Post-anaesthetic Recovery: A Practical Approach

The need for continued vigilance in the post-anaesthetic recovery period following general or regional anaesthesia is paramount. This book brings together in one volume the major issues that one should consider in the management of the patient during this period. Improvements in modern surgical techniques continue to stimulate great advances in anaesthetic management. Large groups of patients who until recently would not have been candidates for surgery are now able to benefit from such surgery because of improved know­ ledge of anaesthetic pharmacology, the physiology of pain transmis­ sion and cardiopulmonary monitoring. The first chapter concentrates on the organisation of the recovery room; it deals with management from the standpoint of the United Kingdom but is equally applicable to the rest of the world. The nursing and medical procedures for normal recovery are discussed in Chapter 2. In the later chapters there is a comprehensive review of complications in the post-anaesthetic' period and a discussion of specific aspects of recovery from specialised surgical procedures. Finally, a unique chapter deals with the pre-operative factors that will affect the recovery period.