Lucina

Many parents opt to be present during induction of anaesthesia for their child and some have asked to be allowed into the operating theatre. A study in London and Kent (Journal of Pediatric Surgery 2009;44:711–9) has shown that professionals are less enthusiastic than parents about the presence of parents in the operating theatre but parents would particularly like to be present during minor surgery. A total of 204 parents, 75 theatre staff, and 28 surgeons were surveyed using a questionnaire with visual analogue scales (score 0–10, 0  =  very negative response, 10 – very positive response). In general parents wanted to be present; their average score was 8.4 when the surgery was minor and under local anaesthetic, 6.5 for minor elective surgery under a general anaesthetic, and 5.1 for emergency surgery. Scores from professionals were considerably lower. A randomised controlled study is proposed to assess the benefits and disadvantages of parent’s presence in the operating theatre.

The Global Project on Anti-Tuberculosis Drug Resistance began in 1994 with the aims of monitoring trends in resistance worldwide and estimating the prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis. Now (Lancet …