BIGGA selected as next PLAN project for 2018

The next PLAN project has been selected by audience vote at the PLAN 2017 Annual General Meeting as:

Bariatric Issues during General Anaesthesia relating to the Airway (BIGAA)

The background to this project stems from the NAP4 study which found obese patients are twice as likely to develop serious airway problems during a general anaesthetic than non-obese patients. Guidelines issued by the AAGBI and SOBAUK have 16 key recommendations for the preoperative management of the obese surgical patient. Currently its is not know whether the lessons from NAP4 and the subsequent guidelines have had any constrictive impact. The project will involve an online survey (one per institution) and a week of observational data collection.

The project aims to answer the following questions:

1. What proportion of elective surgery is carried out on overweight or obese patients?
2. Are anaesthetics being modified, and appropriate equipment made available, for obese patients?
3. Are modifications leading to a reduction in airway problems?

Stay tuned for further information. PLAN aims to run this project in 2018.

Congratulations Becky Black and Lauren Barraclough!