YEAR 05 • ADVANCED CLINICAL

Anaesthesia & Critical Care

20 learning units • 100 chapter sections • 200 explained questions. Prepare patients for anaesthesia, recognise perioperative emergencies and understand organ support, critical-care teamwork and recovery.

Original RAHBAR study material for the Year 5 learning pathway. Clinical cases support supervised undergraduate learning. Treatment choices, doses and procedures must follow current local protocols and the responsible clinical team. References & further reading ↓

MODULE 01 / 20

Pre-Anaesthetic Assessment & Shared Planning

Identify perioperative risks and agree a plan that includes preparation, anaesthesia and recovery.

Quick revision ↓ Medical Dictionary

01Understand the procedure

Clarify the proposed operation, urgency and expected physiological stress. Review the patient’s goals, baseline function and previous anaesthetic experiences. Elective and emergency care have different time constraints, but both need an explicit assessment and communication of important risks.

02Review health and medicines

Ask about cardiac and respiratory disease, exercise tolerance, sleep apnoea, allergies, diabetes, renal disease and relevant medicines. Include anticoagulants, non-prescription products and prior adverse reactions. A physical-status classification summarises disease burden but does not replace a full individual risk assessment.

03Airway and aspiration

Assess previous airway difficulty, mouth opening, dentition, neck movement and relevant anatomy. Consider aspiration risk, fasting history and conditions that alter gastric emptying. No single airway test excludes difficulty, and meeting a fasting interval does not guarantee an empty stomach.

04Investigations and optimisation

Choose tests according to the procedure, comorbidity and clinical question rather than ordering every investigation routinely. Address anaemia, unstable disease and other reversible problems where time permits. For urgent surgery, balance the risks of delay against the benefits of further optimisation with the responsible team.

05Consent and recovery planning

Explain suitable anaesthetic options, material risks and alternatives in understandable language. Plan postoperative analgesia, monitoring and the likely recovery location before the operation. Document preferences, consent and any limits of treatment, and make the plan accessible during handover.

High-Yield Revision

No single airway test rules out difficulty.
Risk assessment includes the procedure and the patient.
Recovery planning begins before anaesthesia.

Common Pitfalls

Treating a physical-status grade as a complete risk prediction.
Assuming fasting eliminates all aspiration risk.

References & Further Reading

Read the relevant guideline sections alongside these original clinical teaching cases. Local pathways, available services and individual patient factors determine care.

Reference review: 29 September 2026. Consult current local protocols for prescribing, procedures and escalation.