Training at the University of Pittsburgh

In the domain of medical education of both the general public and healthcare professionals, the next decade will present both challenges and opportunities centred...

Retinol Palmitate Counteracts Oxidative Injury During Experimental Septic Shock

Gram-negative bacteria induced septic shock, a condition with high mortality, is frequently seen in critical care medicine. The wall of gram-negative bacteria consists of...

Pulse Dye Densitometry: A Novel Bedside Monitor of Circulating Blood Volume

The monitoring of circulating blood volume (CBV) is important in the care and management of critically ill patients. Progressive blood volume depletion, if unmonitored...

Case Report: Catheter-Related Epidural Abscess

Epidural abscess complicating epidural catheterisation was first reported in 1974. Two recent studies indicated a local infection incidence of epidural catheters of 4.3% to...

Early Unplanned Readmission of Elderly in Singapore: A Retrospective Study

The number of elderly people in Singapore is expected to increase over the next 2 decades. The proportion of those 60 years and above...

A Review of Cutaneous Granulomas and Lupus Vulgaris Following BCG Vaccination in a Skin Hospital in Singapore

BCG vaccines are live vaccines derived from a strain of Mycobacterium bovis that was attenuated by Calmette and Guerin at the Pasteur Institute in...

A Twelve-year Review of Radical Cystectomies in Singapore General Hospital

Bladder carcinoma is the tenth most common cancer affecting men in Singapore. It is more common in men with an age-standardised incidence rate of...

A Case of Pulmonary Haemorrhage Following Jet Ventilation for Vocal Cord Surgery

Laryngospasm occurring at extubation is not an uncommon complication seen with use of endotracheal tubes and laryngeal mask airway. We report a case of...

Subdural Block—From a Spinal? A Case Report

There have been multiple reports of accidental subdural blocks published in the last 20 years. Majority of these have been the result of an...

Audit of Total Parenteral Nutrition in an Adult Surgical Intensive Care

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) may contribute to good outcome in selected groups of patients. Parenteral nutrition is highly effective in reversing effects attributable to...

Clinical Update on Managing the Obstructed Airway

Maintaining a patent upper airway is the first principle in resuscitation and acute care. This is usually carried out by anaesthesiologists, emergency medicine physicians...

Anaesthetic Considerations for Lung Volume Reduction Surgery—A Case Report

Only until a few years ago, the only surgical alternative for patients with severe emphysema was lung transplantation. However, with transplantation, there are problems...

Remifentanil in the Management of Laparoscopic Resection of Phaeochromocytoma – Case Reports

The perioperative management of surgery for laparoscopic resection of phaeochromocytoma presents a significant challenge. Many different anaesthetic techniques and drugs have been used to...

A Prospective Audit of Critical Incidents in Anaesthesia in a University Teaching Hospital

Despite the highest standards of training, practice and equipment, morbidity and mortality due to anaesthesia still occur. These risks are difficult to quantify, and...

Hepatic Resection for Colorectal Metastases to the Liver: The National Cancer Centre/Singapore General Hospital Experience

Colorectal carcinoma is the fourth most common malignancy and the second leading cause of death worldwide. Although surgical resection in combination with adjuvant chemotherapy...

Adolescent Admissions to a Tertiary Paediatric Hospital: A Dynamic Pattern

The nature of paediatric practice is changing worldwide. In developing countries, infant mortality from infectious diseases continues to fall with improved immunisation, medical care...

Labour epidural practice in a tertiary training centre

Dear Editor, Labour analgesia provided through the central neuraxial approach is offered for parturients who are in their active stage of labour, usually after 2–4cm...

Academy of Medicine, Singapore clinical guideline on the use of sedation by non-anaesthesiologists during gastrointestinal endoscopy in the hospital setting

The practice of gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy over the last 3 decades has seen both a rise in volume of routine procedures, and an increase...

Ensuring safe sedation during gastroendoscopy

Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy started in Singapore in 1968 with diagnostic endoscopic gastric examination, using flexible fibre-optics GI endoscopy. Fibre-optic flexible sigmoidoscopy and colonoscopy were...

Transurethral Resection of Prostate (TURP) Through The Decades – A Comparison of Results Over the Last Thirty Years in a Single Institution in Asia

Over the last 70 years, transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) has been used in the surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and is...

Acute Isolated Sphenoid Sinusitis

Isolated infection of the sphenoid sinus is uncommon. It usually occurs in conjunction with infection of the other paranasal sinuses. Acute isolated sphenoid sinusitis...

Audit of Diagnostic and Interventional Craniocervical Catheter Angiographic Procedures at the Singapore General Hospital

Catheter angiography has long been considered the diagnostic standard by which the accuracy of other vascular imaging modalities are compared, given its superior contrast...

Marijuana in Pregnancy

Marijuana has been used for thousands of years for both medical and recreational purposes. Because the pharmacological actions of marijuana are complex and include...

Spectrum of Dentofacial Deformities: A Retrospective Survey

Deformity refers to distortion of any part of the body. The term dentofacial is related to the dental arches and their effects on facial...

Transmission of Tuberculosis from Patient to Healthcare Workers in the Anaesthesia Context

Tuberculosis poses a very real problem to healthcare workers (HCWs). In Singapore, the prevalence of tuberculosis in the general population remains high at 44...

An Unexpected Left Hydrothorax after Left Internal Jugular Venous Catheterisation for Total Parental Nutrition and Antibiotics

Percutaneous indwelling central venous catheters are commonly used for a variety of medical and surgical indications. There are various complications associated with the insertion...

The Impact of Experiential Learning on NUS Medical Students: Our Experience With Task Trainers and Human-patient Simulation

The realisation that students have different cognitive and learning styles has had major implications on medical curriculum design efforts. If the student’s learning style...

Can Long-term Corticosteroids Lead to Blindness? A Case Series of Central Serous Chorioretinopathy Induced by Corticosteroids

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is an idiopathic disorder characterised by serous detachment of the macula, retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) detachment and areas of RPE...

Ethambutol-associated Optic Neuropathy

Tuberculosis (TB) has been present since ancient times. Around 460 BC, Hippocrates identified phthisis, which is the Greek term for consumption (TB seemed to...

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: A Five-year Review at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odourless, tasteless and toxic gas and is the most abundant pollutant in the lower atmosphere. It is produced largely...

Evaluation of Surgical and Anaesthesia Response Times for Crash Caesarean Sections – An Audit of a Singapore Hospital

In 1995, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists published the “Organisational Standards for Maternity Services” in which it was proposed that there be...

Swallowed Foreign Bodies in Children: Report of Four Unusual Cases

Foreign body (FB) ingestion in children is a frequent and frightening experience to the patients and caregivers. It is a common paediatric problem necessitating...

A Review of Clinical Pathway Data of 1663 Total Knee Arthroplasties in a Tertiary Institution in Singapore

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) has been established as an effective treatment modality for patients with symptomatic knee arthritis. It provides predictable decrement in pain,...

Obesity and Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Hypopnoea Syndrome in Singapore Children

Obesity is becoming a problem of epidemic proportions and is perhaps, the most pervasive medical problem faced by medical providers today. It is a...

The Relationship between Postoperative Complications and Outcomes after Hip Fracture Surgery

Hip fractures constitute a major health concern for older persons and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality, with 1-year mortality rates ranging from...

Prophylaxis Against Endopthalmitis in Cataract Surgery

Endophthalmitis is an uncommon but potentially devastating complication of cataract surgery and often carries a poor prognosis. Due to variations in study design and...

Advanced Burkitt’s Lymphoma Presenting With Jejunal Perforation

Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL) is a high grade B-cell neoplasm under the umbrella of non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. It is predominantly seen in children but may also...

Arteriovenous Fistula Aneurysm – Plicate, Not Ligate

Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) are created for haemodialysis in patients with end-stage renal failure. While AVF is a lifeline for these patients, its creation is...

Perforated Appendicitis in Children: Benefits of Early Laparoscopic Surgery

Despite perforated appendicitis (PA) being a common surgical emergency in childhood, controversy still exists with regard to its management in this era of minimal...

Oxycodone – An Audit of its Prescription in a Local Hospital

Oral opioids have been increasingly used for treatment of both cancer and non-cancer pain.1-4 Oxycodone is a synthetic opioid that has become recently available...

Reply from Author: Intrathecal Analgesia for Cancer Pain: Externalised Intrathecal Catheters

We thank Dr Nicholas Chua et al for their interest in our review article. We agree and appreciate the experience and comments by the...

Intrathecal Analgesia for Cancer Pain: Externalised Intrathecal Catheters

We thank the authors for a comprehensive review on the role of interventional pain therapies used in cancer pain as well as a informative...

Peritoneo-Cutaneous Fistula Secondary to Skin Excoriation from a Large Chronic Incisional Hernia

Incisional hernias are common complications following abdominal surgery with an incidence of 2% to 20% after midline laparotomy. Umbilical fluid discharge is, however, an...

Epidemiology and Management of Surgical Upper Limb Infections in Patients with End-stage Renal Failure

Hand infections are common in the general population, and their management is usually uncomplicated. Several papers have noted that patients with diabetes mellitus have...

Brachial Approach for Coronary Angiography and Intervention: Totally Obsolete, or a Feasible Alternative When Radial Access is Not Possible?

The possible methods of reaching the coronary vasculature using a percutaneous technique are limitless: the radial, femoral, brachial, ulnar, subclavian and axillary arteries, and...

The Singapore National Healthcare Group Diabetes Registry – Descriptive Epidemiology of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most challenging global health problems in the 21st century. It is associated with excess mortality and significant morbidity...

Functional Outcomes of Cancer Patients in an Inpatient Rehabilitation Setting

Cancer is the leading cause of death and the second most common cause of hospitalisation in Singapore. Cancer rehabilitation aims to help the patient...

A Double-Blind, Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Trial of EMLA® Cream (Eutectic Lidocaine/Prilocaine Cream) for Analgesia Prior to Cryotherapy of Plantar Warts in Adults

Plantar warts are commonly diagnosed in dermatology clinics. They are painful, contagious and have the potential to cause considerable morbidity. Among the therapeutic modalities,...

Clinical Outcome and Cost Comparison Between Laparoscopic and Open Appendicectomy

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdominal pain requiring surgical intervention. The traditional operation of choice was the open...

Neonatal and Paediatric Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) in a Single Asian Tertiary Centre

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a cardiopulmonary bypass technique (CPB) introduced by Bartlett in 1972, which provides life-saving support in patients with refractory yet...

Recommendations for standards of neuromuscular monitoring during anaesthesia

Dear Editor, We presented recommendations for neuromuscular monitoring during anaesthesia, which were approved by the Council of the College of Anaesthesiologists, Singapore in September 2019...

Evidence-Based Guidelines on the Use of Opioids in Chronic Non-Cancer Pain—A Consensus Statement by the Pain Association of Singapore Task Force

Studies show that the incidence of chronic pain is approximately 18% in Australia and developed countries in Europe. In Asia, data from Hong Kong...

The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Chronic Pain Patients in Singapore: A Single-Centre Study

Chronic pain is a prevalent disease that is often diffi cult to manage. According to a World Health Organisation survey, the worldwide prevalence of...

Management Plan to Reduce Risks in Perioperative Care of Patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Averts the Need for Presurgical Polysomnography

A significant proportion of patients with underlying obstructive sleepapnoea (OSA) remain undiagnosed when they present for surgery. Epidemiologic data have placed the prevalence in the...

Risk Factors for Severe Adenovirus Infection in Children during an Outbreak in Singapore

Human adenoviruses (HAdVs) are well known pathogens that cause a variety of human illnesses. They are non-enveloped, linear double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) viruses. More...

A survey of Singapore anaesthesiologists for practice and prevention of peri-operative hypothermia in adult surgical patients

Core temperature is the temperature of blood and internal organs; influenced by biorhythm, metabolism, activity and hormones. It is regulated within a narrow range,...