Consent for regional anaesthesia in the United Kingdom: what is material risk?

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for caesarean sections: implications for the anaesthetist

“…[11][12][13] Anaesthetists should give full information including the material risks of anaesthesia for caesarean section. [14][15] Consent for caesarean section should be requested after providing the pregnant woman with evidence-based information and in a manner that respects the woman's dignity, privacy, views and culture whilst taking into consideration the clinical situation.…”

Smartening up our act

“…[31][32][33][34][35] Appropriately constituted ethics committees and Institutional Review Boards should themselves be instrumental in assessing and improving the quality of clinical studies at the planning stage. Other websites and resources contain comprehensive advice for ethics committees (A standard for scientific & ethical review of trials: ASSERT, 36 ) not to mention systematic reviewers (Quality of reporting of meta-analyses of randomised trials: QUOROM) 37 and those assessing non-randomised trials (Transparent reporting of evaluations with non-randomised designs: TREND), 38 to name but a few.…”

Is preparation for emergency obstetric anaesthesia adequate? A maternal questionnaire survey

“…6 Most studies of information about obstetric anaesthetic techniques concern regional analgesia in labour or anaesthesia for elective surgery, [7][8][9][10][11] with most indicating that mothers want more, rather than less, information about the risks of obstetric analgesia and anaesthesia. [8][9][10][11] Professional guidance promotes the provision and availability of antenatal information, 12,13 and resources for patients have been developed for use before specific procedures, namely epidural analgesia 14 and caesarean section. 15 However, in an emergency, providing information can be difficult due to time constraints, 16 and little is known about how information is imparted.…”